There are advantages to getting a bye in your conference tournament. A top-two finish in the Missouri Valley Conference brings a quarterfinal game against a tired opponent that plays the day before in first round action. This is just one reward for the hard work it takes to finish at the top of the Valley.
Creighton enters this week’s MVC Tournament as the #2 seed. They play the winner of Thursday’s Drake-Evansville first round match-up on Friday. And while the Jays and #1 seed Illinois State will play teams that survive the play-in round, there can be a disadvantage to the scenario: While 8 of the 10 teams in the tournament have known since Sunday who their first opponent will be on Thursday and Friday, the Bluejays will not know who they will play until Thursday evening.
Creighton women’s basketball coach Jim Flanery tries to take the situation in stride. “It’s kind of nice not doing so much prep work for a particular opponent. You can kind of work on your stuff,” Flanery said during Tuesday’s MVC teleconference. “It is always a hard question to determine how much do you work on your own stuff and how much do you prepare for your opponents. It is actually kind of nice not knowing who we are playing yet.”
Depending on how things turn out Thursday night, the Creighton women will take on either Drake or Evansville at 6:05 p.m. to kick off Friday’s evening quarterfinal session. Although the Bulldogs have the higher seed (#7), the Bluejays might be better served playing DU instead of the Purple Aces (#10).
Creighton has dominated the two games against DU, sweeping the rivals from Des Moines for the first time since 2002-2003. In the schools’ first matchup (January 29 in Omaha), Sam Schuett led four players in double figures to a win in front of a record crowd at Sokol Arena. In the second matchup about a month later in Des Moines, the Bluejays dominated early and took a 15-point lead into halftime. From there the Jays coasted to a 77-57 victory, with Megan Neuvirth leading the way with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 assists.
It might seem silly to insinuate the Bluejays wouldn’t want a shot at #10 seed Evansville, a squad that limps into the MVC Tournament with a 4-25 overall record (1-17 in Valley play). But after destroying the Purple Aces 63-37 early in conference play this season, the Bluejays won a sloppy 42-41 game against UE a few weeks ago. The scare against Evansville, during which both teams shot under 30% from the field, preceded two straight Creighton losses. Plus, the Aces ruined Creighton’s NCAA Tournament hopes last year as a low seed, beating the Bluejays with a last-second shot in last season’s MVC Tournament championship game.
The Bluejays couldn’t win the regular season title, something they were picked to do in the preseason. Flanery is hoping for a strong tournament, something that would help make up for not winning the regular season crown. “I think our team put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and as a coach I probably put a little more pressure on myself,” he said. “It may not have translated in the most efficient way or best way to coach my team. A couple of weeks ago when we lost to Bradley and Northern Iowa on a road trip and had no opportunity to win the league, I think maybe in a way our team relaxed a little bit and our coaching staff relaxed a little bit. We just decided we needed to go out and play.” The result of that relaxation is the Jays’ current 3-game win streak to end the regular season.
Megan Neuvirth leads the Bluejays to this week's MVC Tournament
The pressure is back on the Bluejays now, though, as CU looks to advance to the tournament championship game for the third time in four seasons. If they are going to be successful, it will rest on the success of Neuvirth, the team’s leader. The preseason Player of the Year pick in the Valley leads the Bluejays in scoring and is one of the best defenders in the league. She dominated in Creighton’s last five games, averaging 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3 steals a game. Her performance last season in the tourney included record-breaking rebounding efforts, and she could leave the Valley tournament as Creighton’ career rebounding leader.
But Neuvirth has a great supporting cast as well. Schuett came back from a knee injury suffered last season to lead the Jays in rebounding, free throw percentage, 3-point percentage, 3-pointers made, blocks, and double-doubles. In fact, Schuett established a Creighton record by making 40 consecutive free throws this season. Add Kellie Nelson’s post play (28 blocks), Kelsey Woodard’s outside shooting (2nd in 3-pointers and 3rd in scoring), Chevelle Herring’s leadership (a team-high 68 assists), and the bench depth provided by Ally Jensen and Kelsey Crites, and there are many individuals Flanery can count on to step up over the course of three days in St. Charles.
Creighton’s 6:05 p.m. quarterfinal game on Friday can be heard on KOIL 1180 AM and online. Fans can also purchase a streaming webcast of that game via the MVC Web site. Should the Jays win on Friday, their Saturday semifinal game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest. Follow White & Blue Review throughout the weekend as we will have extended coverage on the Bluejay women and the MVC Tournament.