Emma Ronsiek got herself going against Northern Iowa (Juszyk / WBR)
Over her previous five games spanning the NCAA Tournament matchups with Iowa State and South Carolina, and the first three this season against South Dakota State, South Dakota, and Nebraska, Emma Ronsiek scored a total of 19 points and shot 21.1% from the floor. On Sunday afternoon in Cedar Falls, the third-year forward powered her way out of that funk by going 7-of-13 from the floor and knocking down all but one of her eight free throw attempts en route to a game-high 23 points in just 27 minutes to help Creighton stay undefeated with an impressive 85-66 road victory over Northern Iowa.
“I’ve been trying to change the mentality that I’ve had over the past years of my life,” Ronsiek said. “The staff have been trying to get me out of my little rut and they’ve done a great job. I think it’s a little hard when you’ve got an athlete — especially when there are multiple athletes out there, it’s not just me — that takes a lot of pride in scoring and is trying to get over that hump. Doing what I needed to do to get there today felt really great.”
The Panthers (2-2) were coming off of a narrow 88-85 loss to 7th-ranked Iowa State in which they led at several junctures late and had a clean look from the 3-point line to tie the game in the closing seconds. They never got the chance to rectify that late-game setback against the Bluejays. Ronsiek got her team on the board with a dump off inside out of a double team to a cutting Carly Bachelor. She followed that by scoring nine of Creighton’s next 11 points herself on a hard pivot into a scoop layup inside with a double team coming, a pair of free throws, a pick and pop three, and another bucket right under the basket. She checked all of the boxes on the offensive end with her ballhandling, her footwork, her playmaking, and her diverse shot-making to help Creighton build a 13-7 lead heading into the first media timeout.
“Getting that first easy bucket was big for me today,” Ronsiek said. “I know I missed my first shot, but I had to just let that one go — it was a minute into the game and no way was I going to keep up that mentality for 40 more minutes. After that I got an easy bucket right away and a couple free throws, and I was like, ‘alright, I’m back, we’re not messing around anymore.'”
Morgan Maly (Front) and Lauren Jensen (in background) fed off Emma Ronsiek’s scoring (Juszyk / WBR)
With Ronsiek on a roll, everyone else in Bluejay followed suit. Third-year combo guard Lauren Jensen got a shot to fall off the dribble, then third-year forward Morgan Maly banged a couple threes to fuel a 10-3 run that helped Creighton close the first quarter with a 25-12 lead. Creighton forced turnovers on nine of Northern Iowa’s first 23 possessions of the game to build a 30-14 lead and the rout was on. The Jays prioritized interior offense, whether it was through more traditional post touches or off the dribble from the perimeter, and the early success opened the whole offense. Six different Bluejays scored in the second quarter alone to turn a 13-point first-quarter cushion into a commanding 49-26 lead at halftime.
The offensive side of the floor was one part of the story but limiting a team that had put up 84.5 points over the previous two games to 26 points on 31 shooting possessions had just as much of an impact. Carly Bachelor’s defense on Panthers point guard Maya McDermott in particular seemed to stall out anything that could potentially compromise Creighton on that end of the floor. McDermott was second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game and was a team-best 10-of-20 from 3-point range through the first three games of the season, but she didn’t crack the scoring column until Nothern Iowa’s last possession of the first quarter and finished the half with just five points, one turnover, and no assists.
“That was a tough assignment, but I think my length continues to be an asset against point guards that I’m guarding,” Bachelor said. “Being able to get a hand up and still leave myself a little bit of room for drives is helpful when I’m guarding them. A lot of them are quicker than me, but because of my length I can give them a step and still be able to disrupt things that they are doing.”
Northern Iowa went punch for punch better after halftime and won the final 20 minutes 40-36 as Creighton wasn’t quite as keyed in the defensive end as they were in the first two quarters. Despite that, the closest they ever got to making the Bluejays sweat that one was after a 3-point play that cut CU’s lead down to 80-65 with 3:52 left to play in the fourth quarter.
“In the first half we were really, really good at both ends,” Creighton head coach Jim Flanery said. “Defensively, I was disappointed in the second half. I felt like we let down and weren’t as locked in and disciplined as we needed to be, but that’s obviously nitpicking. I told the players in the locker room that the expectations are high because the ceiling is so high. To be up 23 at half here shows us how good we can be, I just would have liked to have seen us sustain that a little bit longer. But it was great to get Emma going, obviously. We felt and hoped that it was just a matter of time for her, and a lot of other people played reasonably well to well, and that’s kind of where we’ve been.”
Where they’ve been is on the road, a lot. Where there are is 4-0. Undefeated. Their best start to a season since 1992, the same year that sixth-year assistant coach Carli Berger was born.
The next is away from D.J. Sokol Arena, too, but at least it’s in Omaha. The Jays take on a UNO team that has won three in a row since getting thrashed at Nebraska in their season-opener. Tip-off at Baxter Arena is set for 7:00 p.m on Tuesday, November 22nd.