While the Creighton women’s basketball season doesn’t really start until next Thursday when the Bluejays host Nebraska-Omaha for CU’s only exhibition game, Jim Flanery’s team already has a target on its back. Yesterday, the Missouri Valley Conference tabbed Flanery’s Bluejays to win the MVC title this season.
The Valley also recognized what Bluejays fans have known for a few years: Megan Neuvirth is amazingly talented and works hard to be one of the best players in the MVC. The media projected Neuvirth as the conference’s preseason Player of the Year pick.
The MVC tabbed Jim Flanery and the Creighton Bluejays as the league's preseason favorite
With 7 of the 10 players on Creighton’s roster upperclassmen, the Bluejays are a veteran team poised to finish the season in the NCAA Tournament … which they missed last season by just a few seconds.
Below, White & Blue Review dives head first into the 100-page media guide to help get you familiar with the 2009-2010 Creighton women’s basketball team. Plus, Coach Flanery provides some insight about the upcoming season.
Ryan Center and Sokol Arena
Again, celebrating the inaugural season at the Ryan Center and Sokol Arena is a centerpiece of the media guide. But instead of several pages dedicated to the building of the complex like it was for the volleyball media guide, there are pictures and accounts of the action that has already occurred in the arena. The importance of these buildings to the women’s basketball team cannot be overstated: the Bluejays have played in 11 different on- and off-campus facilities in the past 36 seasons.
- In the 70’s, the Bluejays played their home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and the Vinardi Athletic Center (also known as the Old Gym) on campus.
- In the 80’s, the Bluejays played their home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and the Kiewit Fitness Center on campus.
- The Bluejays have played a majority of their games at the Civic since the 1991-92 season.
- Here are the other places that were considered home: Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum, Bellevue West High School, Boys Town, Iowa Western Community College, Omaha Marian High School, Millard South High School, and a couple games at both the UNO Sapp Field House and the Qwest Center.
Still, even when bouncing around to different home gyms year after year, the women’s hoops program has won almost 73% of its home games. It has been 18 years since the last women’s basketball game occurred on campus, and the Bluejays are hoping the stability of calling Sokol Arena home will cause that percentage to improve in the future.
When asked what the arena means to his program, Flanery told WBR:
“First of all, I think it is great for recruiting. I was in here for the first night for volleyball. To have that kind of building and to have that kind of home court advantage is a great thing to have.”
Speaking of Coach Flanery …
The Coach
Jim Flanery enters his 18th season on the bench for the Bluejays, and his 8th season as the head coach following Connie Yori’s departure for Nebraska. Creighton has been a part of his whole life as a player (1985-1987), a graduate assistant/volunteer coach (1987-1990), and an assistant coach (1992). As the head coach, Flan has a .500 or better record against seven of the other nine teams in the conference. Only Drake has defeated Flan-coached teams 10 or more times (the Bluejays are 7-10 against the Bulldogs under Flanery).
After suffering an 8-21 record in 2005-2006, the Bluejays have improved every season since. Might this be the first season Flanery takes the Bluejays to the NCAA Tournament?
Tough Schedules
If the Jays do make the Big Dance, they will enter the NCAA Tournament tested against BCS conference foes. Creighton’s women’s team has scheduled challenging non-conference slates over the years, both at home and away, and this season is no exception. Half of this season’s non-conference opponents played in the postseason last year, including NCAA Tournament teams Kansas State and Oklahoma. The Big 12 is prominently featured on Creighton’s schedule, with games against Nebraska and Kansas also on the docket. When asked about the challenging non-conference schedule, Flan said:
“I think it is important that you get some diversity early in the year. Secondly, I think we have a good enough team that we can bring some of these teams in and put ourselves in a position where we don’t have to win the conference tournament to get into the NCAA [Tournament]. We have had some heartbreaking losses the past couple of seasons that has kept us from getting into the NCAA Tournament. You give yourself another opportunity.”
Local Talent
Looking at Creighton’s roster, 9 of the 10 Bluejays hail from Nebraska or Iowa. A closer look at the player profiles finds a lot of Nebraska ties in the mix:
- Junior Kelsey Woodard, who went to Bellevue West, has an older sister, Kristi, that played at Creighton and served as the graduate manager for the team the last three seasons.
- Junior Kellie Nelson’s father played basketball at Nebraska-Omaha.
- Freshman Jasmin Corbin went to the same high school as junior teammate Sam Schuett.
And while the Jays might only put 10 players on the roster, Flanery thinks his team is deeper going into the season compared to last year:
“I think we are a deeper team this year. We really rode three kids hard last season. I think we will be more balanced with Sam (Schuett) coming back and our other experienced players. Also I think our two freshman can really help us.”
On all the local talent on the roster:
“I hope it helps us from an attendance standpoint. We get excited anytime we can get a local recruit to commit. We have a roster very heavy with Omaha and Nebraska kids. I don’t know it will stay that way as much as it is now, but it is certainly something I like.”
Stats, Stats, and More Stats
Of course, the object of the media guide is to provide enough stats to make your head explode. Here are a few gems from this year’s guide:
- The last 100-point game was in 1996, against Evansville.
- Creighton is 25-18 all-time in overtime games.
- Jim Flanery is 2-5 against his Yori, his former boss, since she left for Nebraska,
- The largest crowd at a women’s home game was a 2004 WNIT semifinal game at the Civic against Auburn.
Ultimately, the media guide is a great source of information. It is a good way to catch up on anything you’ve missed regarding the women’s basketball program, or to reminisce about the history of the program. You can download your own today, or pay $10 to get a nice hard copy.
Stay tuned for our “Meet the Jays” segments next week of some key players for the women’s team this season leading up to the exhibition game next Thursday against Nebraska-Omaha.