Jaylyn Agnew ready to return for the Jays (Williams / WBR)
The positive vibes kept flowing at D.J. Sokol Arena on Monday when Creighton women’s basketball team — fresh off a 74-65 win over in-state rival Nebraska — got word that junior forward Jaylyn Agnew was cleared to return to action. The 5-foot-11 sharpshooter suffered an injury to her shooting hand late in the first half of an 86-51 win at North Dakota State on November 9 and has been sidelined and in a cast ever since.
She went through a team shooting workout on Monday night, then got through a full practice on Tuesday. Head coach Jim Flanery said he’s not ready to turn her completely loose just yet, but the plan is to get her into the game against Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday night and increase that workload on the road this weekend against her hometown Wichita State Shockers. Although she wasn’t able to practice, play, or shoot for the last month, she didn’t seem to miss a beat after getting cleared on Monday.
“The good thing was I thought she picked up our stuff quickly,” Flanery said. “We’re not very complicated, but I was just happy she was in the right spot on our zone and man offensive stuff that we ran.
“I don’t know that she is going to trust her shot as much as she will in two months, which is standard. The tough thing maybe is that I don’t know if she’s going to be able to get the shooting reps without making it sore, so that’s going to be tricky to navigate how many shots she can take without actually hurting it. But I think it will loosen up and she’s still trying to get the brace to feel right. The good thing is it wasn’t a lower body injury, so she isn’t out of shape.”
That being said, going without the use of her dominant hand for three and half weeks saps away some of her rhythm, touch, and comfort. It will be a work in progress to get back to the level that saw her transform into a 41 percent 3-point shooter over her last 40 games, but Agnew is confident all of those components will return with repetition.
“I was getting a little frustrated, but given that it’s the second day I have to realize that I also haven’t shot in three or four weeks,” she said after practice on Tuesday. “You lose a little bit of muscle memory, but hopefully as I get more reps in it will get better … it’s not too bad.”
Agnew did lead Creighton in rebounds, blocked shots, and steals last season, so she knows there are other ways she can impact the game and help her team navigate the second half of the non-conference portion of the schedule while she waits for her long-range shooting to return to form.
“We’ve improved at both defense and rebounding in the last couple games, but we struggled early on,” she said. “When I get in there those are at least things I can control, so I’ll probably just focus a lot on those two areas and hopefully that will help me get more confidence in my shot too.”
Now seems like the perfect time for the Bluejays — who have struggled to a 2-4 start to the season — to add the former Big East Freshman of the Year to the mix as they have an opportunity to keep their mojo rolling from Sunday’s win over the Huskers.
“Even if I wasn’t coming back I think we’d still have momentum,” Agnew said. “Tatum, Audrey, Liv, Temi, they all played great the last two games. That Nebraska win was big, so I think that will definitely give us some momentum. We needed that win for a morale booster and confidence. Now that we got it I think it will keep us going for the rest of the non-conference hopefully.”
Creighton rivalry week rolls on, beginning with tomorrow’s 7:00 p.m. home game against the crosstown rival Mavericks and wrapping up with a 2:00 p.m. contest away from Omaha on Saturday, December 8 against former Missouri Valley Conference foe Wichita State.
Projected Starting Lineups
Nebraska-Omaha (4-3)
- G Rayanna Carter (5-7, Jr.) – 8.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg
- G Claire Killian (5-10, So.) – 8.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg
- G Sophie Johnston (5-10, Fr.) – 5.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg
- F Josie Filer (6-0, Fr.) – 7.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg
- C Elena Pilakouta (6-3, Fr.) – 9.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Creighton (2-4)
- G Tatum Rembao (5-9, So.) – 8.7 ppg, 2.8 apg
- G Temi Carda (5-7, So.) – 8.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg
- G Brooke Kissinger (5-7, Sr.) – 1.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg
- F Audrey Faber (6-2, Sr.) – 17.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg
- C Gracey Griglione (6-2, R-Fr.) – 3.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg