Jim Flanery’s club shot first and asked questions later on Wednesday night at D.J. Sokol Arena. They missed more often than they made, but they eventually caught fire in the second half, knocking down 10 3-pointers after halftime and finished with a season-high 24 assists, one for each and every single shot they made, on their way to a 66-51 win over the crosstown rival UNO Mavericks to improve to 3-4 on the season.
“You always wish that it would have maybe been a little bit easier, but when you think that we had to play with a little more pressure it’s probably good for us,” the Creighton coach said of the challenge his team overcame.
Shooting woes were the story of the first half as both teams were under 40 percent from the field. Nebraska-Omaha made an effort to get the ball inside, but turnovers and poor free-throw shooting only resulted in a 16-10 on points in the paint. The Bluejays, on the other hand, were content to lean on the long ball against the zone defense of the Mavericks. However, they connected on just four of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc before the break.
Redshirt freshman center Gracey Griglione led CU with six points before halftime, including a buzzer-beating layup on a baseline out of bounds play that she caught under the basket with one second on the game clock to give her team a 30-26 lead heading to the locker room. The Jays made up for their poor shooting from downtown by going 7-of-12 inside the arc and 4-of-5 at the foul line to play from ahead for the final 10:42 of the half.
“I thought their zone was better than what we had seen from them over the last few years,” Flanery said. “They have a lot of new players, but I thought their zone was active, they communicated well, and even though we took a lot of threes — and a lot of them were open — but what happened in the first half was what I had feared would happen, and that was we would shoot a lot of threes and they wouldn’t go in.”
Junior forward Jaylyn Agnew played a team-high 16 minutes in the first half, making her long-awaited return from a hand injury that she suffered in the team’s 86-51 win at North Dakota State on November 9. Despite a brace on her wrist and only one full practice under her belt since the injury, she provided a much-needed lift, finishing the half with five points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots.
“I was fine,” Agnew said of the unexpected workload. “A little tired after only practicing for a day and a half, but I felt good. That brace there is clunky, but I just have to get used to it. It was good to get back out there and try to help the team.”
Creighton’s struggles shooting the ball continued to start the third quarter. The Bluejays missed seven of their first 10 shots from the field and led Nebraska-Omaha by just two, 37-35, with 4:40 left in the quarter. They finally found their stroke shortly after a media timeout and hit four of their final six shots to close the period — all four makes (and six attempts) came from behind the 3-point line, and they came from four different players. Senior forward Audrey Faber started it off, followed by freshman guard Chloe Dworak, junior guard Olivia Elger, and then Agnew capped it off to send CU to the fourth quarter with a 49-41 cushion.
Faber buried two more threes to extend the lead to 55-41 early in the fourth, and the Mavericks never got within fewer than 12 points the rest of the way. Faber finished with a team-high 16 points despite struggling from the field. She shot just 5-for-20 overall, including a 4-of-14 clip from 3-point territory, but made up the lack of efficiency by either leading or tying for the team lead in rebounds with nine, assists with seven, and blocked shots with three.
Agnew ended up at 33 minutes in her return to action, behind only Faber’s 36 for the most by any player on the night. She finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and no turnovers.
“It was great to have Jaylyn back,” Flanery said. “I did not dream I would play her 33 minutes. I thought it would have maybe a one and a three, 13. But the way the game played out, we needed her out there, especially defensively.”
Freshman point guard Chloe Dworak was the only other Bluejay to join The Splash Sisters in double figures. The walk-on from Lincoln, Nebraska went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc to finish with a season-high 12 points. She also added three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and didn’t turn the ball over at all in 21 minutes off the bench.
“Chloe was really solid,” Agnew said. “I know freshman year you’re kind of out there and freaking out, but Chloe did really well. She was super poised and calm. She made the right plays and got to the right spots. She did really well.”
The win gives the Jays their second win in a row and a sweep of their in-state rivals Nebraska and Nebraska-Omaha for the third consecutive season. They will wrap up rivalry week with a trip to Wichita State on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.