I had a hard time sitting myself down to write a preview for Creighton’s games at the Caribbean Challenge. Not only because the team is seemingly a world away in Cancun, Mexico, but because I’m a tad envious. Let me “highlight” a few of the places I traveled to with the women’s basketball team between 2001 and earlier this year … Orono, Maine; Corvallis, Ore.; Lubbock, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Laramie, Wyo.; Fargo, N.D., Bowling Green, Ohio; State College, Pa. What a list! You know what didn’t happen in those years? A Caribbean trip. A quick history of Caribbean trips for the women’s basketball team – Bahamas in December 2000 and Cancun in December 2012. A quick recap of my tenure at Creighton – January 2001 through April 2012. Really poor timing on my part. Understand my bitterness?*
So while we were busy dealing with blizzard-like conditions this week in Omaha, the women’s basketball team was swimming with dolphins and frolicking in sunny Mexico. Hopefully the Jays have also been focused on preparing for a pair of difficult non-conference contests to conclude their trip. With an RPI of 49 (WarrenNolan.com) entering the weekend, a tournament featuring a solid 6-4 Miami (Ohio) team and talented 8-1 South Florida squad could prove crucial for the Bluejays in setting themselves up for potential at-large NCAA consideration come March.
The Bluejays didn’t play their prettiest basketball of the season in cruising to a 63-42 win over North Dakota State on Sunday at D.J. Sokol Arena. An 18-0 run to end the first half really propelled the team to the win, but after three impressive wins over BYU, #25 Nebraska and Houston, this one failed to impress beyond the 21-point margin of victory. The Jays will need to play better basketball against two postseason teams from a year ago if they want to bring a winning streak back to the states.
If you’ve paid attention to the ever-growing trend of tropical basketball tournaments, you will have noticed that these games are often played in ball rooms at all-inclusive resorts. Such is the case in Cancun, where tournament organizers, Triple Crown Sports, will set up a court and some bleachers at the Aventura Cove Palace and the teams will likely enjoy a special all-you-can eat buffet at halftime.
Creighton (6-2) vs. Miami (6-4)
Friday, 2:30 pm
The Redhawks went 21-10 last year and advanced to the WNIT. This year, Miami is picked to win the East Division of the Mid-American Conference – a Division which has historically been dominated by Bowling Green. (Creighton completed a home-and-home with BGSU last year, with the home team winning each of those contests.) Miami is an experienced squad, starting two seniors, a redshirt junior and two juniors. Unlike the Bluejays, who are 4-0 away from home this year, the Redhawks are just 1-3 in road games this season and that one win is against traditional NCAA bottom-feeder Chicago State (which currently has zero Division I wins this season).
Miami is led by senior Courtney Osborn, a prolific scoring guard. Osborn is the second-leading scorer in school history with 1,735 points and her 40 career 20-point games are the most in school history. She dropped a school and MAC record 48 points in a game last year. A first-team all-conference performer and a WBCA All-Region honoree, she’s not just a scorer. In addition to leading the team with 17.8 points per game, she tops the team and ranks 32nd in the NCAA with 5.6 assists per game. She’s attempted more three-pointers than anyone in Miami history and heads to Mexico just seven treys shy of the school record. The Indiana native finds her name scattered all over the career charts for Miami.
Fellow senior and school record-holder Kirsten Olowinski teams with Osborn to lead the way for MU. Olowinski owns the school record with 139 career blocked shots and her 33 career double-doubles are just two shy of the record. A 6-foot-1 forward, she is averaging a team-leading 9.8 rebounds per game. If she grabs her average against Creighton she will become the career-leader in rebounds for Miami. Olowinski is the only other Redhawk averaging double figures, with 11.1 points per game, while she leads the team with 17 blocks.
While Jim Flanery will look to move atop the victories list at Creighton with a win over Miami, Redhawks head coach Maria Fantanarosa (you know Buddy the Elf would love to say that name) is already the winningest coach in Miami history with 224 wins since returning to her alma mater in 1998.
Creighton (6-2) vs. South Florida (8-1)
Saturday, 2:30 pm
South Florida had its 8-0 start to the season snapped in a 62-52 loss to Nebraska on Sunday. The Bulls play Nevada (5-4) in their first game at the Caribbean Classic on Friday before meeting with the Bluejays. USF is picked to finish ninth in the 53-team Big East after finishing the 2011-12 season with a 19-16 season in which they won a pair of WNIT games. USF posted an 8-8 record in the always difficult Big East Conference last year.
USF has put together some gaudy numbers against a less-than-stellar schedule this season. The Bulls rank in the top-50 in 11 different team NCAA statistics, but at 8-1 their RPI of 67 is 18 points lower than Creighton’s and their strength of schedule is just 175, compared to Creighton’s SOS of 51.
The Bulls rank 12th in the NCAA in turnover margin (+7.8) and blocks per game (6.1), rank 13th in FG% defense (.318) and 18th with a plus-20.2 scoring margin. Those are just a few of their impressive stats. They are forcing opponents to commit more than 23 turnovers per game and holding teams to just 51.3 points per game, while they average 71.6 points.
Twins and 5-foot-8 senior guards Andrell and Andrea Smith lead the Bulls in scoring. Andrell tops the team with 15.6 ppg, 33 assists and 20 steals. Andrea adds 14.7 ppg and leads the team in free-throw makes and attempts. Andrea (18) and Andrell (17) can also shoot from three-point range, while Inga Orekhova leads the team with 23 triples. Tahira Johnson, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game, as she has 45 rebounds and just 17 points on the year.
In speaking to Flan about this USF team before he left me in cold, snowy Omaha and bolted for Mexico (sorry, that bitterness rising up again) – he mentioned that in the film they had watched of the Bulls it was hard to get a read on their rotation – 11 players are averaging at least 11 minutes. Flan’s point backs up my point referencing their poor schedule. Seven of their eight wins have come by double digits and most of those were absolute blowouts (see 77-29 win over UNC-Asheville), thus they didn’t really need to rely on their top players to carry them. Flan also knew that he’d get a better read on the team after it played Nebraska. USF did shorten the bench considerably against NU, playing three starters better than 34 minutes and just four reserves, with one playing only three minutes.
Random Links, Thoughts and Numbers
– Creighton ranks 13th in the NCAA with 7.9 three-pointers per game and 20th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio – one of only 30 teams in the country with more assists than turnovers.
– Sarah Nelson, Creighton’s starting “four” ranks 35th in the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio with an impressive 30 assists and only 15 turnovers through eight games.
– Flan going Gangnam Style after tying Bruce Rasmussen’s record for career wins.
– What better place to set the school record for career victories than in Cancun? Let’s hope Flan can pick up that record-breaking win No. 197 (and 198) while south of the border.
– Remember when Nebraska All-American Jordan Hooper went scoreless against Creighton? She scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds against USF.
– Creighton, Miami (Ohio) and USF list all juniors and seniors in their projected starting lineups.
– USF head coach Jose Fernandez, also the winningest coach in program history, has led the Bulls to eight of the last nine postseasons, including USF’s first NCAA appearance in 2006.
– Just as Flan led Creighton to the 2004 WNIT Championship, Fernandez guided USF to the WNIT title in 2009.
– Playing USF is a great excuse to link to one of the most exciting moments in Creighton athletics history. Turn your speakers down and get goosebumps as you watch Ethan Finlay’s game-winning goal over USF in the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinals.
– As a parent of twin daughters, I enjoy seeing both Miami (Ohio) and USF start a set of twins.
– Creighton’s game with USF is the eighth against a Big East school under Flanery. The Jays of course lost a heart-breaker to St. John’s last year in the NCAA Tournament and recently played home-and-home series with Notre Dame and Marquette.
– Creighton has gone 1-1 in each of its last two in-season tournaments (2011 UTSA Holiday Classic, 2010 NC State Wolfpack Invitational).
– Creighton went 0-2 in its last Caribbean Tournament, the 2000 Sun Splash Shootout in the Bahamas.
– Creighton has never played Miami (Ohio) nor USF in women’s basketball.
– The Bluejays close non-conference play at Minnesota on Dec. 30 and then open Valley play at SIU on Jan. 3. I mention this because SIU is currently 1-9 with an amazing 337 RPI – only eight teams in the NCAA have a worse RPI than that.
– A photo gallery of some of Creighton’s fun can be found on the Creighton athletics website here.
– Listen to the uber-versatile Glen Sisk move from his typical color commentator role to play-by-play for the games in Cancun on 1180 AM in Omaha or online here.
– Follow live stats for the games here.
*Disclaimer: While I never enjoyed a Caribbean trip with the women during my Creighton career, I was in fact fortunate enough to visit Cameron Indoor Stadium, Allen Fieldhouse multiple times, San Diego and Seattle, and not to mention so many memorable and wonderful trips to beautiful Carbondale.