Before we look ahead to Sunday afternoon’s contest at Minnesota (10-3), let’s recap what’s happened since we were last together – wins, two of them. Also, sunburns. But for the sake of this preview, we’ll focus on the wins that the Bluejays picked up at the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun before Christmas. If you can think back to before your house was full of empty boxes and shredded wrapping paper, the Bluejays were in Mexico playing a pair of 2012 postseason teams. The Bluejays traveled south with an RPI of 48 and left with an RPI of 25, thanks to impressive wins over Miami (Ohio) and South Florida. That RPI has since surged to 18 heading into Sunday’s game against the Golden Gophers.
Junior forward Sarah Nelson led the way in Cancun, scorching USF for a career-high 29 points, sinking 12-of-14 shots and all four of her three-point attempts against the Bulls. In the tournament, she averaged 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists, while making 14-of-18 shots from the field. For her efforts, she was named the MVC Player of the Week for the third time in her career and was also tabbed the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
Carli Tritz finally had the game we were waiting for her to have this year as well, pouring in a season-high 21 points against Miami, making 8-of-11 shots. Don’t forget about Jordan Garrison’s career-high 15 points against USF as well, as the junior made 5-of-10 three-pointers against the Bulls. Freshman Marissa Janning has quickly become one of the most dependable players for the Jays, as she scored 16 against Miami and 12 against USF, draining 6-of-9 threes in the tournament. Janning is averaging 14.8 points per game over her last six, scoring in double figures in five of those.
Creighton (8-2) has won six straight games and the Bluejays are a perfect 6-0 away from Omaha this season. The Jays will put those numbers on the line against a tough Minnesota squad which traditionally plays well at home. Minnesota, which carries an RPI of 87 on a strength of schedule of 147 (CU’s SOS is 24), has won four straight and is 8-1 at home this season. Minnesota has scored better than 80 points in each of its last three games, including an 86-43 throttling of UNI in its last game on Dec. 21.
That recent trend of high-scoring wins is nothing new for the Gophers, as they rank 34th in the NCAA with 73.8 points per game and were also ranked in the NCAA top-25 in field-goal percentage (.474) and three-point percentage (.376) in the latest national rankings. Despite the high shooting percentage from long range, they don’t make that a regular part of their game, averaging just 4.3 per game on the season. Comparatively, Creighton is in the NCAA top-10 with 8.9 three-pointers per game following a school-record tying performance from beyond the arc against USF. The Bluejays drained 16 three-pointers against the Bulls, and made 10 against Miami, proving that sight lines in hotel ball rooms are usually the best for three-point shooting teams.
I can tell you that the sight lines at The Barn will be slightly different on Sunday. Williams Arena ranks in my top three of college basketball venues I’ve visited. It’s a great old building which they’ve done well to take care of over the years. The raised floor gives an unusual perspective not only for fans, but for coaches and players as well. The Bluejays didn’t get a win in either of the games I witnessed there, but the games were entertaining. In 2003, Creighton’s eventual WNIT Championship team went in to Williams and scared the No. 9-ranked Gophers behind a 20-point game from two-time MVC Player of the Year Christy Neneman. The Gophers were led to an 82-71 win by future WNBA players and All-Americans Janel McCarville and Lindsay Whalen. (Sidenote – Whalen, who is still in the WNBA, might be the best opponent I saw in my 11 years with Creighton). That Gopher team would eventually play in the Final Four and when it visited Omaha the next year, the Gophers won another tight one, 79-71.
Creighton played a “buy” game at Minnesota in 2006 as it was in the midst of one of the worst starts in school history. CU’s 75-55 loss at Minnesota was its fourth during an 0-7 start. Minnesota native Michelle Kaus was the lone bright spot in loss, as she poured in a career-high 22 points, making 6-of-9 three-pointers in that game.
Back to the here and now. The Gophers are led by sophomore Rachel Banham, who ranks 25th in the NCAA in scoring. The guard has scored in double figures in all 13 games for the Gophers this year and is averaging 20.1 points per game. She’s scored at least 20 points seven times, including a career-high 34 in the season-opener against Washington State. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, she also earned second-team all-conference honors while averaging 16.1 points per game as a rookie last year. The do-it-all-guard also leads the team in assists (60), steals (33) and three-pointers (22).
Micaella Riche is the only other Gopher to average in double figures, as she adds 12.1 points and leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-2 forward is a big reason Minnesota ranks among NCAA leaders in field-goal percentage, as she tops the team by shooting 56.9 percent from the floor. Seemingly everyone on this squad can shoot, as not one regular shoots worse than 37 percent from the field.
Just as Kaus had a career-game in her home state back in 2006, I’m sure the Jays would love to have a career game from Janning in 2012. Although I’m sure she won’t sneak up on the Gophers – seven of the 12 Minnesota student-athletes are from the North Star State. Janning, the reigning Miss Minnesota Basketball, played varsity basketball starting in seventh grade, so you can be sure that women’s basketball fans at Williams Arena will know who Creighton’s No. 23 is when she steps on the floor Sunday. Janning owns the Minnesota prep record with 458 career three-pointers, so it should not surprise the folks up north that she is currently leading the MVC by shooting 47.5 percent (19-40) from three-point range this season.
A win on Sunday would not only equal Creighton’s best start under Jim Flanery, it would give the Bluejays another solid resume-building victory as it heads into Missouri Valley Conference play.
There will be no local radio for this one, but you can listen to a call of the game from the Minnesota perspective here, pay for the video webcast here and follow live stats here.
Random Links, Thoughts and Numbers
– Congrats again to Flan. The Bluejay leader set the Creighton career wins record in CU’s 66-57 win over Miami (Ohio) in Cancun. He now has 198 career victories, surpassing Bruce Rasmussen (196) for the school record.
– Sarah Nelson and Carli Tritz are tied for the team-lead with 40 assists. Those 4.0 assists per game rank second in the MVC.
– Nelson also ranks second in the MVC in field-goal percentage (.535), blocked shots (14) and assist-turnover ratio (2.1).
– Creighton does not have one player ranked in the MVC top-15 in scoring. Nelson’s team-leading 11.8 points per game ranks 16th in the league.
– Creighton is shooting 44.8 percent from three-point range in its last four games, while it’s averaging 11.8 three-pointers made per game in that span.
– The Jays scored a season-high 91 points against South Florida on Dec. 22, their highest scoring game since scoring 96 against North Dakota on Dec. 20, 2010.
– Creighton tied a school-record with 16 three-pointers against USF. The Jays had twice drained 16 threes in a game previously (at UC Davis, 11-27-09; vs. Oral Roberts, 12-6-89)
– Creighton is 0-5 all-time against Minnesota, including 0-3 under Jim Flanery. CU is 0-4 in Minneapolis.
– After getting out-rebounded in its first six games, Creighton has won the battle of the boards in three of its last four games.
– National pub is nice. In this article, the Bluejays are ranked third among “Mid-Majors.”
– Happy Birthday to Sarah Nelson, who turns 21 on Sunday. Winning is always a great gift.
– Minnesota won the “Women’s Basketball Invitational” last year and finished 19-17 after entering the postseason with a losing record. I know what you’re thinking, isn’t a third women’s postseason tournament completely unnecessary? The answer is yes.