Hi Creighton women, welcome to the Big East. All you have to do to win your first game in your new conference is beat a team which put up the best record through non-conference play.
Creighton (6-6) welcomes Villanova (9-1) to D.J. Sokol Arena on Saturday afternoon in the Bluejays’ first conference game as members of the Big East. The Wildcats bring a league-leading RPI of 33 into Creighton’s Big East debut, while the Bluejays carry a respectable, but disappointing, RPI of 84 into their first-ever meeting with the visitors from Philadelphia.
While Villanova has compiled the best record and has the best RPI in the league, its strength of schedule (116) ranks sixth in the conference. Creighton’s RPI and SOS (43) both rank fourth in the conference. However, no team in the Big East has faced more top-50 RPI teams than Creighton’s four top-50 opponents and the Bluejays are the only team in the league with multiple wins vs. top-50 foes. CU’s home wins over South Dakota State (45) and Minnesota (28) account for two of the league’s six top-50 wins. Nova closed non-conference play with its biggest win of the season, a 59-58 win over cross-town rival Temple (RPI 39).
The Wildcats, an NCAA Tournament team with a record of 21-11 a season ago, head to Omaha leading the NCAA in a pair of statistical categories. No team commits fewer turnovers in the nation than these Wildcats, who turn the ball over just 9.2 times per game. Nova not only protects the rock, they also share it equally as well, leading the nation with an assist-turnover ratio of 1.97. Preseason All-Big East selection, sophomore guard Caroline Coyer leads the NCAA with an impressive 4.6 assist-turnover ratio, while senior guard Devon Kane ranks sixth in the country with a 3.8 A-TO ratio.
An intelligent squad, the Wildcats rank second in the NCAA in fewest fouls per game. Head coach Harry Perretta is in his 36th season leading the Wildcats, and he has a team which appears poised to make a run for their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova’s national rankings remind one of Creighton’s national rankings throughout the Jim Flanery era – including the Wildcats’ 9.1 three-pointers per game this season, which ranks ninth in the nation. Nova is allowing just 55.4 points per game on the year, which also ranks in the NCAA top-20.
That last number is the most concerning for Bluejay fans as they look ahead to Saturday’s Big East opener. It’s no secret that Creighton’s offense has been in a funk throughout its 6-6 start, including the lowest scoring game in the Flanery era, a 38-point outing at in-state foe Nebraska two weeks ago. The Bluejays have scored 70 points in a game just once this season, in a 70-62 win over a solid Oregon State team to open their run in Las Vegas before Christmas break. CU is averaging a league-low 59.1 points per game, which ranks 300th (of 343) teams nationally, while its 36.8 field-goal percentage ranks 274th in the NCAA.
Creighton’s offense has struggled to find consistency this season, but its defense is keeping it in games. The Bluejays are allowing only 60.3 points per game, second in the Big East and in the top-60 nationally. In Creighton’s four losses to non-ranked teams, they averaged just 56 points, but lost by an average of 5 points in those games.
As I’ve been saying during our home radio broadcasts throughout the year, basketball is pretty simple when you’re making your shots. Had the Jays managed to make a few more shots in any of those four losses, the outcome may have been different. As it stands, they didn’t make the shots they needed to and the Jays find themselves with a .500 record entering league play.
Despite CU’s sporadic shooting, Bluejay fans can still have confidence in this team. Statistically speaking, this team has too many good shooters to continue these struggles throughout an entire season. Take preseason all-Big East selection Marissa Janning as an example. The 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year shot 39 percent from three-point range last year (ranking 25th in the NCAA), but has yet to regain that shooting touch from beyond the arc, hitting only 30 percent of her first 83 three-point attempts this year.
However, the sophomore standout is attempting free throws at a clip not seen from a Bluejay since Hall of Famer Christy Neneman more than a decade ago. Janning has proven her shot hasn’t completely abandoned her, making 87.5 percent of her free-throw attempts. She is attempting better than five free throws per game, something no Bluejay has done since Neneman during her 2002 Valley MVP campaign, and her 64 attempts represent 42 percent of Creighton’s attempts at the line this year.
All of that to say, Janning can shoot. She will hit shots this year. Her percentages will go up. The basketball gods will intervene.
Hopefully the same can be said for McKenzie Fujan (44 3FG% last year, 28 3FG% this year), Jordan Garrison (29 3FG% last year, 21 3FG% this year) and Sammy Jensen (33 3FG% last year, 23 3FG% this year). If those numbers don’t improve, Creighton’s first run through the Big East will be a grind.
As Big East play begins, preseason all-Big East forward Sarah Nelson will need to assert herself. Nelson’s percentages are slightly below where they were as a first-team all-MVC performer last year, while she’s averaging a career-best 12.7 points per game. The Bluejays are hopeful that her play at the Duel in the Desert will be indicative of the numbers she’ll put up in conference play. The super senior averaged 17 points and 8.3 rebounds and shot 50 percent from the field in CU’s three-game run in Las Vegas, which included a season-high 25 points in a win over Oregon State.
Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to be a part Creighton and Big East basketball history. Head down to campus and welcome Villanova as the first ever Big East Conference basketball game involving the Bluejays is played at D.J. Sokol Arena at 2 p.m. You’ll have bragging rights over the 17,000-plus who will later incorrectly claim they witnessed the first Creighton Big East basketball game.
Rob’s Ramblings
- Saturday’s game features the top two free throw shooting teams in the Big East. Both teams are making 73.4 percent of their free throws to lead the league.
- Marissa Janning is on pace to attempt better than 160 free throws this year, the most by a Bluejay since the turn of the century.
- Creighton is 31-5 in conference games played at D.J. Sokol Arena
- The Bluejays are a perfect 3-0 in conference debuts:
- Missouri Valley Conference: 75-53 vs. Bradley, Jan. 7, 1993
- Western Athletic Conference: 84-57 vs. Colorado State, Jan. 11, 1991
- High Country Athletic Conference: 83-69 vs. BYU, Jan. 28, 1988
- Creighton is 8-3 in conference openers under Jim Flanery
- Creighton is 9-2 in its home conference opener under Jim Flanery (4-1 at Sokol)
- Do you still think about the MVC? I do. A very brief comparison shows the benefit of Creighton’s move in women’s basketball:
- Only two of 10 Big East teams had below .500 records in non-conference play. Only one MVC team (Wichita State) was above .500 in non-conference action.
- Big East is the No. 7 RPI conference with a 66-40 record vs. Division I teams. MVC is the No. 18 RPI conference with a 39-62 record vs. Division I teams.
- The average RPI of Big East teams is 105, with seven of 10 teams at 111 or better and none worse than 200 (Providence is the lowest at 188). The average RPI of MVC teams is 189, with Wichita State’s RPI of 69 topping the league and ranking as the only Valley team in the top 140. Four MVC teams are below 200 (SIU is the lowest at 336).
- Injured senior guard Carli Tritz will provide color commentary on Saturday’s radio broadcast, listen to her and Brad Burwell here.