Neuvirth locks down on defense against St. Louis
A hidden gem on the Creighton campus so far this season is Jim Flanery and the Bluejay Women’s Basketball team. They have been quietly playing some good basketball with solid wins over Arkansas St., Davidson, and Kansas St. at home while escaping with an overtime victory at UC-Davis. Their only blemish was a loss on the road to Marquette. Well tonight, the Bluejay Women pushed their record to 5-1 tonight with a 69-58 win over St. Louis.
Tonight was my first opportunity to see the women play and Creighton had St. Louis on the ropes from the very beginning. With the score tied 4-4, Creighton then went on a 20-1 run holding St. Louis without a field goal for almost 10 minutes. Megan Neuvirth led the way in the first half with 12 points with Sam Schuett with 10 points, 3 blocks and 2 assists heading into the locker room with a 39-19 lead and holding St. Louis to 25% shooting.
In the second half, things were a different story. Creighton stretched the lead to 29 with 13:47 to go, but the Bluejays weren’t as focused and crisp and were actually outscored by St. Louis 39-30. Creighton pretty much maintained their lead in the second half and losing the game was not really a danger. However, coach Flanery was not afraid to use all of his timeouts including three in the final four minutes obviously frustrated with the play of the women in the second half where St. Louis finished the game on a 17-9 run during the last 7:30 of the game.
Down the stretch though to help maintain the lead, freshman Ally Jensen hit three 3-pointers including a spectacular look-off shot from three where she motioned her head like she was going to pass to the corner and the defender went to defend the other player and she turned back and nailed the shot.
Neuvirth did finish with 20 points but fouled out with 5:29 left in the game. Schuett just missed a double-double with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Jensen finished with 11 points while Kelsey Woodard added another 10.
The Bluejay Women now look toward next Wednesday’s matchup against in-state rival Nebraska to start a three-game Big 12 tour including hosting nationally ranked Oklahoma on December 20th. There are some things that they will need to work out before then against a currently undefeated Nebraska team receiving poll votes, especially holding leads. Coach Flanery told the crowd at the end of the game, “If you can make it down to Lincoln on Wednesday, it would be great to have you there.” I’m not one to turn down a little road trip. Plus it is rivalry week. Are you going to go?