In the words of Austin Powers — “Allow myself to introduce … myself. My name is Richie Cunningham.” You’re right, I probably should have ended that quote sooner. My name is Rob Simms. You’ve likely seen my name affiliated with Creighton athletics since I joined the Sports Information Staff in January of 2001. I ended that official affiliation as a Creighton employee in April of this year, but I’m very thankful that all of the friendships and work relationships I made over the past decade-plus have kept me close to the athletic programs. Namely I’m still fortunate enough to continue my work with the women’s basketball team by providing color commentary on home radio broadcasts and serving as a stats “free-lancer” for men’s basketball telecasts.
Besides, if you follow me on Twitter (@IamRobSimms) you can clearly see that I did not abandon my affinity for Creighton nor sports information when I left the school. With that in mind, the White & Blue Review team was kind enough to extend an invitation to me to join their efforts on the PREMIER Creighton fan website dedicated to ALL of its athletic programs. So with that brief introduction behind me, let us move forward with my first women’s basketball game preview.
Creighton (4-2) at Houston (4-5)
Game #7 • Saturday, Dec. 8 • 2 p.m.
Series History: Tied 1-1
Creighton heads south with all sorts of momentum, having played its best basketball of the season over its last three halves (plus an overtime period). The Bluejays trailed BYU 35-19 at halftime in Salt Lake City on November 28. The Bluejays battled back to force overtime against BYU and steal a 65-62 victory from the decaffeinated Cougars, behind a breakout performance from freshman Marissa Janning. The former Minnesota Miss Basketball scored 17 of her team-high 19 points after halftime at BYU to spearhead the win at the home of the Utah Jazz.
Despite a week between games, the Jays were able to build on their big win when they used a perfectly executed game plan to upend nationally-ranked Nebraska at D.J. Sokol Arena on Wednesday night. Janning again led the Bluejay offense with 19 points, on 7-of-10 shooting from the field after she had gone a combined 0-for-12 in her first two collegiate home games. Perhaps the biggest number of the night however was ZERO. That’s right, even if you didn’t play in this game, you scored as many points as Nebraska’s Jordan Hooper. Hooper, a National Player of the Year Candidate, entered the night averaging 17.9 points per game and left Omaha with a bagel. Why? Sarah Nelson, that’s why. The junior forward, who has been Creighton’s best player through six games this year, shut down Hooper, limiting her outside looks and cutting off drives to the basket from the 6-foot-2 Big Ten First-Teamer.
The Bluejays are an impressive 4-2 heading into their Saturday matinee game at Houston. Yes I described their 4-2 mark as impressive. Their only two losses have come to nationally-ranked teams (Oklahoma & Kansas), their first three wins came away from home and their most recent win came over a top-25 team which was picked to finish second in a tough Big Ten. Five of Creighton’s first six opponents this year played in the NCAA Tournament last year and South Dakota was a WNIT participant. All six opponents won at least 21 games last year and were a combined 139-59 (.702) in the 2011-12 season. So to be 4-2 against that schedule impresses me – and you should now be impressed as well.
Creighton’s next two opponents are the only non-conference foes for the Jays which posted losing records last year. Houston went 3-26 last year, but has already surpassed last season’s win total in its first nine games this season. North Dakota State was 11-20 last year, so the Bluejays are officially in their “easy” part of the non-conference schedule. Two “easy” games out of 11 – that sounds about right if you’ve paid attention to Jim Flanery’s scheduling philosophy over the past decade.
I use quotations with “easy” because it’s rarely easy to play on the court of a Southwest Conference (Editors have informed me that conference doesn’t exist anymore) … Big East Conference (What’s that? Oh, they join that next year?) … Conference USA (Right? YES! I got it) opponent. The Cougars are already 4-1 at home this season and have won their last four at Hofheinz Pavilion since dropping their home opener against Alabama.
Houston has played nine games already, but this is their last game until Dec. 22. They must really put academics first at Houston, a two-week break for finals? A very strange scheduling quirk for third-year head coach Todd Buchanan.
Speaking of Buchanan, let’s talk about the head man for the Cougars. Buchanan posted a 3-25 record in his final season as head coach at Houston Baptist, which somehow earned him the distinction of worthy to take over for Houston’s all-time winningest coach Joe Curl following the 2009-10 season. Buchanan came in and led the Cougars to a remarkable 26-6 record in his first year, earning C-USA Coach of the Year honors as the Cougars went undefeated in league play and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. But the 2011-12 season was not quite as magical for Houston, as the Cougars suffered through their worst season in school history, winning just three games en route to a 3-26 mark last year.
So now, in year three of the Buchanan regime, the Cougars stand at 4-5 through nine games after winning just one non-conference game a year ago. The first thing that hits me when looking at Houston this season is the Cougars’ size. Houston’s roster lists 15 players and 10 of those individuals are at least 6-feet-tall. By comparison, the Bluejays have just two active players listed at 6-foot or taller – Sarah Nelson (6-0) and Alyssa Kamphaus (6-3). But then you dive into their stats and see their leading scorer is four inches shorter than Creighton’s smallest player. That’s right, 5-foot-1 senior guard Porsche “911” Landry is pouring in 16.3 points per game, while jacking up 15 shots per game.
Porsche is a fifth-year senior who averaged 22 points in three games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. The former first-team all C-USA guard scored 37 points in the season-opener last year, and while she has shown a propensity for scoring, she also leads the team in assists and steals. She’s one of only four returners from last year’s disappointing team. The Cougars have welcomed 10 newcomers to the fold this season, one of whom is Yasmeen Thompson. (Admit it, you just thought, “What ever happened to Yasmine Bleeth?”) Thompson is a 6-foot-2 junior center who transferred in from Paris Junior College and is averaging a double-double through her first nine Division I games. She’s started all nine and is averaging 10.2 points and a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game.
OK, so they’re tall and therefore they have good rebounding numbers, right? Wrong. For as much size as the roster lists, they are a minus-1.9 on the glass this year. While that’s far better than Creighton’s minus-8.7 average on the glass through six games, it’s still strange. There have been plenty of missed shots in Houston’s game – as there have been an average of 88 rebounds available (compare that to 70 rebounds per Bluejay game) – but the Cougars’ opponents have pulled in more.
The Cougars lack depth as well. Only seven players have played in all nine games this season. Five of those players are averaging better than 27 minutes per game, while the other two are playing 16 and 22 minutes per game. Compare that to the nice nine-player rotation Flan has put together (look for Sammy Jensen’s minutes to bump up with the injury to Jasmin Corbin) this year and you have to like the way the Bluejay bench stacks up in this contest. The Bluejay bench looks even better after back-to-back 19-point performances from Janning and very solid consecutive 9-point games from Jordan Garrison in CU’s last two wins.
The Bluejays have been outrebounded in every game they’ve played this year, but they’ve closed that gap in their last two games. Nevertheless, the Bluejays, who have never been a team blessed with size, are still amidst their longest stretch of games without more rebounds than their opponent since an eight-game MVC stretch during the 2006-07 season. Could this be the game to snap that skid?
Creighton has been able to overcome that negative stat by taking care of the ball. The Bluejays have ranked among the nation’s elite in fewest turnovers per game throughout Flan’s tenure and this season’s squad is averaging only 14.2 turnovers per game to go along with an impressive plus-5.2 turnover margin. Both of those numbers rank in the NCAA top-30 and have helped keep the Bluejays in games despite poor shooting and poor rebounding.
After shooting a season-best 56.3 percent from the field against Nebraska – their first game over 40 percent this year – the Bluejays are still only shooting 37.4 percent from the floor. That mark would be CU’s second-worst shooting percentage over the past 13 seasons. The Jays also did well from long range against NU, shooting a season-high 40.9 percent on a season-high nine three-point baskets. But CU’s three-point percentage is still only 30.7 percent, a figure which ranks as the second lowest in school history.
I point out those stats, because the fact truly remains that even despite not playing their best basketball, Creighton is 4-2 on the young season. That, combined with the thrashing of a nationally-ranked in-state rival, should give hope for the remainder of this season.
Don’t look now, but reigning MVC Newcomer of the Week Marissa Janning has scored just two points fewer than Carli Tritz on the season. Janning, who scored just 12 points in her first four collegiate games, has dropped in 38 over the last two. Tritz, who also started slowly during her stand-out sophomore season, looked more like herself against NU and let’s hope her scoring begins to trend upward as it did near the end of non-conference play last year. The preseason MVC Player of the Year is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting only 38 percent from the field – down from her career averages of 13 points per game and 45.4 percent. Janning is up to 8.3 points per game, making 14-of-26 (.538) shots from the floor and 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range in her last two games, following a sluggish 3-of-25 (.120) start from the field to begin her career.
Nelson was held to a season-low four points against Nebraska, but her other contributions in the game stood out. Her defense shut down the All-American Hooper, while she also topped the team with eight rebounds and six assists. Nelson has enjoyed a great start to her junior campaign, leading the team in scoring (11.8 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (21) and blocks (9). Her skill set, along with the improved play of Kamphaus in the post, will continue to create match-up problems for opponents throughout the season.
Despite going up against a team which totaled three wins last year and is picked to finish 10th in a 12-team league, the MVC favorites will still need to take care of the rock and continue to get contributions from their bench to improve to 4-0 away from home. I fully expect them to return from the Lone Star State with a victory and head into Finals Week on a three-game winning streak.
There’s no college football to occupy your Saturday this weekend, so give this team a listen on 1180 KZOT or online right here. Of course live stats and Twitter are options as well.
(Was this a long preview? Maybe, but keep in mind that writing just under 2,000 words is short for me after doing game notes and media guides for that last 11 years. And the four of you still reading this likely appreciate my useless information far more than my family does.)