Last time out: Creighton (14-7, 8-2) took down last place Southern Illinois in a blowout. The Jays held a 15 point first half lead before the Salukis finished with a 6-0 run in the final minute to close within single digits at the half. After the second half began with a 10-0 Creighton run, Coach Flanery featured a variety of reserves throughout the second half. With eight minutes remaining, a Kelsey Woodard three pointer gave Creighton its largest lead of the game at 56-30. On pace to match my prediction of 65-40, the final eight minutes featured a 13-6 Saluki run ruining my chances at a perfect prediction, but ultimately a 62-43 victory. The Jays put on a performance that most kleptomaniacs would be jealous of. Aggressive defense allowed for a season-high 15 steals. Junior DaNae Moore was guilty of five thefts while sophomore Ally Jensen had four steals of her own. Those steals led to 28 points off of turnovers. Sam Schuett grabbed her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kelsey Woodard led the team with 13 points. Freshman Alyssa Kamphaus was a bright spot off the bench with eight points of her own, while freshman phenom Carli Tritz scored 11 points in playing a career low 19 minutes.
Next up: The final game of the current four-game homestand is against second-to-last place Evansville. While playing at Evansville on January 6, the Jays blew out the Purple Aces 81-55. Four players finished in double figures for Creighton; the typical Schuett/Woodard/Tritz trio, and newcomer Alyssa Kamphaus, who dropped a career high 12 points in just seven minutes of play. With the win last night, the Bluejay women sit just a half-game back in the conference standings behind Northern Iowa. The win gave them sole possession of second place after sharing it with Missouri State for the past week. A win on Saturday would be even bigger though. It would put Creighton in prime position with Northern Iowa and Missouri State facing off on Sunday. If the Jays take care of business with Evansville, after Sunday, they will be in one of two positions: in a tie for first place with Northern Iowa if the Panthers lose or still in second place, but a full game ahead of Missouri State if the Bears lose.
Evansville: The Purple Aces (7-14, 2-8) are losers of their past five games and 10 of their last 12. Their two conference wins were against last place Southern Illinois and a struggling Wichita State squad. They nearly upset Drake at home last month, though felt short in a 62-69 overtime loss to the Bulldogs. Briyana Blair leads Evansville in scoring with 10.4 ppg. The junior sat out last season in accordance with NCAA rules after transferring from Miami (Fla.). She received legitimate playing time for the Hurricanes, including four starts as a sophomore. Sophomore Samantha Heck also averages in double figures with 10.2 ppg for the Purple Aces.
How to Beat Evansville: I could probably just copy and paste exactly what I said for how to beat Southern Illinois in order to explain how to beat Evansville. Basically, the Jays need to just show up. Despite this, Coach Flanery again will have his girls ready. They know what is at stake and how badly a loss would hurt them at this point in conference play. Like the Salukis, the Purple Aces don’t handle the ball well. Look for Creighton to apply defensive pressure and create turnovers.
Prediction: 68-41 Jays. DaNae Moore and Ally Jensen combined for nine steals against SIU in winning the points off of turnovers battle 28-5. It makes it easy to win with that sort of advantage. The bench should be getting some heavy playing time again. If the Jays can shoot the ball well, which they did not do against the Salukis, this game could end up even more brutal than my 27-point victory prediction. #rolljays