Creighton women’s basketball ended the first half of its conference schedule on a good note this past weekend, collecting two victories that have propelled the Bluejays into the heart of the MVC regular season championship race.

“These two wins [against the University of Northern Iowa and Bradley University] were huge because we could go 4-0 in this home stand, and we could be in the top three in the conference just like that,” sophomore guard Carli Tritz said.

The victories over Northern Iowa and Bradley moved the Jays to 5-4 in conference play.

The record itself may not seem all that impressive. However, the Jays have had to win five of their previous six games in order to bounce back from a 0-3 start to the conference schedule to reach this mark.

During the 5-1 stretch Creighton has moved up to sixth place in the MVC standings and currently sits only one game behind Missouri State University, Northern Iowa and Illinois State University. Plus a great opportunity has reared its head for Creighton to move up the standings even further.

This week the Bluejays will have the opportunity to redeem two of their three opening losses of the conference schedule.

First, Creighton will face the Wichita State Shockers on Thursday night. In the first meeting between these two Valley foes on Jan. 8, Creighton came up just short in a 65-58 loss at Charles Koch Arena.

After suffering their first conference loss of the season, the Shockers come into Omaha with an 8-1 conference record, which remains the best in the MVC.

The game is set to tip off at D.J. Sokol Arena at 7:05 p.m.

In the other contest, the Jays will look to avenge a 70-60 loss at Missouri State on Jan. 5. The matchup between the Bears and the Jays is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena.

“Our kids will be motivated this week because we have two teams that beat us and two teams that are ahead of us in the standings coming in,” head coach Jim Flanery said. “I know our players will be ready.”