The Creighton women’s basketball team was left with a bad taste in its mouth following a 69-48 rout served to the Bluejays by the No. 12 University of Oklahoma Sooners.
According to head coach Jim Flanery, Creighton demonstrated poor taste in shot selection. In their preparation for the Sooners, the Bluejays emphasized getting the ball inside to juniors forward Sarah Nelson and center Alyssa Kamphaus and not relying on shots from beyond the arc.
However, of the 65 shots Creighton took during the game, 31 came from beyond the arc, and the Bluejays made only seven of those attempts.
“We should have thrown it inside more,” junior guard Carli Tritz said. “We missed some mismatches down low.”
Overall, the Bluejays shot 17-65 (.262) from the field.
According to Tritz, Creighton’s inability to make shots led to issues with Creighton’s transition defense.
“In transition, we weren’t getting our right matchups because when you make shots you can guard who you want to,” Tritz said. “You go with your scouting report. When you start missing shots, it hurts your defense as well.”
Out of the starting gates Creighton was making shots and looked like a team poised to give a power conference team a tough test as it had in its NCAA Tournament game against St. John’s University of the Big East.
In the first three minutes of the game, Creighton jumped out to an 8-2 lead. However, within one minute of assuming that lead, Oklahoma had scored seven unanswered points to take a lead they would not give back to Creighton.
“Other than the first few minutes of the game, we never put together an offensive stretch that really allowed us to feel like we were back in the game,” Flanery said.
According to senior guard Ally Jensen and Flanery, Creighton’s scouting report was not well prepared.
“We were giving people open shots we shouldn’t have,” Jensen said.
According to Flanery, Creighton gave too much help defending junior center Nicole Griffin in the post, leaving open shots for Oklahoma’s guards Aaryn Ellenberg and Whitney Hand.
Ellenberg, a junior selection to the preseason All-Big 12 team, led all scorers with 19 points on 8-12 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t expect Ellenberg to be that big of a game-changer and do whatever she wanted, when she wanted,” Tritz said.
Hand, a fifth-year senior and an honorable mention pick for the All-Big 12 team, contributed 14 points and Griffin added eight points. In all, Ellenberg, Hand and Griffin were the top three scorers and rebounders for the Sooners.
Jensen led the Bluejays in scoring with 13 points that included three 3-pointers. Junior guard McKenzie Fujan contributed seven points, while Nelson and junior guard Jordan Garrison tacked on six points each.
The Jays put the loss behind them and hit the road on Wednesday to take on South Dakota State University. The Jackrabbits are the defending Summit League Champions and an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, but Creighton was able to oull off the road victory 63-54. Tritz led the Jays with 13 points. Senior guard Jasmin Corbin scored a career-high 11 points, and Fujan and Nelson also chipped in 11 each.
The Bluejays will play at the University of South Dakota on Tuesday. Last season, the Bluejays suffered a 56-53 overtime loss to the South Dakota Coyotes. The game will tip off in the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, S.D. at 2 p.m.