In a monumental game, the top two women’s basketball teams in the Big East met as Creighton hosted Paige Bueckers and the No. 6 Connecticut Huskies. The game drew a lot of attention, as this was the annual women’s basketball “Pink Out” game for Creighton vs. Cancer. This was also the first time Creighton’s women’s basketball team has played in CHI Health Center since 2021, only the fourth time it did so in program history. With a lot riding on this game, the Bluejays were looking for their first win over the Huskies in program history but ultimately fell 72-61.
“I think this whole year we’ve been talking about staying connected and responding to big runs in big games like this,” senior Molly Mogensen said. “It’s nice to see that we can respond like we did in the third quarter and like how we did throughout the whole game.”
“I thought our half-court defense was pretty good,” Head Coach Jim Flanery said. “We had a few points where we had breakdowns, but overall, I thought we were pretty attentive.”
Unlike many of UConn’s games, the first quarter was tightly contested. 2024 Big East Player of the Year, Paige Bueckers, who averages nearly 20 points per game, was held scoreless in the first quarter. Tough defense and lukewarm offense ensured neither team was able to get a big advantage, the Huskies leading 15-13 after the first ten minutes.
Turnovers began to change the game in the second quarter. The Bluejays turned the ball over 10 times in the second quarter alone compared to the Huskies, who had only one turnover during the second quarter. This difference allowed the Huskies to go on a 15-2 run to end the first half, earning them a 33-19 lead at halftime.
“We felt like we got tired, and so some of those turnovers were probably because of that,” Flanery said. “I thought we had a lot of out-of-bounds turnovers, and then I thought we were just forcing some passes, so that was a learning experience for us.”
“You have to bring a different level of intensity and attentiveness when you play against a school that has eight players that can light it up at any point,” senior Morgan Maly said. “I think they made a lot of tough buckets, but they built their lead on a run of our mistakes.”
After halftime, points in the third quarter came fast and furious for both teams. The Bluejays staged a comeback early in the third, starting the second half on a 7-0 run to get within seven points of the Huskies. However, Bueckers caught fire, scoring 12 points in the third quarter alone, including a one-on-one layup to end the quarter, stretching the Huskies’ lead to 18.
“Offensively, we worked a lot better in the second half, but the second quarter was our undoing,” Flanery said. “[Giving] credit to them, I thought they really made it difficult for us to move the ball. Despite that, we scored 19 points in a half, and we didn’t get frustrated or disconnected, so we were able to fight when it would’ve been easy to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Facing an overwhelming deficit, the Bluejays began to tighten the score, going 4-7 from the three-point line in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from senior Morgan Maly to reach within 11 points with three minutes left to play.
Senior Brooke Littrell, who lost her father, Eric, to cancer in October, was pivotal in that stretch to close the margin, adding five of her career-high 12 points in the fourth quarter to push a comeback for the Bluejays.
“You’re going to get me emotional, but yeah, Brooke lost her dad in October. …Brooke probably doesn’t play as much, but God, she was great,” Flanery said. “I am just really happy for her. Her mom was here, and…I am really happy for her.”
Unfortunately, her efforts were not enough, as the Huskies were able to claim victory and sole possession at the top of the conference with a final score of 72-61.
Besides the implications in the Big East standings, this was also a historic moment for the Creighton program. The game, held in CHI Health Center, hosted a record-breaking crowd of 11,141 fans, shattering Creighton’s previous attendance record of 4,439.
“It’s a testament to the fight against cancer for sure and it’s also a testament to our senior class that has done so much to elevate our program,” Flanery said. “It is also a testament to what UConn has done for our sport to the point where people want to come out and watch. I told them that my group’s not used to playing in front of a home crowd like this, so I thanked them for this opportunity. As much as our senior group is responsible for that, UConn basketball also has a big part in that.”
“It means a lot,” Maly said. “I think it speaks to where women’s sports is atand where women’s basketball is at when you have the opportunity to play in these big gyms. I’m really grateful for this opportunity.”
The Jays traveled to the nation’s capital Wednesday night to face Georgetown and now look to defend their home court as they host Providence this Sunday at 1 p.m.