With 3:46 left in the third quarter at the Creighton women’s basketball game, senior guard Lauren Jensen joined senior guard/forward Morgan Maly on the bench, each having four fouls. It was the perfect opportunity for the Friars, who had a five-point lead at the time, to extend their advantage and steal a game on the road in Omaha.
But with an experienced team like Creighton, other players were ready and able to step up. Graduate guard Jayme Horan, for example, finished with 11 points in the second half and 16 points for the contest and came in with an immediate impact on the game.
“We’re just [going to] have to tough out every single game,”Horan said. “We’re [going to]get everybody’s best shot, so we have to stay ready.”
Creighton had been effective in the game for much of the first half. Creighton took a 39-33 lead into halftime, and Jensen only reached her second personal foul with seven seconds left in the second quarter. It was a stretch in the early part of the third quarter that got Maly three personal fouls and Jensen two personal fouls to help Providence to as large as a six-point lead with 2:43 left in the third.
Horan, joined by graduate guard Molly Mogensen, established consistent scoring options outside of Jensen and Maly, which proved pivotal late in the game. Mogensen was particularly efficient from the field, shooting 7-11 from the floor and 3-4 from three to lead all Bluejays with 17 points.
“I think we were able to make adjustments, and our experience helps out with that. People were ready to step up when Morgan [Maly] and Lauren [Jensen] got in foul trouble. … It just speaks to our preparation and how everyone stays ready,” Mogensen said.
When Jensen and Maly reentered the game very late in the third quarter, they helped propel the Jays to a 26-12 Creighton fourth quarter victory, which was enough to turn a one-possession game into a double-digit win for the Jays, 79-66. Creighton would finish the game on an 18-2 run that turned a three-point deficit into a 13-point victory in the final five minutes.
“It was a fight. … That’s a team that was picked third in our league, so they clearly have the potential to play at that level–and they did,” Head Coach Jim Flanery said. “[I’m] just really pleased with what we did from a belief standpoint, because I think it would have been easy to kind [of] feel sorry for ourselves.”
Jensen and Maly both finished the game in double-figures, adding 16 and 13 to Creighton’s total, respectively. While Jensen contributed 12 points in the first 20 minutes, Maly was able to add eight of her 13 in the final quarter.
In addition to the thrilling ending, a long-standing record was broken at D.J. Sokol Arena. Maly, who entered the game against Providence just one 3-pointer away from sole possession of first place in the career 3-point record book, managed a triple in the second quarter to eclipse Kathy Halligan with her 310th career shot from deep.
“It does make sense why she’s such a good 3-point shooter,” Flanery said. “My staff did a really good job of just getting [Maly] to be more shot-ready. … They saw how much of a 3-point shooting weapon she could be.”
Creighton was presented with a difficult cover down low while facing Providence’s senior forward Olivia Olsen, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds while leading the Friars in minutes–this game with 36. Olsen also led the Friars in shot attempts with 16, which is more than double the next closest player in that category.
Providence’s leading scorer entering the game, graduate guard Grace Efosa, was held to just nine points on 2-6 shooting from the floor. Efosa had no points in the final quarter.
“[Efosa]’s a really good mid-range player, and we can switch more screens with her, probably, than a lot of teams do. … [She] is a little bit better matchup for us, probably, than Olsen… I thought we contested pretty well and didn’t give her the real easy ones,” Flanery said.
Following another home matchup against Seton Hall on Wednesday, the Bluejays will travel back east to play Villanova tomorrow.