Calling it a “bounce back” is an understatement for the response the Creighton women’s basketball team had after a 15-point loss to DePaul, returning to D.J. Sokol arena three days later and delivering an 81-51 showcase over visiting St. John’s.
After being outscored in three of the four quarters and shooting 38.7% from the field at DePaul, the Bluejays turned around on Jan. 28 and shot 49.2% from the field, winning all but the fourth quarter — which they trailed by one point — in a display that was near-perfect from all angles.
Defending their home turf in a dominant way, the Bluejays improved to 9-12 on the season and 5-7 in conference play. With the hope of riding this momentum into the final eight games of the regular season, here are four things that went right for Creighton on its journey to a 30-point victory at home:
- Intentional ball movement and diversified shots
From the first whistle, Creighton’s movement on and off the ball was a clear point of success for this new Bluejay squad. Not only was the ball being swung around the perimeter, but the five players on the floor were making cuts towards the basket, diversifying looks from the field.
“I thought our ball movement was really good, [and] I think when we move it like that and everybody touches it, you’re going to shoot the ball a little bit better,” head coach Jim Flanery said. “[We] had a good balance of threes and twos.”
Of the 63 total shots taken over 40 minutes, the Bluejays pretty evenly split the number of three versus two point shots they were taking, though they erred more on the side of two-pointers, with 38. Creighton shot a total of 25 threes.
“We talked about just cutting through the lane. When we stand on the perimeter and screen … instead of going through the lane, I feel like we’re way easier to guard,” Flanery said. “So we made an emphasis on that … and we kind of just hammered that message and I thought it was effective.”
This emphasis on getting into the lane as much as taking shots from deep allowed for Creighton to outscore St. John’s in the paint with a 14-point advantage, 34-20. They also doubled St. John’s three-point production, racking up 11 made triples to the Red Storm’s five.
The biggest takeaway from Creighton’s overall offensive production was that their ball movement opened up looks that went beyond just a three point shot. Stagnant ball movement generally equates to stagnant shooting, and the Bluejays prevented this well by finding open teammates in the paint and going for the higher percentage shot.
“When you get an easier bucket, you get rewarded [and] you’re more motivated to continue to do the things that are working. We were reasonably three-point heavy early — Kendall’s couple of threes and Neleigh’s — but I’m glad that we didn’t just settle into shooting a bunch of threes just because they went in early,” Flanery said. “I felt like we were appropriate in terms of putting pressure on the basket.”
Not to mention, those higher percentage shots usually lead to a higher assist to turnover rate, which the Bluejays delivered on, racking up 22 assists to just five turnovers on the night.
Overall, Creighton’s success the rest of the season will rely heavily on its ability to make smart decisions with and without the ball, dictating ball movement with cuts and lane drives to open up the highest percentage shot.
- Unflappable defensive front
As much as Creighton’s offense shone through most of the 40 minute contest at home, it was the Bluejay defense that jumpstarted dominant offensive possessions. Throughout the game, Creighton outrebounded St. John’s 27-23, limiting the Red Storm to just 20 points in the paint.
This advantage was critical to the Bluejays developing the advantage they did, as last time these teams met in Dec., St. John’s displayed dominance in the paint with 30 points compared to Creighton’s 16. While the Bluejays pulled out the victory in the end in that last meeting, this skew in paint point production kept the score close.
Of the shift in this defensive execution from the game in Dec. to Jan., freshman guard Kendall McGee pointed to an emphasis on defense fueling offense.
“I think this time we kind of relied more on our defense to get us going. We knew from even past games that our offense is not the problem and that it’s our defense that we need to rely on,” she said. “We need to be aggressive, we need to be physical, we need to get stops, and I think that really pushed us forward and really helped us make shots. And as we started to see the ball go through the hoop, we were able to just keep on making more.”
A big part of limiting the Red Storm’s paint performance was stifling Sa’Mya Wyatt. In the last meeting, Wyatt scored 16 points, whereas at D.J. Sokol Arena, the Bluejays — and graduate forward Grace Boffeli — limited Wyatt to just four points by the end of the half and 14 at the end of the game (5-11).
“[Wyatt’s] a really physical player, but I think tonight we just stayed connected, and we knew [the] scout, and we knew who we could help off of, and then we just made it a little difficult for her in the paint,” Boffeli said.
The Red Storm’s other consistent playmaker, Brooke Moore, also struggled against this Bluejay defense, scoring just three points and taking four shot attempts in 34 minutes on the floor.
Overall, the Bluejays reduced St. John’s to just a collective 30.6% from the field and 19.2% from three, displaying the force their defense can bring if they remain connected through the entire 40 minute stretch. As the season continues, this emphasis on defense fueling offense will be critical.
- Focus for the full 40
Looking up at the scoreboard after every quarter, where a slowly climbing gap between the scores was building, it would have been easy for Creighton to become complacent in its 41-25 lead at halftime, or even its 22-13 lead after the first quarter.
But in the huddle, a message directly to the contrary was being shared by Boffeli, one of the team’s most experienced college players.
“In timeouts we were just talking as a team, [saying], ‘Act like it’s 0-0, ignore the scoreboard and don’t let them come back. Just stay together and just keep the momentum going,” Boffeli said.
This mentality allowed the Bluejays to outscore the Red Storm in all but the fourth quarter. After leading 22-13 at the end of the first, Creighton came out in the second and outplayed St. John’s for a 19-12 edge. After halftime, the Bluejays still had their foot on the gas, developing a 25 point margin — the largest of the four quarters — to make sure the game stayed in hand.
The only quarter the Bluejays lost was the fourth, 14-13, though the game was nearly won by that point.
If the Bluejays can maintain this hungry energy and dissatisfied mindset after every quarter, the St. John’s game showed what kind of dividends it can play for the team.
- Freshman playing with fervor
With any young team comes learning curves in all facets of the game. But Creighton’s freshman class has grown so much since the season started, and the culmination of their efforts was evident against the Red Storm.
Freshman guard Ava Zediker led all scorers with 18 points. She went on her own 6-0 run to end the game with two triples, adding seven points in the fourth quarter alone. Her 32 minutes on the floor also included three rebounds, four assists and two steals, making for a very productive night for the first year.
Neleigh Gessert, one of Creighton’s two strongest shooters — the other being Kennedy Townsend, Flanery said — also had herself a night against the visiting Red Storm. Gessert’s 17 points served as her best performance since starting for the first time at Villanova, where she racked up 25 points, and tied with her 17-point performance at Drake in the second game of the season.
Scoring five triples to go with two rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes, Gessert’s double-digit night was critical to giving Creighton the edge.
“[Neleigh] is a great shooter, but I think we all can see just her overall effort that she puts in on defense now, and just the ways she was always up on the ball getting deflections [and] getting blocks,” McGee said. “That’s a part that’s just adding to her game and it’s really making her a dual threat on the offensive and defensive side. I think it’s just great to see.”
Norah Gessert also played a great 22 minutes on the floor, balancing out her sister Neleigh’s offensive performance with work in other ways, dishing four assists, pulling down four rebounds, executing two blocks and collecting two steals.
“Our whole freshman class, I thought, was really good [against St. John’s],” Flanery said. “I think it’s pretty cool to see … how talented that freshman class is and hopefully they just keep pushing each other. That’s the goal is for them to see how good they can be, but also to push their teammates to continue to get better.”
Continuing to develop these young talents, and seeing them peak at the right time in the season, is certainly promising for this Bluejay squad as they navigate the challenges ahead. Not to mention, having Neleigh Gessert and Zediker contributing significant minutes and point production now is a step in the right direction for the future of this team.
Now, hoping to ride the momentum of a 30-point victory over St. John’s, the Bluejays head to South Orange, N.J. today to battle the 15-6 Seton Hall Pirates, a team that is looking to get its sixth win in seven games over the visiting Bluejays .
Success at Seton Hall will require the Bluejays to sustain high-quality ball movement for 40 minutes to diversify their looks from the field, remember the importance of defensive focus fueling offensive production, maintain focus and allow their freshman talent to shine.
While the task might be a tall one, Flanery said his team’s performance versus St. John’s is a near-perfect jumping point to heading into this next conference battle.
“The challenge is to carry it [the win] over to the road. We’ve been better at home and with a young team it’s much harder to win on the road, but we’re at the point in the year where I feel like we’re hopefully ready to take that step,” he said. “I can’t think of a better way to go into Seton Hall than playing the way we did tonight.”