Creighton Women’s Basketball (13-14) took down the Butler Bulldogs (9-18) on Wednesday, Feb. 18 for a well-earned 67-58 victory heading into the end of the season.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Jays had faced losses against No. 1-ranked UConn and Villanova. Heading on the road, head coach Jim Flannery said that the team was feeling “wobbly.” Things were especially amplified with “their second-leading scorer” freshman Neleigh Gessert’s new injury, landing her on the bench for the game.
“The way you look at injuries is it gives somebody an opportunity who maybe hasn’t quite had as much of an opportunity,” Coach Flannery noted.
The small-numbered rotation of girls indeed stepped up on the court and ensured a consistent lead throughout the game. The Jays started out the game strong and headed into halftime with a 44-28 lead. The Bulldogs pushed back however, earning 15 points in the third quarter to the Jays’ mere 7, tightening the gap and urging for tighter defense.
“After halftime, we didn’t have the best start coming out of the third quarter, but I think we just came together as a group and were just like ‘let’s stay calm, composed,’” said Grace Boffeli in an interview with ESPN.
Forward Boffeli’s astonishing performance led the team through with ease. She earned herself 15 points and 9 rebounds throughout the matchup.
This rightful leadership earned an all-around team victory for the girls. Only having 7 players available to take the floor, each contributed greatly. Freshman Ava Zediker finished with 13 points, sophomore Allison Heathcock with 11, freshman Norah Gessert with 9, senior Kennedy Townsend with 8 and 2 for sophomore Elizabeth Gentry.
“Grace, you see how much toughness she has and how effective she is … Kennedy Townsend is a really good leader too. Those guys deserve a lot of credit,” remarked coach Flannery in the same interview. “Our freshmen get a lot of credit for having the potential and making the plays that they do. You don’t navigate Division l basketball as a freshman and have the success they have without good leadership.”
Nearing the end of the season, the girls are adamant to make the most of it, which was highly exemplified in their performance.
“I’m so proud of my team. We have two games left, I think we are just going to embrace every opportunity and play as hard as we can because time is flying and it’s almost March,” Boffeli told reporters.
The Jays will head into their last home game of the season on Thursday, Feb. 26 with tipoff at 8 p.m. Following this, they will travel to Cincinnati to play Xavier at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 as their last regular season game before the highly anticipated Big East Tournament.