Creighton women’s basketball returned to the court with a 67-54 win over cross- town rival University of Nebraska Omaha on Tuesday night, featuring both new and seasoned talent.
Notably, Creighton returns its second and third leading scorers from last year, ju- nior guard Temi Carda and senior forward Jaylyn Agnew.
Last season, Carda averaged 10.1 ppg and 4.7 rebounds per game, while Agnew notched 11.8 ppg and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Carda had a career showing at Baxter Arena, scoring a career–high 25 points, six rebounds and four steals. She credited her teammates’ performances and an emphasis on footwork throughout the last two years.
Creighton produced defensively as well, recording nine blocks and nine steals and stifling any attempts by UNO to narrow the lead.
Carda was pleased with the defensive showing and its effects on the greater game. “I would just say it’s us coming together as a team, making those plays on defense so we have the momentum going on to offense… that’s just a big team effort right there,” she said.
“I would just say that’s a testimony to where we’ve made a big jump as a team.” Coach Jim Flanery spoke on Carda’s performance, saying he was pleased with her ability to perform and play aggressively when he felt that at times the rest of the team was outmatched in physicality by UNO. As for areas for improvement, Flanery frequently stressed ball movement from the bench throughout the game. He said right now the team doesn’t have many one-on-one players, so speed and ball movement will be an important element through the season.
Agnew also returns as an experienced starter and scorer.
She finished with 14 points and five rebounds against UNO and came out strong in a double overtime exhibition win against Concordia on Oct. 22, notching 17 points and 19 rebounds against the reigning National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) champion.
With freshman guard Dee Dee Pryor and sophomore guard Rachael Saunders not playing, Carda noted the difficulty injuries posed to the game plan and the importance of position flexibility.
Key to a successful 2019-2020 season is the ability to build a strong team without forward Audrey Faber, who broke records in her four years starting for the Bluejays, including fifth-most points all time at Creighton and most points scored in a freshman season since 1990.
With 16.4 ppg, Faber scored 25% of the team’s total points and played 178 more minutes than the next highest player, Carda, so the Bluejays will have to look to new players and returning starters to replace her record-setting production.
In its first game, Creighton showed little sign of missing a program great in Faber, who graduated last spring.
Games of note this season include the Cancun Challenge versus West Virginia and Temple Nov. 28-29 in Cancun, Mexico, a pink out game at home against St. John’s on Feb. 14, and two matchups against back-to-back Big East tournament champs DePaul, who Creighton fell to last year’s tournament semifinals.
At Big East media day, the Bluejays were picked to finish fourth in the conference this year, an improvement after finishing 7th last year with a conference record of 8-10.
Creighton will look to continue its strong tournament showings with four straight seasons of making it to the semi- finals of the Big East tournament, which returns to Wintrust Arena in Chicago for a third consecutive year on March 6.
The Bluejays have also made it to the NCAA tournament twice in the last three seasons, in 2017 and 2018.