Creighton Women’s Basketball (1-2) underwent defeat to transfer Jay Grace Boffeli´s previous team, Northern Iowa (0-3), for a hardfought loss on Nov. 20.
The Jays headed into the game with a tough previous loss to Nebraska on Wednesday, November 12th. Despite this, the girls fought into the end against UNI, though with some flaws to touch on. Head Coach Jim Flannery described the reasons behind this 51-50 defeat.
“We didn’t exactly have great offensive flow in the first half… We could have taken the game in hand right there, and we just didn’t do it,” he explained. “We took average shots. We had five turnovers in the first five ish minutes of the third quarter. I thought that was really the turning point.”
At the end of the first quarter, the Jays led with a close 17-14 score, and further closed the gap as they headed into halftime for a score of 32-22. At this point they had only had seven turnovers, as opposed to UNI’s eight. Flipping the switch after halftime, UNI came back to end the quarter with 12 more points, to Creighton’s mere four. There was a slow start on both ends of the court for the teams after half, but UNI dominated on the Jays’ turnovers and missed opportunities.
Heading into the fourth, UNI jumped to find their first lead of the game, in which the Jays battled to close. Senior Kiani Lockett suffered an injury and was taken to the bench for the game alongside freshman Ava Zediker who was out for a precautionary injury. Within the last 1:28 of the game, the Jays were down by four points. NIU proceeded to make two free throws in bonus, while Freshman Kendall McGee secured two points for a layup followed by sophomore Allison Heathcock’s three-point shot with nine seconds left, putting them only down by one point. Unfortunately, the Jays were not able to secure the winning shot, falling just short. They ended with seven steals, 40 total rebounds, 13 assists, and 16 turnovers as a team.
Sophomore Elizabeth Gentry led them with 10 points and for Lockett, three assists. Additionally, for her big game, Boffeli led with 10 rebounds.
“It was just a surreal moment. Those are some of my favorite people,” Boffeli described the game. “So it was a weird feeling, but those people are in my circle and I am just super thankful that I got the opportunity to play them, but I wish we would have won.”
She went on to explain that at first, the Jays were getting stops on defense, and there was great flow on offense, However, the game quickly turned around when they “couldn’t take care of the ball”.
Looking over the loss, Flannery pointed out some strong aspects of the game. He recalled that there were great rebounds, improved pressing game, as well as growth for the girls in new positions. Freshman Norah Gessert saw new time at point guard in this game.
“I honestly thought she did a good job for someone who’s natural position isn’t point guard, at the college level anyway,” he said.
Additionally, he expressed his satisfaction with the freshmen in such a tight game. He explained that Neleigh Gessert performed well with strong shots, sitting at six points. He also mentioned that McGee played a great game, ending with nine points and three rebounds, as well as an assist and a steal.
This game put the team at a 1-3 record heading into the UNLV tournament over thanksgiving break in which they will take on University of Las Vegas at 2pm on Wednesday, November 26th followed by Northern Arizona on Friday, November 28th. The Jays’ next home game will be tipping off at 1pm at D.J. Sokol Arena on Sunday, December 7th against the University of Tulsa.