Bluejays bounce back at Providence

The Creighton women’s basketball team avenged their earlier loss to the Providence Friars, winning 64-46 on the road following a  blowout loss to Villanova in which Wildcat Maddie Siegrist broke Villanova’s scoring record.

The Jays had another below average shooting night, but showed dramatic defensive improvements from both their earlier game against Providence and their recent matchup with Villanova.

After a fairly evenly matched first half in which the Jays shot only 28% from the field and gave up only 20 points, Creighton dominated the second half of the game, shooting 52% and outscoring Providence, 41-26.

The Jays were lead against Providence by junior forward Emma Ronsiek, who totaled 20 points and seven rebounds in the win. 

The Jays’ earlier matchup with Villanova began about as poorly as Creighton could have imagined, missing their first 18 shots from the field, not making a shot until the 7:44 mark in the second quarter. 

“I think we were coming into the game confident, but they definitely came out with more spark than us,” junior forward Mallory Brake said. “I think it did rattle us a little bit, and we didn’t settle in as much offensively.”

The Bluejays also struggled on defense, allowing Villanova forward Maddie Burke to make all five of her threes in the first quarter, ending the quarter with a 26-6 deficit.

“They jumped out and it was never a game,” head coach Jim Flannery said. “I thought defensively our communication really let us down, our communication, awareness and willingness to be connected on defense really let us down. I know the stats say we were 0 for 15 in the first quarter and that contributes, but just really disappointed in what we allowed to happen at the beginning of the game.”

The two teams evened out as the game went on, with a late game push by Creighton causing the final score to be much closer, but the Jays ultimately lost, 73-57. 

Superstar Villanova forward Maddy Siegrist broke the all-time scoring record for Villanova midway through the fourth quarter, cheers erupting from the Wildcats’ bench as she toppled the mark that had been set over 30 years ago by Shelly Pennefather.

“There’s so many great players who played at Villanova,” Siegrist said. “Just hearing the bench yelling, to pass her record, it’s such a blessing, I never thought I’d be in this position.”

Siegrist was eligible to enter the WNBA draft last year but decided to come back for another year at Villanova following their trip to the NCAA tournament in 2022.

The games pushed Creighton to 13-6 on the season and 17-4 in conference play, putting them at fourth place in the league, an underwhelming mark for the league’s projected runner-ups.

The Jays will be back in action in a road matchup with Georgetown on January 28.