Creighton women’s basketball kept things rolling with a 71-51 win at St. John’s on Friday.
The Bluejays have now won 11 straight, improving to 21-3 on the season. They’ve also won their last four games by double-digits and last three by at least 20. Only one of the last four matchups have been at home.
In this game, they led for over 36 minutes. Here are three takeaways:
Starters Shine
Creighton’s first 45 points were scored by a group of three players. Yes, just the three you’d expect.
Emma Ronsiek scored 10 of her 14 points in the opening quarter of play, and Lauren Jensen knocked down her first six shot attempts en route to a 15-point first half. Morgan Maly trailed both with nine points through two quarters, but scored 11 after the break.
Maly and Jensen finished with 20 points each, while Ronsiek slowed down a bit for a mere 14 points, taking just two shots after halftime.
It wasn’t just them down the stretch, either. Molly Mogensen and Mallory Brake finally got involved in the third quarter, the former finishing the contest with nine points and eight assists.
Overall, Creighton’s starters shot 62.2% from the field and 50% from deep. That group did miss three of five free-throw attempts, but was otherwise lights out in leading the team to a win. Every time St. John’s made a slight push, the Bluejays had a response.
The bench didn’t get on the board until there was nearly three minutes remaining. The final four points were scored by true freshman McKayla Miller, whose second bucket came on a layup following a nice crossover in the paint.
It’s expected that Creighton’s top three scorers will carry the load most nights. But a performance as productive and efficient as this one was for all three must be appreciated.
Defense Also Impressive
The Bluejays came to play on both sides of the ball.
St. John’s didn’t enter with a good offense, having yet to hit 70 points in regulation of a Big East game this season, but Creighton still was strong on that end.
Leading scorer Unique Drake was held to seven points, tied for her second-lowest total this year. She shot a season-worst 25% from the field, making three of her 12 shot attempts. Mallory Brake in particular did a good job in stifling the guard on plenty of possessions.
Overall, St. John’s shot 36% from the field and 27.8% from three. Creighton scored 21 of its points off of 14 turnovers and only allowed 11 points from its own 13 giveaways.
UConn Next Up
There is a team in the Big East with a longer winning streak than Creighton in conference games.
That would be the team’s next opponent, No. 15 UConn. The Huskies have won their last 19 league contests, including all 14 this season by a margin of 15 points or more. They have five Big East wins by at least 40 points, including a 44-point road triumph over Creighton before the Bluejays’ winning streak started.
It’ll be difficult, to say the least, for Creighton to earn its 12th win in a row. But more than anything, the Bluejays believe — and should believe — that they’re better than the first outing they had against UConn. They’re playing their best basketball this time around heading into the matchup, and look to provide a challenge.
