The Creighton women’s basketball team suffered its first Big East loss of the season on Saturday to No. 6 UConn, 72-61.
The Huskies (19-2, 10-0) entered game at CHI Health Center Omaha boasting an averaging winning margin of 36.1 in league play, but the Bluejays (16-4, 8-1) held UConn to a season-low in field goal percentage to make it a four-quarter contest.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Big Game Feel
A battle of Big East unbeatens deserved a big stage, and that’s what Creighton and the community delivered on Saturday at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Announced attendance was 11,141, shattering the previous program record of 4,439 set in 2003. The Pink Out aspect of the game only amplified the atmosphere, as did the opponent and its star player, Paige Bueckers.
“It’s great,” Creighton coach Jim Flanery said. “Here’s what I would say, it’s a testament to the fight against cancer, for sure. It’s a testament to our senior class, who has done so much to elevate our program and kind of grab the community more than any other team that we’ve had, or any other time in the program we’ve had that.
“And then it’s also a testament, and I told this to Geno [Auriema] before the game is, it’s a testament to what he’s done for our sport to elevate it to the point where people want to come out. We had to get through Paige’s autograph line at the end. That’s not lost on me, what he and Chris Dailey and that whole group have done … I told him my group’s not used to playing a home game in front of this. I know you’re used to that, but I said thank you for the opportunity for our group.”
While the majority of the crowd was wearing Creighton blue (or pink), there was a very healthy and vocal contingent of UConn fans, including numerous in Bueckers jerseys. “We love you Paige” rang out from the crowd after the final buzzer.
“It’s awesome just to see the support,” Bueckers said. “We come out to the Midwest quite a bit through the conference, but just to have that support, travel and it feels like a home game in some arenas, at some locations. But I thought it was a good mix of both tonight.”
While the big arena game was the result of a confluence of circumstances rather than long-term intentional planning, Auriema was a fan of how everything turned out.
“This is only their third game ever that they’ve played in this building, I think Flan was saying,” Auriemo said. “For us to be a part of that I thought was really cool. I told him I hope we play every game here from here on in when we play you guys. I’m not sure that’s what he wants, but I would like that.”
Though senior Morgan Maly won’t be playing for the Bluejays after this season, she’s of a similar mind to Auriema as far as the Creighton women playing a game at the CHI Health Center each season, whether it be against UConn, Nebraska or somebody else.
“It means a lot, I think,” Maly said. “It speaks to where women’s sports are at, and women’s basketball especially, and if you have the opportunity to play in these big gyms, I think the people will fill it. So I’m really grateful for the experience that we had today.”
Measurable Progress
Creighton played two top-10 opponents during the nonconference, and neither game was particularly competitive.
The Jays fell at No. 10 Kansas State 86-68 on Nov. 14 in a game that probably wasn’t even that close. They also lost to the top-ranked UCLA Bruins 70-41 on Dec. 20, and that was without UCLA’s star center Lauren Betts.
Saturday was the first time Creighton got to face an elite team in Omaha, but that homecourt advantage was somewhat offset by an ankle injury that sidelined starting point guard Kiani Lockett.
This time, Creighton looked like it belonged on the court. The Jays trailed by two at the end of the first quarter and by three three minutes into the second period before the Huskies went on a run to take a 12-point lead into halftime.
Creighton made a run to cut it to seven early in the third before UConn pulled away. The lead peaked at 20 early in the fourth, but Creighton rallied once again, trimming it to 10 and forcing the Huskies to compete until the end.
“I think we’re getting better,” Flanery said. “As much as this group believes in each other and cares about each other, the fact that UCLA beat us by 30, and tonight was much closer, I think, helps us going forward … It doesn’t matter how good they are, they’re still 20 — Morgan turned 23 today — but they’re still young enough that if they go a few games without doing something well, they doubt themselves, and the fact that UCLA handled us, and we were never in the game, I think what today looked like was better than that.
“Is it as far as we want to go? No. That’s what we told them. I said, I know you guys, you’re going to want to get better for the next time we play them, but I think it was definitely a step forward from what we saw five weeks ago against an elite team.”
What ultimately cost Creighton the game was turnovers — 18 of them leading to 17 points on the other end, including a handful of easy transition scores off live-ball takeaways. On the other end of the spectrum, what kept Creighton in it was perhaps its best defensive showing of the season. Flanery had not been pleased with his team’s consistency and attention to detail for 40 minutes after recent wins, but on Saturday the Bluejays held one of the best offensive teams in the country to 40% shooting — 4-of-20 from deep and 24-of-50 inside the arc (well below UConn’s nation-leading 61% heading into the game).
“I think you just bring a different level of intensity and attentiveness when you play the school who has eight people that could light it up at any point,” Maly said. “I’m proud of our efforts. I think they made a lot of tough buckets, and I think they built their lead on run-out layups and our mistakes, honestly.”
While Creighton currently sits just outside the top 25 in the AP Poll — second among others receiving votes — the Bluejays certainly have Auriema’s respect.
“It’s hard to figure how they cannot be like a top-20 team when you watch them play, on film and certainly in person,” Auriema said. “You look at their schedule, I don’t know what bad losses they have that people disrespect our conference. They just think our conference is UConn and nobody else, which is kind of disrespectful, because they’re a really good team. They’re maybe the most experienced team in the country when you think about how long they’ve been together and how well they play together and how well they know each other.”
More Mogensen
Creighton’s senior stars, Maly and Lauren Jensen, had a rough shooting day in a game where the Jays really couldn’t afford it if they wanted to have a chance at the upset. They combined to go 3-for-12 from deep and 10-for-27 overall, totaling 25 points (well below their season average of 35.6).
With those two struggling, fellow senior Molly Mogensen stepped up once again. She finished with 14 points, tying Maly for the team lead, while shooting 50% from the field with a pair of 3s and a pair of free throws. She also pulled down seven rebounds and dishing out four assists while taking on a heavier ball-handling burden with Lockett sidelined.
“Just confidence,” Mogensen said of her success. “It’s my fifth year. I’ve been playing for a long time, so just trying to do what I can for my team and put them up there when I can.”
Mogensen has scored in double figures in four straight games, the second such streak of her career. It’s also the first time that she’s attempted double-digit shots in four straight games.
“It’s nice to just get that pressure relief,” Maly said. “Everyone in our locker room knows what Molly can do; it just took her a little bit of time figure it out.”
Creighton also got a spark off the bench from Brooke Littrell with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 3 and a three-point play. Flanery was moved to tears when discussing Littrell’s performance as he revealed the Division-II transfer lost her father shortly before the season began.