Creighton women’s basketball extended its winning streak to three games on Sunday, beating Providence 81-70 at home.
The Bluejays trailed for most of the opening quarter, but took control midway through the second and never looked back.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Stretches of Dominance From Bluejay Stars
Creighton’s top three players and scorers — Morgan Maly, Emma Ronsiek and Lauren Jensen — all put up strong performances Sunday, scoring in double-digits.
And in the first half, they mostly took turns giving Providence buckets. Creighton trailed 20-16 at the end of a first quarter in which both teams made four threes, and it was Maly keeping the Bluejays afloat. She scored the first points of the game from deep, then hit a pair later to give Creighton a 16-15 advantage.
The Friars responded, leading by six a few minutes into the second quarter. After that, however, Creighton cut the deficit to three, and a lack of off-ball movement led to a forced Providence pass being picked off by Lauren Jensen and taken the other way for an easy layup. One possession later, Maly found Jensen for a floater to take the lead, and the guard followed that with a three to go on a 7-0 run by herself.
The Bluejays never relinquished their lead after that, but didn’t extend it beyond a few possessions until right before the half. Ronsiek scored seven unanswered points in just over a minute to give her team a 42-31 lead at the break. Maly (11 points), Jensen (11) and Ronsiek’s (10) 32 first-half points were more than Providence had to that point.
Maly slowed down, shooting 0-for-5 after halftime, but Ronsiek scored 10 more points in the third quarter and Jensen added nine in the fourth. This included highlights like the former dropping in a leaning scoop shot and the latter getting to the rim easily with a behind-the-back dribble.
Ronsiek and Jensen both scored 22 points while shooting well over 50% from the field. The Bluejays got contributions throughout the lineup, but their big three was stellar and crucial in the win.
Kennedy Townsend Continues to Produce
Creighton used just two bench players up until garbage time and received 12 points from that pair.
Senior guard Jayme Horan hit two threes, and so did sophomore guard Kennedy Townsend. The latter matched a season-high with 22 minutes, adding four rebounds and three assists in that time. Townsend averages just under 16 minutes per game, but that has jumped up to 18 minutes per game over the last six contests.
Part of her load today came due to Kiani Lockett not seeing the floor. Head coach Jim Flanery said she’s been dealing with shin splints, and was available if absolutely needed.
Regardless, Townsend played well in her minutes. She only shot 2-for-6, but went 2-for-4 from deep and three of her rebounds came on the offensive end. Twice, those boards led to another Bluejay making a three on the second-chance opportunity.
Townsend has played in all 16 games so far, but over half of her made threes and rebounds have come in the last six contests.
“She’s more comfortable defensively, and then she rebounds,” Flanery said. “… She took some of Kiani’s minutes today, but we’re comfortable with her playing that number of minutes that she played.”
A Week Off
Creighton is now 4-2 in Big East play after a 1-2 start against three of the top teams in the conference.
It’ll get a full week off now before road matchups against Villanova (11-5, 4-1 Big East) and Georgetown (12-4, 2-3). They’ll end the month with home matchups against Seton Hall and No. 23 Marquette, making for an upcoming four-game stretch filled with teams that could give Creighton a challenge.
The Bluejays are happy to be taking momentum into the break, having taken care of business with back-to-back home wins. They’ll also get healthier in the upcoming week as Lockett continues to recover.
“We have a tough stretch coming up, these next two road games will be tough and then come back and play Seton Hall and Marquette,” Flanery said. “The league’s good.”
