Creighton women’s basketball capped the 2025-26 home season with a 69-49 win over Providence at D.J. Sokol Arena Thursday night.
Three Bluejays scored in double figures offensively while Creighton completely locked down the Providence attack on the other end of the floor.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Defensive Domination
When the teams met earlier this season in Providence, the Friars won a high-scoring affair, 80-77. On Thursday, Creighton served payback with interest, and the Bluejays did so with a stifling defensive performance.
“I feel like we prepped for them a lot this week, just focusing on really being disruptive on defense,” said sophomore Elizabeth Gentry, who gave the Bluejays big minutes in the second quarter after senior Grace Boffeli picked up three early fouls. “We really focused on being in the gap, which is, I think, something we didn’t focus on the first time we were there. I thought we just prepared the right way this week, and we really had a solid game plan, and I thought we executed it really well.”
The Bluejays held the Friars to 25% from the field — the lowest for an opponent in just over three years. That included a 7-for-22 mark on layups and 4-for-23 on 3-pointers, and the Bluejays only allowed 18 points in the paint.
“I thought the key was our activity level on defense,” Coach Jim Flanery said. “I just told them I thought we had stretches where we were pretty good on offense, and overall, we did some really good things on offense, but it was a little bit uneven on that end. But we talked about combining scout defense with just activity level and playing hard, and I felt like that was probably the best game that we’ve had all year in terms of doing both. We weren’t perfect, and some of it had to do with Providence’s shot making, but they went from scoring 80 at their place to 49 tonight.”
Providence’s leading scorer, Sabou Gueye, and sophomore guard Orlagh Gormley combined for 43 points on 18-for-32 shooting in the first meeting. On Thursday, they totaled just 17 points on 5-of-20 shooting (including four points on 1-for-11 from the field for Gormley).
“I thought we were pretty attentive to personnel,” Flanery said. “I thought we lost [Payton Dunbar] a couple times, and she’s lethal, but for the most part, the players that we wanted to take 3s were taking 3s … Gormley and Gueye had 22 and 21 against us at their place, and tonight, they weren’t even close to that. Some of that’s for sure on-ball defense just adjusting to how quick they are, but a lot of it’s just that one pass away gap defense, where we just were a little bit more attentive to how much those two especially want to get downhill.”
Rebounding played a big part in Creighton’s defensive success. When a team misses 45 shots, that’s a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds. Yet Creighton grabbed one more offensive rebound (10 to nine) and scored three more second-chance points (nine to six). In total, Creighton out-rebounded Providence 46 to 33, and did so with its best rebounder in Boffeli logging just 15 minutes.
“We know we’re not the biggest team, so just making sure that all five of us are rebounding, and we weren’t perfect, and some teams are going to expose that as well, and I think Providence did as well,” senior Kennedy Townsend said. “We know they’re going to go to the glass, but I thought we did a good job down the stretch of everyone rebounding as a unit, all five of us.”
All seven Bluejays who played at least five minutes grabbed four or more, with Allison Heathcock leading the way with eight. There were numerous possessions where multiple Bluejays got a hand on the ball until someone in white finally managed to pull it down.
Guards Star
Creighton’s backcourt led the way with three guards nearly outscoring the entire Providence team on their own.
First and foremost, Townsend capped her Sokol career with a terrific performance, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field (2-of-5 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line plus five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Kendall McGee chipped in 12 points off the bench, shooting 5-of-9 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) and 1-of-1 from the line while also pulling down five boards.
The star of the night was freshman Ava Zediker, however. With fellow freshman sharpshooter Neleigh Gessert sidelined for a second straight game and Boffeli’s minutes limited, Zediker elevated her game.
She got going late in the first quarter, closing the period with a personal 7-2 run to give Creighton a five-point lead after one. She spun her way into a left-handed scoop, buried a catch-and-shoot 3 and muscled her way to the rim for a right-handed finish to close out the period, and she was only getting started.
Zediker went on to finish with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-10 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) and 9-of-10 from the foul line while grabbing seven rebounds and serving as the primary defender on Gormley.
“She’s so good in transition and with those one-legged finishes, so she can read, kind of down the lane line,” Flanery said of his freshman point guard. “When I was growing up, you had to shoot a right-handed layup off your left leg, and a lefthanded layup off your right leg, and these players nowadays, they can go in with either leg and either hand because they work on it when they’re 12 and 13 up to now. And then honestly, she shot the 3 — tonight she wasn’t — but she’s shot the 3 better in games … She draws fouls — she drew seven tonight — and she gets to the free-throw line.
“I’m trying to think of a player who’s been as good at getting to the free-throw line as Ava’s been. I can’t in my time. We’re such a 3-point-heavy team, we really haven’t had, especially a guard that’s been that good at drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line, and then she’s mid to high 80s when she gets there.”
For her part, Zediker was glad to send her seniors out with the 20-point win.
“The seniors are such great leaders, such great people, so I think it’s really important that we send them off in a good way,” Zediker said.
Sokol Season in the Books
With the blowout, Creighton ended its home season on a high note. The Bluejays went 8-5 inside D.J. Sokol Arena, including wins over St. John’s and Marquette, the two teams directly ahead of them in the conference standings.
The Bluejays went 1-3 at home in nonconference play, dropping their first two, but protected home court for most of Big East play at 7-2. The losses came to second-place Villanova and third-place Seton Hall (plus a loss to UConn at CHI Health Center Omaha). The Bluejays won six of their last seven at D.J. Sokol Arena.
“We definitely became a better home court team, and I want to credit our fans, because I I do these chalk talks before the game — not every game, but a decent number of games — and about a month ago, I was kind of apologizing because we weren’t winning enough compared to what we’ve won,” Flanery said. “Somebody raised their hand and said, ‘Flan, don’t apologize; we love this group.’ … I wish we had won a few more games, but I’m really happy with the progress that this team made.”
Creighton celebrated its senior day during its penultimate home game on Feb. 15, against Villanova, but with the game well in hand Thursday, Flanery had the chance to give his seniors a final curtain call. With just under 40 seconds to play, he called a substitution timeout for Townsend and Boffeli to check out one final time amid a standing ovation.
“I’m happy for them, and I just have so much respect for them, because we had a really big and special senior class last year — very accomplished, very decorated, two 2000-point scorers and everybody kind of got to know them,” Flanery said. “For Kiani [Lockett] and Kennedy, they were kind of that bridge to the next group but are very good players … and then Grace has fit in really seamlessly. Good leader, her volume is like no other, probably, that we’ve ever had, which is a good thing.
“I just have a lot of respect for them, because it’s tough when you’re counting on that many young players to win and it’s your senior year. OK, how do I push them without being too negative, but also, how do I make sure that they know that the standards that they played with a year ago probably aren’t going to help us win Division I basketball games this year? That process isn’t easy to navigate, of being critical enough that that those guys understand the urgency but also continuing to build them up.”
Thursday was bittersweet for Townsend, who spent four years inside the facility honing her craft and competing with her teammates.
“It’s definitely sad,” Townsend said. “I’m looking up in the stands and my mom’s crying before the game even started. I’m like, ‘All right, can we, like, tighten up a little bit? Oh my god.’ But no, it was awesome, and I had a lot of professors that were front row. That was so cool, and Creighton’s such a special place. I’m just glad I got to leave on a win.”
Zediker highlighted the win over Marquette as one of her favorite memories from her freshman season inside D.J. Sokol Arena, and Townsend experienced many more like it during her four seasons, but the moments she’ll remember most happened outside of the games.
“Obviously we’ve had a ton of really good wins, and a ton of them can stick out just when I’m thinking about them, but I just think the growth that I’ve had as a player and as a person, and just little moments, like hanging out in the offices upstairs, or just little locker room moments, that stuff makes a team, and that’s what’s so special,” Townsend said. “That’s what I’m really going to miss about this place, is just the amazing people and how people show up every day. The people are just a joy to be around here, and I just don’t think you get that everywhere.
“It’s just such a great program, and it’s not the wins and losses that have make your experience. Winning is fun, don’t get me wrong, but just meeting your best friends, and even though this year has been some bumps in the road, I still think we’ve managed to persevere, and we’re turning in the right direction, which is always a good sign at the end of the end of the year.”
With the win, Creighton (14-14, 10-9 Big East) locked up at last a top-six finish, with a first-round Big East Tournament bye still mathematically achievable with some help. The Bluejays will also finish no worse than .500 in conference play despite the inexperience throughout their lineup and the injury issues they dealt with all season.
Creighton will finish the regular season at Xavier on Sunday. Tipoff is set for noon CT on ESPN+.
