No. 23 Creighton women’s basketball used a strong fourth quarter to complete a comeback and take down St. John’s 65-62 at D.J. Sokol Arena Wednesday night.
The senior trio of Morgan Maly, Lauren Jensen and Molly Mogensen all scored in double figures as Creighton (22-4) found a way to win despite shooting 8-of-27 from 3. The Red Storm (14-12, 4-11 Big East) got a look for the tie at the end of the game but couldn’t get it to fall.
“I thought St. John’s really came to play,” Coach Jim Flanery said. “They made us compete, and we needed it. I think it’s good. I’d like to have add a little bit more level of comfort down the stretch, but I think it was good that we had to make some plays and execute and play a really tight last couple minutes, because you’re going to have those situations, and honestly, we haven’t had that many of them this year.”
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Calming the Storm
Creighton had a tough time getting stops for much of the night. St. John’s was shooting nearly 55% from the field through the first 36 minutes of the game. The Red Storm’s quickness and four-guard lineup gave the Jays fits for much of the night.
Lashae Dwyer scored at the 4:05 mark of the fourth quarter to give St. John’s a 60-58 lead. From there, the Red Storm didn’t score again until a layup with 11 seconds left. Creighton held them to 0-of-5 from the field and forced four turnovers during that stretch, scoring seven straight points to take control.
“Some of it’s probably fatigue,” Flanery said. “But seeing the same actions over and over, I think, helps, especially with a veteran team. You go through a lot of their stuff, and we had our practice guys one of the two days that we prepped for them. But it’s different live, and they’re looking for maybe something a little different. It seemed like even after Lauren made that shot to put us up one, there were several possessions where neither team scored. And then the defensive rebounding piece, I think we only gave up four offensive rebounds …
“Again, I think some of it’s just adjusting to how quick they are off the dribble, and maybe just a little bit better gap help one pass away.”
The game included six ties and 13 lead changes, yet Creighton only led for 7:26 of game time. The Jays narrowly lost each of the first three quarters. Creighton finished the second quarter making seven straight shots from the field but never took the lead because the Red Storm went 7-for-8 from the field down the stretch as well.
The Jays trailed by five heading into the fourth but opened the final period with a 6-0 run to pull ahead, and the game was on from there. The lead exchanged hands three more times before Dwyer’s bucket, and the Jays finally strung together stops to create just enough separation.
“I thought St. John’s played really well and they made some tough shots,” Jensen said. “Their offense was good tonight, but I think we just got a little bit tougher and more gritty. I think we did progressively [get better] as the game went on. The first quarter wasn’t the best. Our defense wasn’t great, but we really locked in in the fourth quarter and did what we needed to do to get the win.”
Maly Takeover
Creighton wouldn’t have been within striking distance of the Red Storm heading into the fourth if it wasn’t for Maly.
The super senior was clearly laboring in the first half. She fell to the ground a handful of times throughout the night and spent some time on the stationary bike and bench while sitting for nearly four minutes in the first period (not something she normally does). She only took two shots in the first quarter, making one.
Senior Morgan Maly honored for breaking the program’s career 3-point record before Creighton’s win over St. Johns. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
However, she sat less than four more minutes the rest of the game and went on to post a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 from the field (1-of-3 from 3) and 3-of-3 from the foul line plus a team-high six rebounds.
“She did not look good early,” Flanery said. “She fell down. I thought she was ice skating; I think she fell down three times in the first few minutes. But she’s gritty and she’s tough, and she wanted to. If you’d have told me five minutes into the game that we’re going to get 20 points out of her tonight — and we needed all 20 — I would not have believed it. But I had confidence … She’s fine, but she’s hurting.”
More than half her points came in the third quarter when she was seemingly the only Bluejay who could get the ball through the rim. She scored 11 of Creighton’s 14 points in the period, doing most of her damage inside. Had Maly not found a way to shoulder the load offensively, St. John’s could have pulled away.
“That’s what she does,” Jensen said. “Our offense was a little stunted. I wasn’t making shots, and Morgan came up big. We can always count on her in the post to hit a shot, make the right play, make a 3, and so she was huge to keep us in it offensively.”
On a day when Creighton recognized Maly pre-game for breaking the program’s career 3-pointers record, the Crete native only made one 3 en route to her eighth 20-point game of the season.
“I’ve only got a few games left, so you’ve just got to grind it out every night, not take anything for granted and still just try to kill when you get on the court,” Maly said of playing through whatever is ailing her. “It doesn’t matter.”
Home Sweet Home
Wednesday was Creighton’s penultimate home game of the season. The Jays will hit the road for the next two before returning to D. J. Sokol Arena for their regular season finale against Villanova on March 2.
While Creighton’s road-heavy nonconference didn’t allow the Jays to play in their home arena much early, the St. John’s win was Creighton’s 10th of the season at Sokol. Their lone home loss this season came at CHI Health Center Omaha against now fifth-ranked and first-place UConn, who Creighton played tougher than any other Big East team has this season.
This veteran team has treated its fans to some spectacular team and individual performances, and once again on Wednesday, its seniors carried the team to the finish line.
Molly Mogensen, who finished with 11 points and five assists, knocked down a big 3 midway through the fourth quarter that tied it up. Jensen hit a go-ahead 3 on a skip pass from Maly in the post soon after, then Jensen crossed up her defender and scored at the rim to push the lead to three. Jayme Horan chipped in a pair of clutch free throws with 17 seconds left to extend the lead to five, Creighton’s biggest edge of the game.
Each time somebody makes a big play, the seniors savor it just a bit more, knowing there aren’t many opportunities left to do so.
“It’s awesome,” Maly said. “I think when we huddle after those plays or there’s a timeout, I think we all really recognize that we’re just having fun and we’d be happy for each other in those moments.”
Flanery continues to rely heavily on his senior leaders, with Jensen logging another 40-minute effort while Maly and Mogensen each played north of 32 minutes. He, too, knows he won’t have them for much longer.
“I’d like to play Brooke [Littrell] more and Allison [Heathcock] more, but it’s just so hard,” Flanery said. “They just come through time and time again to the point where even if I’m like, ‘Oh, this isn’t her night,’ at some point, they’re going to make enough plays to help you win, just because of their experience and their grit. I think a big part of it is their teammates believe in them. It’s not Flan believing in them, it’s not even necessarily that they believe in themselves. It’s their teammates.”
That belief has secured Creighton no worse than a second-place finish in the Big East for the second straight year. At 14-1, Creighton is four games up on the three teams tied for third place with just three games remaining — one of which is against unbeaten UConn.
“We’re going to swing away these last three games, but I think it’s a good league,” Flanery said. “You tell people that team’s 4-10 in our league, and they’re not —but they’ve lost a ton of close games. That’s a good basketball team. To be one of the top two teams two years in a row in an 11-team league where it’s a basketball league and everybody’s trying to win, I think it’s a big deal.”
