Seniors Set Tone, Freshmen Shine in Exhibition Win for Creighton Women’s Basketball

The Creighton women’s basketball team opened a new era on Wednesday night with a dominant exhibition win against Division-II Missouri Western State, 117-66.

All 10 healthy players logged at least 12 minutes and each of them scored six or more points, with six in double figures. The Bluejays shot 50.7% from the field including 42.1% from deep (with 16 triples) and assisted on 30 of their 36 field goals with only 11 turnovers.

“Fun to get to play somebody else,” Coach Jim Flanery said. “We started our five non-freshmen, just trying to look at some lineups. I thought the freshmen got comfortable at various points in the game, not all at the same time, but I felt like when you look at the things that they did, I thought our depth was on display.

“I think that’s going to be a big thing for us is, is to play our bench, because I feel like when the game opens up a little bit, we’re going to be probably a little bit better in transition, and we’re going to have to be a little bit better in transition than we have been in the past, just because we don’t have the experience in the halfcourt.”

Here are three takeaways from the exhibition.

Seniors Set the Tone

Creighton only has two players back that logged heavy minutes last season, senior guards Kennedy Townsend and Kiani Lockett.

Lockett started 30 games last season, splitting point guard duties with Molly Mogensen and averaging 6.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Townsend was the team’s sixth woman, averaging 5.8 points in 20.2 minutes per game. The Jays will need far more production out of their starting backcourt this season, and they know it.

Townsend came out aggressively hunting her shot, pouring in 11 points with three 3s in the first quarter before adding two more buckets in the second. She went cold in the second half but still finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and no turnovers in 27 minutes.

Lockett finished 3-of-11 from deep, and finding consistency from the arc will be key for her this season. She shot 38.8% from 3 her first two years at Creighton before seeing the percentage tail off to 31.6% as a junior on a larger sample.

Lockett set the table early then got going herself in the second and third quarters, finishing with 16 points on 4-of-7 from the field (2-of-3 from 3) and 6-of-6 from the line plus eight assists and only one turnover in 23 minutes. Her last bucket came on a floater from the Big East logo in the lane in the final seconds of the third quarter.

While it was against Division-II competition, Flanery will take 31 points, 12 assists and only one turnover from his backcourt any time. Their aggression and playmaking early allowed the freshmen to settle into the game, and in time each of them made an impact as they followed the veteran’s lead.

“I think it’s just important for us to be leaders, and I think that comes with setting a tone,” Lockett said. “I think our freshmen, they’re all so good, and they have been following our lead and they’re great listeners. So I think when we do set the tone and we get off to good starts, it only makes it easier for the freshmen to do the same.”

Freshmen Show Off

Five of Creighton’s six freshmen made their Creighton debuts on Wednesday, while the sixth, Avery Cooper, continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered in February. All five came off the bench, and they all made a significant impact in their own way, each scoring six or more points with three in double figures.

“I’m excited about what that group looks like, and just to have one more opportunity before a real game, I think, to get them even more comfortable,” Flanery said. “It was nice to be at home and have a little bit of freedom within the game where, like I said, it was up and down enough that they weren’t worried about one mistake flipping the game so. But I think there will be times where we’re going to have four of them out there at a time, I think; for sure, three.”

The newbie who stole the show early was Kendall McGee. The 5-foot-10 guard from Minnesota poured in 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals (all game-highs) while shooting 5-of-7 from the field (3-of-3 from 3) and 5-of-5 from the line in 22 minutes. She made an immediate impact in her first stint off the bench, knocking down a 3 then scrapping for an offensive rebound and putting it back up and in through contact for the three-point play. She was aggressive attacking closeouts and showed physicality on the glass.

“I thought Kendall was really good early, and she has shot the 3 better in practice recently,” Flanery said. “She doesn’t need to be a high volume 3-point shooter, I don’t expect her to be a high-volume 3-point shooter, but she’s a capable 3-point shooter. But they left her open, and she hit her first one. She can get downhill. She made good decisions. Defensively, she’s got some versatility too …

“She has practiced better in the last week or so, to the point where I didn’t expect 18 points and  four steals, I guess, but she’s practiced better, so she’s going have some big games for us, I feel like. She was a really highly rated player before her knee injury, and I think she’s going to have some really big games. The key will be just to be consistent as a freshman.”

Neleigh Gessert scored nine of her 15 points in the fourth quarter, finishing 4-of-9 from deep and 3-of-4 from the foul line with six rebounds and three assists. Her twin sister Norah added eight points and six assists while shooting 2-for-4 from 3-point range. The Millard West products logged 17 and 16 minutes, respectively.

“Norah had six assists, no turnovers, and made a couple 3s,” Flanery said. “Even just the glimpse you guys got of Neleigh, the ball comes out of her hands so quick and so effortlessly. It’s not the most conventional shot, but it comes out quickly in the same way every time, so she’s going to make 3s.”

Ava Zediker, the highest-rated member of the highly-touted recruiting class, has been limited this offseason by injury, but she said it felt good to be back on the court competing Wednesday. The 5-foot-10 point guard came alive in the fourth quarter to finish with 14 points on 6-of-8 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) with an and-one, and she also showed her defensive chops with three blocks.

“It felt really good,” Zediker said. “I missed playing when I was out, but it felt good just to get going again, playing against someone different, other than the boys. So that was a big thing … For this game, it was good just to get the nerves out, playing in a new environment, with a new team, with a whole new offense. But it felt good, and it also helps that the coaches and the seniors, Kennedy and Kiani, have helped us get more comfortable with the offense over time.”

Tara Dacic, the 6-foot-2 forward from Serbia, only logged 12 minutes but still contributed six points, four rebounds an assist and a steal.

Flanery went into the game with a plan to avoid rolling our four or five freshmen together, but as it played out he let it ride and gave the youngsters plenty of run. At one point, Lockett (and her 78 career games played) found herself with four freshmen on the court with her.

“Honestly, I can’t even tell,” Lockett said. “They have been playing amazing … They’re super energetic, super fun to play with.”

While an exhibition against an overmatched opponent made it easy to get plenty of run for everyone, Flanery said he’ll likely use a deep rotation as his goal is to push the tempo and play hard all the time. That means Creighton fans will likely see many of these freshmen on the court right away.

That’ll come with some growing pains, but each of them showed enough against the Griffons to be excited about their futures in Omaha.

Welcome Back, Grace

Despite losing so much firepower from a season ago, Flanery and his staff only brought one transfer into the program: former Northern Iowa Panther Grace Boffeli. The two-time All-MVC First team selection averaged 16.1 points and 9.2 rebounds as a junior and 14.8 points and 9.0 rebounds during her first senior season.

Wednesday was Boffeli’s first organized game since Nov. 16, 2024 as a torn ACL sidelined her for the rest of her extra season of eligibility after just three games. A medical hardship granted her another opportunity, and she chose to take advantage of it in Omaha.

Recovery sidelined her for much of the offseason, but she didn’t show much rust against the Griffons, contributing eight points on 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line plus six rebounds in 17 minutes.

“She’s looked really good in practice, I feel like, for somebody who’s taken that much time off,” Flanery said. “Her experience and her presence and her communication — she’s our loudest communicator on the court. I don’t know how much double big we’ll play with her and Liz, but we will play some, and that’s kind of what we have decided on. She’s a rebounding machine too — six rebounds in 17 minutes. I feel like she’s going to do a lot of really good things for us, because I’m really impressed with the way she’s practiced for having been out as long as she has been.”

Boffeli’s size, experience and physicality will be pivotal for Creighton while the team’s other young bigs, sophomore Liz Gentry and the freshmen in Dacic and Cooper continue to develop (and recover, in Cooper’s case).

Creighton will travel to North Dakota State on Sunday for its second exhibition before opening the season against South Dakota State at home on Nov. 3.