An up-and-down Creighton women's basketball team coming off an 'up' makes its way into Redbird Arena for a 7:05 p.m. Friday match-up with Illinois State as the Redbirds try to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Jays, 7-4 overall, 1-2 in the Valley might as well have a roller coaster as its mascot. Picked to finish sixth in the league's preseason poll, Creighton came within a three-point field goal of winning its first seven games. As it was, the Jays were 6-1 with wins over Southern California, Nebraska, Northwestern and Kansas before the coaster took a dip.
A four-game losing streak bridged the end of the non-conference schedule and continued with a pair of home games (Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State) to start the Missouri Valley Conference. Then, an injury to former Valley Newcomer of the Year Taya Allen prior to last Sunday's game at Drake left CU so thin in post players that coach Connie Yori replaced her best rebounder with a fourth perimeter player, freshman Christy Neneman, to go with seniors Angela Timmons, Krissie Spanheimer and junior Traci Jones.
The results of that move were as unpredictable as the rest of the season has been for CU. Neneman scored 19 and the Jays shocked Drake 80-73 in Des Moines.
Redbird coach
Jenny Yopp, whose team is 3-10 overall, 1-3 in the Valley, knows how dangerous the Jays can be. Timmons, who recently scored her 1,000th career point, and Spanheimer, who needs just 120 to reach 1,000, are Creighton's leading scorers, but Neneman's 19 at Drake made her the ninth different Jay to lead the team in scoring for a game this season.
"They are a talented team capable of playing at a high level," said Yopp. "Angela Timmons is a fantastic point guard. Creighton is athletic and will press us."
Despite the loss of starting point guard
Taren O'Brien to a knee injury earlier this week, Yopp is confident that her team can match up with CU's wealth of perimeter talent.
"I think we can match-up with them because of our depth," said Yopp, who is considering either senior
Shandeen Hunt or junior
Kellie Johnson to replace O'Brien as a starter. "We execute better at home, so that's a plus for us. Creighton has a better team than last year. We have a better team than last year and have gotten better as the season has progressed.
