Women’s basketball hosts Providence in the first game of 2023

Omaha, Neb. — The Creighton Women’s Basketball team closed out 2022 with an impressive 92-82 win at DePaul and will open the New Year at home against Providence on Wednesday, January 4th at 6:00 p.m.

Series at Providence: Bluejays lead 16-3
Home: 7-2 Away: 7-1 Neutral: 2-0

Creighton swept the series with Providence last season and holds a 16-3 edge over the Friars. However, Providence has won in Omaha twice, taking the fight in 2019 and 2021.

Series game by game
Date opponent score

3/21/87 @ & vs. Providence W, 91-89
1/11/2014 at Providence W, 97-65
2/15/14 Providence W, 85-64
1/16/2015 at Providence W, 65-54
2/15/15 Providence W, 84-57
1/17/16 Providence W, 72-48
2/14/2016 at Providence L, 59-61
3/5/2016 # vs. Providence W, 70-53
1/14/2017 at Providence W, 58-51
2/11/17 Providence W, 88-57
1/13/2018 Providence W, 73-56
10/02/2018 at Providence W, 87-84 (2ot)
26/01/2019 Providence L, 63-77
2/23/19 Providence W, 73-64
1/11/2020 Providence W, 72-63
2/8/2020 at Providence W, 77-68
2/10/21 Providence L, 48-60
12/19/21 Providence W, 71-56
28.1.22. Providence W, 95-71

– BIG EAST Tournament Game
@ = played in Amarillo, Texas
# = played in Chicago, Ill

Scouting Providence (9-6, 0-4 BIG EAST)

The Friars have won nine of 11 non-conference games, but are off to an 0-4 start in BIG EAST play. The conference schedule hasn’t been kind to Providence, as the BIG EAST season opened at Connecticut, followed by games with Villanova,
St. John’s and DePaul.

Senior Janai Crooms leads Providence with 12.6 ppg and 7.5 rpg. He also brings a team-high 62 assists to Omaha. Sophomore Olivia Olsen is second on the team with 11.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

Providence enters Omaha with a significant edge, grabbing 5.6 more rebounds per game.

Scouting #25 Creighton (9-4, 3-2 BIG EAST)

Creighton closed out 2022 with a thrilling 92-82 win over DePaul in a game televised on FOX. The Bluejays shot better than 50 percent in the win against the Blue Demons and finished the game on a 12-0 run to clinch the victory. Five Bluejays finished the game in double figures, including 20-plus performances from the start Author: Emma Ronsiek, Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly.

Creighton’s trio (Jensen, Maly and Ronsiek) enter Wednesday’s game with double-digit averages. Jensen leads with 16.8 ppg, Maly averages 16.0 and Ronsiek 12.8 ppg.

The Bluejays are 3-0 in games where they have shot 50% and 6-0 in contests in which they have shot better than 40% from long range.

Keys to the game on Wednesday, January 4th
Regression: Providence is an energetic team that averages more than 10 offensive rebounds per game.
Make Croom give up the ball: Janai Croom is accounting for about 35% of Providence’s scoring this season with 189 points and 62 assists.
Find an open woman: The Bluejays dished out a season-high 24 assists in the win over DePaul. Creighton is 1-4 with less than 14 assists.

The success of the Bluejays’ Elite Eight will add to the crowd

Twice in four games at DJ Sokol Arena this season, the Bluejays have reached a sellout (2,200). Through the first four contests, the Bluejays have topped 1,000 fans in every game and averaged 1,669.

The last time Creighton averaged higher was in 2003-04, when the Bluejays saw 21,973 fans attend 13 games (1,690 per game).

DJ Sokol Arena – WBB Top-5 participant

2,306 vs. #22 Nebraska – 11-15-22
2,279 vs. #10 Connecticut on 2-2-22
2,236 – vs. #8 Connecticut – 12-28-22
2,121 vs. Wichita State 1-29-11
2,061 vs. Nebraska 12-8-10

Three Bluejays Top 20 for the first time since 2017

For the first time since 2017, three Bluejays scored at least 20 points in Creighton’s 92-82 win at DePaul on Dec. 31. The junior trio delivered more than 20 points, led Author: Emma Ronsiek (22). When joining, Ronsiek were Lauren Jensen (21) and Morgan Maly (20).

The last time Creighton saw three players reach the 20-point plateau or higher was in a quadruple-overtime contest against Drake (W, 108-100) on the 3rd. December 2017. In that game, Audrey Faber (34), Sydney Lamberty (21) and Jaylyn Agnew (20) combined for 75 points for the Bulldogs.