Women's Basketball Welcomes DePaul to Omaha
2/19/2015 5:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - The Creighton women's basketball team will look to exact a little revenge, while pushing its win-streak to seven, as the Bluejays host DePaul on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 pm.
2/20: DePaul (20-7, 12-3 BIG EAST)
at Creighton (15-10, 8-6 BIG EAST) - 7:05 p.m.
Webcast ($): Jays Video
Radio: 1620 AM
Brad Burwell (Play-by-Play) & Rob Simms (Color Analyst)
http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/nrgmedia/player_gla1.php?callsign=KOZNAM
Stats: creighton.statbroadcast.com
Twitter: @GoCreighton, @CreightonWBB
Scouting DePaul (20-7, 12-3 BIG EAST)
DePaul enters Friday's contest as the BIG EAST lead, a half-game ahead of Seton Hall. The Blue Demons have lost twice in conference to the Pirates and have dominated most of the remaining conference contests.
The Blue Demons want to play a high possession game in the 90-point range. DePaul can score with the best teams in the NCAA, shown by its leader Brittany Hynko's 19.6 ppg.
The Blue Demons aren't shy about shooting the trey either, DePaul has sank 288 triples this
season (an average of 10.7 per game).
An area that DePaul can be exposed on, however, is on the glass. The Blue Demons allow over two more rebounds per game to their opponents.
A final portion of the Blue Demons game that must be noted is DePaul's ability to create offense with defense. DePaul forced 24 turnovers per game this season.
Keys to the Game w/DePaul:
- Take care of the ball: DePaul and Creighton rank among the best teams in the nation in fewest turnovers. The only other team in the BIG EAST that approaches DePaul's ability to cause chaos on the defensive end is Seton Hall. In the first meeting DePaul scored 16 points off 12 Creighton turnovers.
- Control the Pace of Play: DePaul wants to push the pace at all times, but the Bluejays are better off slowing the game down a bit. DePaul is 1-1 in games that see the Blue Demons score less than 80 points.
- Take advantage of Rollerson in the post: DePaul is a very fast team, but its starting five doens't offer a great deal of size. If Rollerson can force DePaul to bring size off the bench it benefits the Bluejays.
Last Meeting: DePaul 96, Creighton 71
In the first meeting of the season, the Blue Demons led 96-59 with just over four minutes remaining. That contest saw Brittany Hrynko lead the way for DePaul with 27 points, while Creighton got 15 points from Marissa Janning.
Down 24-20 midway through the first half, DePaul outscored the Bluejays 25-8 over the final eight minutes to take a 49-28 lead at the half.
DePaul put the game out of reach early in the second, going 8-of-10 in the first four minutes to push the edge to 31 (67-36) with 16:10 left.
The Turning Point
That loss to DePaul was a turning point in the Bluejay's season as Creighton has not lost since. Following the game on Jan. 25, the Bluejays have won six straight games. Over that stretch the Bluejays are averaging 78.2 ppg, including 20.3 from junior Marissa Janning.
Playing Crazy 8s
After stopping Butler's eight-game win streak on Sunday, Feb. 1 with a 62-55 win. Creighton repeated the feat at Seton Hall on Sunday, Feb. 8, downing the Pirates 81-73. The Bluejays will try to equal that streak with victories against DePaul and Marquette this week.
Time to Scoreboard Watch
With just four games, three in the case of Butler, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier, remaining in BIG EAST schedule each team will be watching the scoreboard as jockeying for positioning in the BIG EAST Tournament begins.
While DePaul is currently atop the BIG EAST standings, if both the Blue Demons and Seton Hall win out the top seed would be Seton Hall as the Pirates swept the season series from DePaul.
Creighton meanwhile sits in a tie for fifth with St. John's, but are just one win behind Butler for fourth and two games back of Villanova in third place.
RPI Watch (As of 2/19/15)
As the end of the season draws near, interest in a teams' RPI grows. Take a look at how the BIG EAST ranks.
Team RPI
Seton Hall 44
DePaul 57
Creighton 71
Villanova 81
St. John's 88
Butler 124
Xavier 179
Providence 236
Marquette 259
Georgetown 284
