Women's Basketball Faces Xavier on Tuesday

Omaha, Neb. -- Creighton Women's Basketball returns home as the Bluejays face Xavier on Tuesday, January 20 in D.J. Sokol Arena at 6:00 p.m.

1/20: - 6:00 p.m.
Creighton vs. Xavier
Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Twitter: @GoCreighton, @CreightonWBB

Online Stream: ESPN+ (Josh Peterson & Connor Happer):
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/664b3976-6e0a-44aa-9b86-e819f0728b71

Stat Broadcast: http://statb.us/v/crei/617080

Series with Xavier: Bluejays lead 20-2
Home: 10-0 Away: 10-2 Neutral: 0-0
Creighton and Xavier have met 2 times, with the Bluejays claiming 20 contests, including the last 16 games.

Date Opponent Score
1/15/14 Xavier W, 79-50
2/18/14 at Xavier W, 70-61
1/2/15 at Xavier L, 65-66
1/30/15 Xavier W, 74-65
1/8/16 Xavier W, 74-47
2/7/16 at Xavier L, 55-57
12/30/16 Xavier W, 63-52
2/24/17 at Xavier W, 67-57
1/22/18 at Xavier W, 71-64 (ot)
2/16/18 Xavier W, 65-54
1/18/19 Xavier W, 66-62 (ot)
2/17/19 at Xavier W, 53-52
1/24/20 Xavier W, 62-55
2/23/20 at Xavier W, 76-62
1/3/21 at Xavier W, 53-50
1/2/22 at Xavier W, 67-51
2/11/22 Xavier W, 62-47
11/25/22 at Xavier W, 57-51
2/12/23 Xavier W, 73-53
2/6/24 at Xavier W, 77-46
2/27/24 Xavier W, 99-57
12/4/24 at Xavier W, 82-54

About Xavier

Located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Musketeers went 7-24 last season, including an 1-17 mark in BIG EAST action.
Xavier was picked to finish 11th in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll.
Head coach Billi Chambers enters her third season.

Scouting Xavier (10-8, 3-6 BIG EAST)
The Musketeers come to Omaha having split their last two games, including a two-point loss to St. John's (66-64) on Jan. 17.

Two Xavier players enter the game with Creighton averaging double figures, Mariyah Noel (15.9 ppg) and MacKenzie Givens (11.0 ppg).

The Musketeers have made a significant jump this season, posting three BIG EAST wins. Xavier had just one conference win combined in the previous three seasons.

Scouting Creighton (7-11, 3-6 BIG EAST)
Freshmen Neleigh Gessert and Ava Zediker have continued to toggle back and forth for the team lead in scoring this season. Entering the game against Xavier, Zediker leads with 13.1 ppg.

Senior Kennedy Townsend leads the team in overall points with 214 points, while Neleigh Gessert has scored 213 points this season.

Keys to the Game
Defense: Creighton has allowed five of its last seven opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the field.
Value and Share the Basketball: Over the last eight games the Bluejays have just 109 assists and 122 turnovers.
Take Advantage in the Paint: Creighton has a slight height advantage over Xavier and must take advantage in the paint.

Learning Can Hurt
Parents often talk to their children about growing pains. The Bluejays have experienced that this season. Four games during the 2025-26 campaign have been decided by five points or less. Creighton has come up just short in all four contests.

Nov. 28 vs. Northern Iowa L, 50-51
Dec. 14 vs. Kansas State L, 71-75
Dec. 27 at Georgetown L, 74-76
Jan. 17 at Providence L, 77-80

Not unlike the large freshman class of 2025-26, Creighton's core in 2020-21 (Emma Ronsiek, Molly Mogensen, Morgan Maly, Jayme Horan and Mallory Brake) struggled to a 3-4 record in games decided by five points or less as freshman. That group went on to reach the Elite Eight in 2021-22 and just completed a stretch of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Baby Birds Leading Creighton
Creighton's freshman class has a combined 599 points this season, an average of 33.3 ppg. That is the fourth highest total from freshman in the NCAA.

The Bluejay freshmen class leads the NCAA in three-point field goals per game with 5.2.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mallory Brake

Neleigh Gessert

Jayme Horan

Morgan Maly

Molly Mogensen

Kennedy Townsend

Ava Zediker