Creighton Women’s Newsletter Big East Conference Head Coach Jim Flanery 14th Season October Edition, 2015

A NOTE FROM FLAN...

Greetings, I just returned from Big East Media Day in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that a kid from Guthrie Center, Iowa gets to do what I get to do for a living. The opportunity that basketball has aff orded me to travel is something I never could have foreseen. I never got on an airplane until I’d lived two decades. Though travel is educational and exhilarating in so many ways, that’s a really small part of why I have to pinch myself. Really, my greatest professional fortune lies in getting to coach women of high character at a terrifi c university. Coaching women’s basketball at Creighton is an honor. It is hard in the ways that coaching is hard. Winning is important and the pressure competitive people put on themselves to achieve is something that can be stressful. But, at least in my mind, that is balanced against the easy part of getting to work everyday with eager, hard-working, enthusiastic and thoughtful young women. It is also balanced with getting to work with fun, talented, and driven staff members. In fact, the opportunity to help educate and to develop relationships with young women pursuing excellence in the classrooms and on the court is priceless. So too is the coach-coach relationship I have with our staff . They are super fun people to be around, and it’s easy for me to fi nd opportunities to learn from them daily.

Jim Flanery Creighton University Head Women’s Basketball Coach

Eight straight Post season appearences 2012 & 2013 NCAA Tournament

2015 2016

Let the Season Begin! Preseason has come and gone. Season has begun! With a loaded non- conference schedule and a hungry team, this year’s Bluejays are ready to show what they have been working on all summer and fall. The full roster of fi fteen includes four freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors, and two seniors.

#1 - Jade Owens - So. #11 - Bailey Norby - So. #23 - Marissa Janning - Sr. River Forest, IL Forest Lake, MN Watertown, MN

#2 - Myah Mellman - So. #12 - Lauren Works - Jr. #33 - Kylie Brown - So. Mason City, IA Lincoln, NE Inver Grove Heights, MN

#3 - MC McGrory - Jr. #14 - Sydney Lamberty - So. #40 - Ali Greene - Fr. Edina, MN Cottage Grove, MN Mahtomedi, MN

#4 - Aimee Rischard - So. #20 - Tessa Leytem - Sr. #45 - Audrey Faber - Fr. Oklahoma City, OK Dubuque, IA Clive, IA

#5 - Jaylyn Agnew - Fr. #21 - Olivia Elger - Fr. #50 - Brianna Rollerson - Jr. Andover, KS Peoria, IL Omaha, NE Head Coach Jim Flanery: You’ll see a few more dramatic rule changes this season in women’s basketball. We’ll play four 10-minute quarters, instead of 20-minute halves. Additionally, we have eliminated the one- and-one bonus on fouls. All fouls after a team enters the bonus will result in two shots, and we’ll shoot the bonus on the fi fth foul of each quarter. We also have changed a few things centered around the back court and in regard to the allocation and administration of time-outs. Finally, you’ll get to hear some live music during all dead balls, not just during the longer time-outs. The impetus behind the changes is to create a little more free-fl owing game. I’m a fan of most of the changes. While I don’t think it’s going to dramatically aff ect the game from a spectator or player point of view, I think it’s enough of a tweak to make our game more appealing. 2015 - 2016 Schedule The Bluejays kick off the season with their lone exhibition game versus Newman on November 5th. They will face big games at home against Wichita State, Marist, South Dakota State, and Norhern Iowa before conference play. The Jays’ tough non-conference schedule has them battling four NCAA Tournament teams and three former Missouri Valley rivals. Date Opponent Location Time (CT) Thursday, Nov. 5 Newman (Exhibition) D.J. Sokol Arena 7:05 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 Wichita State (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 12:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15 Marist D.J. Sokol Arena 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24 at Drake Des Moines, Iowa 7:05 p.m.

Lone Star Showcase– Cedar Park Center – Austin, Texas (Blue Bracket: Creighton, East Carolina, Eastern Washington & Northwestern) Thursday, Nov. 26 vs. East Carolina Austin, Texas 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27 vs. Northwestern Austin, Texas 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28 vs. Eastern Washington Austin, Texas 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 2 at Lawrence, Kan. 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6 at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9 at Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 South Dakota State D.J. Sokol Arena 7:05 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20 at Omaha Omaha, Neb. 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22 Northern Iowa D.J. Sokol Arena 6:05 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 29 * St. John’s (FS2) D.J. Sokol Arena 6:00 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31 * Seton Hall (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 3 * at Georgetown (BEDN) Washington, D.C. 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5 * at Villanova (BEDN) Villanova, Pa. 6:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8 * Xavier (FS1) D.J. Sokol Arena 6:00 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10 * Butler (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 1:05 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17 * Providence (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 1:05 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22 * at DePaul (BEDN) Chicago, Ill. 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24 * at Marquette (BEDN) Milwaukee, Wis. 2:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 * Villanova (FS1) D.J. Sokol Arena 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 * Georgetown (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 1:05 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 5 * at Butler (BEDN) Indianapolis, Ind. 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 7 * at Xavier (BEDN) Cincinnati, Ohio 1:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 * at Providence (BEDN) Providence, R.I. 12:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 * Marquette (BEDN) D.J. Sokol Arena 7:05 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 * DePaul (FS1) D.J. Sokol Arena 1:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26 * at Seton Hall (BEDN) South Orange, N.J. 6:05 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28 * at St. John’s (FS2) Queens, N.Y. 2:00 p.m.

BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Championship – Chicago, Ill. – DePaul University Saturday, March 5 Opening Round (BEDN) McGrath-Phillips Arena TBA Sunday, March 6 Quarterfi nals (FS2) McGrath-Phillips Arena TBA Monday, March 7 Semifi nal #1 (FS1) McGrath-Phillips Arena TBA Monday, March 7 Semifi nal #2 (FS1) McGrath-Phillips Arena TBA Tuesday, March 8 Championship Game (FS1) McGrath-Phillips Arena TBA

* Denotes BIG EAST regular season game FS1 = FOX Sports 1 FS2 = FOX Sports 2 BEDN = BIG EAST Digitial Network

Game dates and times are subject to change. All times listed are Central Time. Home games listed in BLUE. Bluejays in the Press Bluejays begin workouts with a full, healthy roster Jim Flanery thought he might be in the wrong huddle when he gathered his Creighton women’s basketball team around him after the Bluejays’ fi rst workout.

First, there were 15 players surrounding him. Second, all 15 were healthy.

“That’s unheard of around here, and almost scary,” said Flanery, chuckling. “It seems like I’m always telling a kid in the preseason, ‘Well, at least it’s not November. Let’s get it taken care of now.’ “We don’t have anyone sick, we don’t have anyone hobbled.”

Maybe the basketball gods are repaying Flanery for the run of injuries that has bitten the Bluejays in recent seasons.

The fact that Flanery will be working with a squad of 15 players also is out of the norm. In his fi rst 13 seasons as the Bluejays’ coach, Flanery rarely has used all the 15 scholarships the NCAA allows women’s teams to off er.

Fourteen of this season’s players are on scholarship, with the Bluejays adding a walk-on in sophomore guard Aimee Rischard. She served as a manager at Oklahoma last season before transferring to Creighton.

In high school, Rischard played on the same summer team as Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale’s daughter.

“Sherri told me they considered having Aimee walk on at Oklahoma,” Flanery said. “She went through our individual workouts and did a really nice job.”

Of Flanery’s 15 players, 10 are either freshmen or sophomores. Four of the fi ve upperclassmen are guards, providing Creighton with what Flanery considers the strength of the team.

Senior Marissa Janning, a two-time All-Big East selection and the conference’s 2014 player of the year, headlines the backcourt. Also returning are starters MC McGrory and Sydney Lamberty, as well as top reserves Lauren Works and Jade Owens.

“Our guard depth is going to be really good,” Flanery said. “We have experience and potentially elite players that we haven’t had.”

The outlook isn’t as encouraging up front, where the Bluejays must replace their most effi cient post player in Alexis Akin-Otiko, who fi nished second last season in scoring and rebounding.

Leading rebounder Brianna Rollerson returns, but Creighton will be relying on sophomores Bailey Norby and Kylie Brown or freshmen to pick up the minutes left by Akin-Otiko’s departure. Sorting out that frontcourt puzzle is one of Creighton’s priorities in preseason practice, which begins Oct. 4.

“We’re not going to ask any of them to be great scorers but they all need to be able to do, as Coach (Dana) Altman would say, is make the simple plays,” Flanery said. “We need them to block out, talk on defense, defend the ball screen as we want it defended.”

One newcomer that Flanery has slightly higher expectations for is Audrey Faber, a 6-foot-2 freshman from West Des Moines Dowling High School. A top-75 recruit, Faber averaged 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds while leading Dowling to a state title last season.

“She has a chance to be really good,” Flanery said. “She’s skilled and versatile and long. She doesn’t look physical but fi nishes better than you would think.”

Creighton opens its season Nov. 13 with a home game against Wichita State. The Bluejays’ Big East schedule was announced Thursday, and Creighton will face St. John’s at Sokol Arena in the league opener on Dec. 29.

One thing Flanery likes about the schedule is that there is no early December conference game as there was a year ago.

Creighton’s Big East opener last season came against Seton Hall on Dec. 3. In order to squeeze in the double- round-robin schedule, the league is having teams open with six games in a 13-day period in late December and early January. Player Profile: MC McGrory This month we will take a look at junior captain, Mary Claire “MC” McGrory. After averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last year, MC has made herself a vital part of this year’s team. She brings a knowledge to the game that is hard to teach and has a knack for getting into the paint and making tough fi nishes. She is one of only fi ve upperclassmen on this year’s squad. The 5-8 guard from Minnesota is ready to help lead the Bluejays back to the NCAA Tournament.

Why did you want to become a Bluejay? I had always heard great things about Creighton, and when I came on campus it just felt right. Everyone was so welcoming and nice.The coaches really cared about me as a person and not just a basketball player, and the team was fun! I enjoyed the family atmosphere.

In three words, describe this year’s team...... talented, hungry, and hilarious.

In three words, describe you...... goofy, smart, and trustworthy.

When you are not playing basketball or in class, what are you doing? Eating, reading a book, doing something active, or hanging out with my teammates

If you could have dinner with three people - dead or alive - who would it be? Abraham Lincoln, Yogi Berra, and Greg Maddux

If you had a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Italy - I really want to see the Vatican.

What do you think your biggest strength is as a player? I have a good midrange game.

What has been your favorite moment as a Bluejay so far? Either the Kansas game or the entire New York trip last year Preseason with the Jays...... Off the Court with the Jays! Jensen Family Lounge

The newest addition to our state-of-the-art facilities is the Jensen Family Lounge. The lounge, located inside the Ryan Center in D.J. Sokol Arena, is exclusiviely for women’s basketball and student- athletes. The lounge is equipped with a full kitchen, living room, theater room, and media/press conference area. The student-athletes are provided unlimited food, snacks, and drinks in the lounge. Their 24-hour access to this space makes for a great place to hang out before practices, lifting, or just relaxing and watching TV. We are extremely grateful for all those who helped make the Jensen Family Lounge happen and appreciate the community’s continued support of women’s athletics at Creighton! Creighton vs. Newman The Creighton women’s basketball team will play its lone exhibition game against the Newman Jets out of Kansas. The Jets fi nished their 2014-15 campaign with a 10-16 mark. They are led by redshirt junior Brianna Caldwell who pops in 10.0 points and grabs 4.7 boards per contest. Newman was recently picked to fi nish 8th in their preseason poll for the .

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Contact our Coaching Staff: We will do our best to keep you updated with our team throughout the upcoming year, but we want to get to know you as well! Please don’t hesitate to call or email our staff at anytime if you have questions about our program. We look forward to hearing from you in the very near future. Until then, think Blue and White! HEAD COACH JIM FLANERY Assistant Coach Matt Fritsche 402.660.5840 Assistant Coach Linda Sayavongchanh Jimfl [email protected] 402.718.7868 515.208.8278 [email protected] [email protected]

Director of Basketball Operations Assistant Coach Jenny Vickers Chevelle “Chevy” Herring 402.660.5839 - [email protected] 402.598.2329 - [email protected]

Graduate Manager 712.389.6467 Carli Tritz [email protected]