Creighton likes to run and gun High-flying Bluejays to battle Black Bears in WNIT Thursday

The Creighton Bluejays will swoop down on Alfond Arena in Orono ready to run and gun Thursday night in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

And it won’t be quite like anything the University of Maine women’s basketball team has seen all season.

Coach Jim Flanery’s Bluejays earned their way into the 32-team WNIT field with a hard-pressing defense and a wide-open offense, a style that helped them share the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title on their way to a 21-8 record.

Thursday’s game is at 7 p.m.

“They’re very guard-dominated, probably the toughest team we’ve played against all year,” UMaine coach Sharon Versyp said of a team that is taking 22 3-pointers per game.

Creighton, of Omaha, Neb., reached the NCAA Tournament last season by winning the MVC title, but lost to Florida International in the first round.

The Bluejays connect for an average of 7.8 3-pointers per game to rank sixth in Division I. They’re shooting 36 percent from 3-point range, having made more than 200 3-pointers in back-to-back seasons.

“Part of that is because we don’t have a big post-up game,” Flanery said. “It took us until our 18th game to win a jump ball,” he chuckled. “There aren’t a lot of games where we can go in thinking we can score consistently inside.”

In contrast, UMaine has attempted only 12.4 3-pointers per game while making 3.8.

The Jays’ long-range assault is paced by sophomore Laura Spanheimer, an All-MVC honorable mention who is 65-for-142 on 3-pointers and ranks sixth in the country at 46 percent.

But Creighton also has balance. Junior Dayna Finch has knocked down 53 of 158 from 3-point land, while junior Christy Neneman is 33-for-106 and senior Jenny Burns 28-for-89. Three-point shots account for nearly a third of the a Jays’ shots.

Neneman, a 5-foot-10 guard, leads the charge for Creighton. The two-time MVC Player of the Year leads the team in scoring (16.7 per game), rebounding (6.5 rpg) and assists (3.3). She is shooting 80 percent from the foul line and gets there because of her dribble-drive ability.

Spanheimer, a 5-9 guard, was the MVC Defensive Player of the Year. She paced the Jays with almost three steals per outing while averaging 12.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists. She has played 40 minutes in eight of the last 12 games.

Versyp is anticipating a full-fledged, full-court defensive assault from Creighton, which will use three different presses.

“They pressure the heck out of teams,” said Versyp, whose Bears have not encountered many teams willing, or able, to press them successfully.

“We’re going to press and we’re going to try to push,” Flanery said. “We’re not the best running team from the standpoint that we don’t rebound it that well.”

Finch is another of Creighton’s top performers. The 5-6 guard is averaging 9.7 points per game, while 5-10 guard Codi Walker (7.6 ppg) and 6-0 forward Teresa Wessling (6.9 ppg) are other top contributors.

The Jays also get good minutes out of 5-11 forward Jenny Burns (5.6 ppg) and 6-0 forward Angie Janie (5.2 ppg). Freshman Kristi Woodard, one of the team’s key players off the bench, is out for the season with a separated shoulder suffered in Creighton’s last game.

UMaine and Creighton had one common opponent in Bradley, which beat UMaine 80-70 on Dec. 22. The Bluejays swept the regular-season series with Bradley, 89-75 and 72-61.