There are lots of ways to describe what happens when two 2,000-point scorers depart after leading the program to 97 wins and four straight NCAA tournament bids.
Creighton women’s basketball coach Jim Flanery chose a line apt for his profession.
“The security blankets that we’ve had the last few years are gone,” Flanery said Tuesday at the start of CU’s training camp.
Morgan Maly and Lauren Jensen, Nos. 2 and 3 on Creighton’s all-time scoring list, indeed offered security, shotmaking and seasoned leadership.
But the Bluejays also lost vets Molly Mogensen, Mallory Brake and Jayme Horan, too. They combined to play 454 games and score 1,984 points over five seasons.
Security, thus, has been replaced with the enthusiasm of six-player freshman class — headlined by twin Millard West grads Neleigh and Norah Gessert — that ESPN ranked No. 23 in the nation.
The best-ever stretch of CU women’s hoops produced an elite recruiting class.
Now come learning curves and growing pains.
For the team — that Flanery said is not fully healthy — for the coaches, and for the new leaders, Kiani Lockett and Kennedy Townsend, two seniors who played supporting roles during the Bluejays’ run of success.
“It’s been challenging,” Townsend of the departure of close friends and the influx of newcomers. “But it’s been good. Exciting.”
Lockett and Townsend — plus senior Northern Iowa transfer Grace Boffeli, still recovering from knee surgery — have been good, Flanery said, at “including” the freshmen the learning process. CU’s staff, meanwhile, plots practice plans only a few days out, instead of weeks, because there’s so much to teach to and learn about the new players.
“You’re trying to figure out if they’re going to be as capable as they were,” Flanery said, referring to the freshmen’s high school careers. “Is Norah Gessert going to be able to handle the ball as a primary guard against pressure? Is Kendall McGee going to be able to do that?”
CU will have to rely on at least some or all of them.
The Gessert twins were ranked Nos. 84 (Neleigh) and 89 (Norah) nationally by ESPN, while point guard Ava Zediker — who played at Caitlin Clark’s prep alma mater in Des Moines — was ranked No. 70. Those three are guards along with McGee, out of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
In the frontcourt, CU signed suburban Chicago star Avery Cooper and Tara Dacic, a Serbian import that spent last season playing in San Francisco. Norah Gessert and Zediker were held out of practice Tuesday, watching the workout.
Those six join sophomores Allison Heathcock Elizabeth Gentry and seniors Lockett — the lone returning starter — Townsend, and Bofeli, who averaged 11 points and 7.9 rebounds in four-plus seasons at UNI. CU has zero juniors.
“One thing that’s been really eye-opening with this group is our defense,” Lockett said. “The past couple years, maybe our defense wasn’t our main focus, but I think this year it’s going to be something we focus on. Pushing pace, getting steals, getting points off of our defense.”
Flanery said Tuesday he can’t recall starting a training camp this early. CU has nearly a month before its first exhibition game, Oct. 22 vs. Missouri Western.
Between now and then, growing pains and learning curves. Patience, too, from a coach who spent the last several years coaching seasoned superstars.
“Thank God, because I have a little bit more of that than I did,” Flanery said. “Yeah, we’ll have to be more patient. You kind of know that going in. It’s good to remind yourself of that before coming into practice.”
sam.mckewon@owh.com, 402-540-4222, twitter.com/swmckewonOWH
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Sam McKewon
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