Creighton-Nebraska game proves basketball is catching up to volleyball

First downs and second guesses:

Blue State. Red State. Who cares?

It’s the Ladies’ State.

Creighton and Nebraska women’s basketball teams tip off Tuesday at Sokol Arena. And the two programs offer the chance for the kind of competitive thriller that the men’s series rarely delivers.

Creighton is ranked No. 20, Nebraska comes in at No. 22. Both teams made the NCAA tournament last year.

There’s star power in Jaz Shelley and Alexis Markowski for NU, and Lauren Jensen and Emma Ronsiek for Creighton.

The level of talent and play for women’s hoops in this area is on an accelerated track. It’s worthy of a pause from volleyball’s final month to check it out.

“It has improved,” CU coach Jim Flanery said. “The club scene has gotten better, there’s better high school coaches.

“I like volleyball and respect what they’re doing. But what Amy (Williams) has done and where we are as a program is only going to help us continue to raise the level.

“There’s room in the state to have both (basketball and volleyball).”

Specialization in sports, Flanery says, still impacts basketball. For teenage girls, volleyball rules the state.

But basketball is catching up. The attention that Caitlin Clark (Iowa guard from Des Moines) and Paige Bueckers (UConn star, from Minneapolis) has helped. So have their NIL deals.

All of Flanery’s roster is from the Midwest — as is the majority of Williams’ roster. And some of the better players on each roster are from Nebraska.

That adds some spice to Tuesday’s game.

“Amy and I have a good relationship,” Flanery said. “We don’t hate them and I don’t think they hate us.

“It’s a game we both want to win but we also know we have a lot of really good nonconference opponents. There might be more juice this year, with both teams being ranked, but it’s not a season-ender or a season-maker.”

But games like this could become a local advertisement for the sport.

“I turned on Skutt and Elkhorn North (state volleyball match) and there’s five kids who have committed to D-I programs,” Flanery said. “And that didn’t include the freshmen and sophomores on the court.

“I was thinking, geez, it would be a little easier to recruit if I was a volleyball coach. I say that to Kirsten (CU volleyball coach Bernthal-Booth’s) face.”

Basketball is catching up. The proof will be on display Tuesday night.

Here is today’s Nebraska coaching update: Last weekend Desmond Howard of ESPN GameDay said the next Husker coach would be Matt Rhule.

The day…