OFTEN COOL, BLUEJAY HAS FIRE, TOO

It’s not often, and when she does, it’s for an interesting reason. But Creighton’s breakout star of the 2022 NCAA tournament — who became a Big East first-teamer in 2023 — can and will wear the fire on her sleeve.

Usually, though, the junior plays with a quiet, intense burn, shielded by a grin or a calm demeanor.

“I don’t feel a whole lot of emotions a lot of the time,” Maly said.

Opponents feel her game instead.

The 6-foot-1 Crete graduate is second on the team in scoring (15 points per contest), first in rebounding (6.2) and tends to draw the defensive assignment of the taller, bigger opposing post. On offense, Maly solves nightly puzzles.

Will the defender be a guard taking away 3s? Or a post denying paint touches?

Either way, she’s at the top of the foe’s scouting report and a key factor in whether the 22-8 Bluejays can make another NCAA tournament run.

“My mindset’s changed,” Maly said as the sixth-seeded Bluejays prepared for the Notre Dame regional. “I have way more confidence in what my team needs from me and also my abilities.”

Coach Jim Flanery agrees.

Maly will talk a little trash to male practice players if she hits two 3-pointers in a row. She’ll trade elbows in the post on defense, knowing she’s in for a long, physical game. And while the high school valedictorian is a “processor,” she’ll accept the responsibility of being the scorer when Flanery draws up a play for her.

“She’s shaking her head like, ‘Yeah, bring it, give me another out of bounds play you want to run for me,’” Flanery said.

Flanery admits Maly is more than he expected when — at the height of the pandemic in 2020 — she joined a team full of strong personalities. Players practiced in masks — which delayed Flanery’s ability to read Maly’s persona — and by the end of a 10-12 season, he told Maly: I should have played you more.

Maly did as a sophomore, but she still came off the bench. In the NCAA tourney, she blossomed.

First in a second-round upset of second-seeded Iowa, she scored eight points, grabbed 13 rebounds and successfully stopped All-America center Monika Czinano from scoring on the game’s final play. Next in a Sweet 16 defeat of No. 3 seed Iowa State, Maly scored a career-high 21.

That set the stage for a big junior year. This season, she has scored at least 20 points eight times — including 30 against Providence — and improved considerably, Flanery said, as a defender.

Senior guard Rachael Saunders — the team’s captain and vocal leader — has seen Maly use her steady personality to help in tight circumstances.

“I do think of a few games where she brought us all into a huddle and got us on the same page,” Saunders said.

Maly calms the team in those moments. But Maly can put teammates at “full on notice” sometimes, too. Saunders doesn’t see it coming — no one does — but players take notice.

“Because if Morgan’s getting mad — if Morgan’s saying something — we’ve got to change something as a group,” Saunders said.

Maly smiled through much of Tuesday’s press conference — a couple of times, she just lets Saunders answer for both of them — but she has clearly thought about what upsets her:

Thinking too much.

“It might be like when we’re not playing ‘basketball,’ when we’re so in our head about ‘time and score,’” Maly said, pointing to her head with fingernails painted white. “Yes, there’s a reason for that, but sometimes there’s no flow and it’s too much in the head and not enough in the body.”

Split-second reactions can be great. Her buzzer-beating, game-winning putback against Seton Hall in the Big East tournament was one.

Maly checked her phone for a long while after that late-night game before finally putting it down when the buzzing intrusions became too much.

“So, like, sorry people,” Maly said. “I got back to them three days late.”

Flanery and Saunders get a kick out of how Maly’s mind works. Like someone offering to help her up at practice.

“She hates when her teammates try to help her up,” Flanery said. “Because she wants to stay mad about something.”

Bulldogs advance

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jessika Carter had 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocks while Anastasia Hayes added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Mississippi State beat Illinois 70-56 Wednesday in a First Four game.

Mississippi State (21-10) advanced to to take on Creighton. The Bulldogs improved to 14-3 in the NCAA tournament since the 2016-17 season.