Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Gonzaga Notes
March 24, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Sweet 16. With this win, Colorado will host Villanova in the round of 16, this Thursday, March 27, at 7:00 p.m. This was Colorado's first postseason (NCAA/NIT) win since March 24, 2003 when the Buffs defeated North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA's by an 86-67 score in Boulder. CU's season ended in its next game in the regional semifinal in Knoxville, dropping a 53-51 decision to...Villanova.
Quickly... Colorado's 82 points tied for its second most in 2007-08, eclipsed only in a 91-64 win over Jacksonville State on Dec. 30...Obscure Note Alert: the 82 were the second most after the New Year in coach Kathy McConnell-Miller's three seasons in Boulder (trailing a 92-65 win over Northern Colorado on Feb. 13, 2006... The Buffs shot over 50 percent from the field (33-of-65, 50.8) for the first time in 17 games (last doing so at Missouri in a 70-58 win on Jan. 9, 24-of-46, 52.2)... CU scored 40-plus points in each half for the second time this year (going 49-42 versus Jacksonville State)... This was just the eighth time Gonzaga was held below 70 points in 2007-08 (2-6), All home teams in action tonight in the WNIT won... It was the fifth time this year CU shot 50 percent or better... Over half (justunder 900 of the 1,666) of the tickets sold for tonight's game were sales on CUBuffs.com.
Whitney Houston Sings Anthem. No, not that one, but CU's own sophomore guard. The Memphis, Tenn., product sung the national anthem for the second time in her career tonight; the other time was when CU hosted Nevada in the 2006 Coors Classic. Shethen went out ans scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, with four assists and a steal.
Game 31 But A First. This marked the first time this season (and thus, ever), that the starting five consisted of F Brittany Spears, F Jackie McFarland, F Kara Richards, G Bianca Smith and G Susie Powers.
Jackie McFarland. The Colorado senior moved into second on CU's all-time scoring list, as she had 21 points tonight to give her 1,878 for her career. She passed Tera Bjorklund (1,858) into second place but still trails Lisa VanGoor (2,067). McFarland was 3-of-7 from the line, adding to her school record for makes (549) and moving into first in attempts (718), as she passed Bridget Turner (717) this evening.
Seasonal?Her 21 points upped her season point total to 558, jumping her from seventh into fifth for the most in a single year (passing Bjorklund, 542 in 2003-04, and Erin Scholz, 544 in 1995-96).
Bianca Smith. With six assists this evening, she had a new career high; in fact, she attained it just five minutes into the second half. Her old high was four, set three times in 2006-07. She was 4-of-6 on three pointers, becoming the first CU player to attempt 200 in a single season (202); she has made 75, just four off the season mark by Kate Fagan (79 in 2003-04).
Brittany Spears. The CU freshman had her seventh double-double of the season (her third in the last five games), as she led CU with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds?the last board coming on Gonzaga's last miss of the game in the final seconds.
Time Spent In The Lead. Colorado led this game for 39:29, as the game was never tied and there were no lead changes. In fact, Colorado led by 10 points or more for 23:04 in the contest. CU's big lead was 16, on two occasions in the first half (24-8, 27-11); the largest in the second half was 15 twice (68-53, 70-55).
First Generation Shooting. There were 87 rebounds in the game, 33 on the offensive end; Gonzaga was 10-of-19 in second chance shooting (1 turnover, 1-1 FT), totaling 21 points; that means the Bulldogs were 19-of-60 on first shots, or just 31.7 percent. Colorado was 7-of-12 on second chance shots (1 turnover) for 14 points, and were 26-of-53 on first generation shots, or 49.1 percent. In addition, the 20 offensive rebounds by Gonzaga were the second most against CU this year (Jacksonville State had 21).
