Elite 8. With this win, Colorado will host TCU (23-11) this Sunday, March 30, at 2:00 p.m. It will be the latest date in a season that the CU women will ever play on, eclipsing by a day a game on March 29, 2003... a 53-51 loss to Villanova in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Quickly... CU snapped a streak of 18 straight losses when trailing at halftime (dating to last season; CU is now 1-13 this year); Villanova finished the year 14-3 when leading at intermission... Jackie McFarland scored 10 of CU's first 12 points in each half... The Buffs missed their first eight shots until McFarland got the Buffs on the board 4:44 into the game... Colorado allowed 35 points in the first half again tonight, but whereas the Buffs led by seven against Gonzaga, which was the margin they trailed by tonight... CU outscored ?Nova 36-23 in the second half, its largest margin of differential after halftime since getting the best of Jacksonville State, 42- 28, back on Dec. 30... Villanova missed its first shot, then was .500 or better from the floor until there was 2:53 left in the game... In two WNIT games, opponents shot just one free throw in the first half (zero tonight by ?Nova)... CU paid back Villanova for ending its 2003-04 season in the sweet 16 in the NCAA regionals.
Flip-Flop. Villanova led 55-44 with 6:01 remaining in the game, but Colorado went on a 20-3 run to close the game. The Wildcats missed their last nine field goal attempts and finished 22-of-50 for the game (44.0%), and made just nine of their last 32 shots (28.1) after starting 13-of-18 (72.2). Villanova's 14-of-23 (60.9%) performance in the first half was the best by an opponent versus CU this season, and the only one all year by a foe above .500 at the Coors Events Center.
Brittany Spears. The CU freshman had and has become the first player in school history to record 50 or more assists (60), steals (54) and blocked shots (50) in a single season (she was only the second to have 40 of each). She's already made her mark in another area, as with 441 points and 245 rebounds, she is just the second freshman in school history to score 400 points and grab 200 rebounds in a season and the just the 10th different player to do it overall (a combined 16 times; Jackie McFarland and Lisa VanGoor did it three times each, with Erin Scholz and Tera Bjorklund accomplishing it twice). Spears needs nine points and five rebounds against TCU to become just the fourth player to accomplish the 450/250 barriers; VanGoor and McFarland did that three times and Scholz once.
Taking Care of The Ball In A Big Way. Colorado set a school record for the fewest turnovers committed in game with three; the old low had been four on two occasions (versus Kansas State in 2003 and Utah in 1989). CU did not commit its first turnover of the game until 16:47 was left in the second half; in the first 31 games of the season, Colorado had committed at least three turnovers in every single half (first and/or second) this year.
2-0. This is the second time this year, and postseason, that CU went with this starting five and the quintet is now 2-0: F Brittany Spears, F Jackie McFarland, F Kara Richards, G Bianca Smith and G Susie Powers.
Jackie McFarland (32 points/12 rebounds). The Colorado senior scored in double figures for the 100th time in her career, posted her 47th double figure rebound game in recording her 46th career “double-double.” She has 92 double figure scoring efforts in her last 98 games. Second on CU's all-time scoring list, she surpassed the 1,900-point plateau tonight and finished the game with 1,910 for her career (Lisa VanGoor leads with 2,067). McFarland was 15-of-16 from the line, setting a CU record for the most free throws made in a game (old mark was 14 on three occasions, once by her). This was the 11th time this year she went to the line at least 10 times in a game. The 32 points was the third time she scored 30 in a game; the other two times came on Nov. 18, 2005 against Cal State-Fullerton (34 points) and on March 6, 2007 against Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament (32 points).
Seasonal?Her 32 points upped her season point total to 590, fifth for the most in a single year; Tera Bjorklund had 592 in 2002-03, otherwise McFarland needs just 10 points to register the fourth 600 point single season in school history.
Time Spent In The Lead. Colorado led in its win over Gonzaga for 39:31, but led tonight for just 1:22. Villanova's big lead was 11 on several occasions, and if it seemed liked the Buffs always trailed by somewhere between six and 11 points, it was fact: Nova led within that range for exactly 35:00 in this game.
