Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Hot Horns Offer Buffs Chance To Climb
February 09, 2010 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
But this week, with half the Big 12 Conference schedule filed away, McConnell-Miller wanted her contention underscored . . . wanted her players to have something tangible to remind them . . . wanted something in black and white to stare back at them.
So she printed off copies of the current Big 12 standings for her players. The lineup shows the Buffaloes halfway home with a 2-6 league record (12-9 overall). One game ahead of CU is Kansas State (3-5), one game behind in the win column are Texas Tech (1-7) and Missouri (1-8).
Ahead of that foursome are seven teams currently in the national Top 25 - did somebody say the Big 12 is brutal? - and unranked Kansas, which lost its best player (Danielle McCray) last week to a season-ending knee injury. KU, Texas A&M and Baylor are tied for fourth at 4-4.
CU senior guard Bianca Smith knows the direction her coach is going: "It's all right there . . . once (her teammates) recognize it and see it. Coach printed off the standings and once you see it, it's a different story; you can understand we're right there."
Well, the Buffs can get right there only if they right themselves on the court. They've lost six of their past seven games, including four straight. But if they're paying attention to their senior leader and coach - and those standings she distributed - they'll realize the good stuff that's in reach.
"We've got great opportunities with Texas and Texas A&M coming in here," Smith said. "I just try to express to the players that we still have plenty of opportunity. Winning six of those (remaining games) gets us to 8-8 and, I think, gets us in the tournament."
The Buffs in the Big Dance? Ambitious, yes. But why dream small? CU hasn't defeated a ranked opponent since Feb. 23, 2008 (No. 15 Kansas State, 73-68), losing 17 straight to Top 25 opponents.
But No. 14/19 Texas visits the Coors Events Center Wednesday (7 p.m., FSN Rocky Mountain), and counting that contest CU has four home games and four trips remaining before the Big 12 postseason tournament (March 11-14) in Kansas City.
Along with Texas, Kansas (Feb. 16), No. 13/11 Texas A&M (Feb. 27) and Kansas State (March 3) visit the Events Center. The road trips are at No. 12/13Oklahoma (Saturday), at No. 3/4 Nebraska (Feb. 20), at Missouri (Feb. 23) and at No. 20/17 Iowa State (March 6).
For whoever's counting, five of CU's remaining eight games are against ranked opponents - three of them on the road. It's nice to see the big picture and know what's at stake, but the only way to deal with that kind of schedule is . . . right, one game at a time.
As Missouri coach Cindy Stein reminded Tuesday on the Big 12 coaches' teleconference, "If you try to look at it a week in advance, you're crazy, you're going to have a heart attack . . . you concentrate on the key for that game; every single game means something."
Smith and the Buffs contend that by late Monday afternoon they'd already flushed their weekend debacle at Baylor. Center Brittney Griner applied even more luster to a sparkling freshman season by recording a triple-double in the Lady Bears' 76-42 blowout win.
"I think we moved past it (Monday) in practice," Smith said. "We know the first half of the season is over now; we've got eight games and plenty of time to make a postseason push.
"I think that's been more of the focus than not having the outcome we wanted at Baylor - looking ahead and still knowing we still have an opportunity ahead of us."
Texas is the first Big Opp - and the Longhorns (16-6, 5-3) come to Boulder as arguably the Big 12's hottest team. They have won seven of their past 10 games, five of the past six and are on a three-game winning streak launched by a 61-50 victory against now-No. 11/15 Baylor on Jan. 31 in Austin.
"About a month ago we looked like a totally different team," UT senior guard Brittainey Raven said. "I think every day in practice we've been doing our best to work hard, listen to everything coach is saying, put in extra work."
"Coach" is "Coach G" - Gail Goestenkors, in her third season at Texas after 15 mostly illustrious ones at Duke. "I feel good about where we are," she said of her team's recent surge.
Since non-conference play, she has shuffled her lineup to get "some of our greatest competitors" more court time. Among those are sophomore Ashley Gayle and freshman Cokie Reed, both 6-foot-4 post players, and Raven, a 6-plus footer who likely will be asked to blanket CU freshman Chucky Jeffery.
"We're playing much better defense than when we started the league. Offensively, we're sharing the ball much better, going inside to our posts and recognizing that much better than early on," said Goestenkors, who signed on at Texas in April 2007 and became the women's game's second-highest paid coach ($1 million to Tennessee's Pat Summit's $1.25 million).
Added McConnell-Miller: "There's no question (Texas is rolling). You look at the progression of their games . . . they've got a solid core of players that executes, defends and plays well together. They've got confidence in what they're running; there's definitely a difference from early on until now."
Texas is coming off an 81-51 rout of Texas Tech in Austin, an outcome that stands in stark contrast to a 95-90 double overtime win in Lubbock on Jan. 16.
Comparing the two games, Lady Raiders coach Kristy Curry said the Longhorns "are playing their best basketball right now . . . their balance is incredible and they're playing at a really high level."
Goestenkors liked almost everything about Sunday's blowout - except her team's 20 turnovers and the fact that Tech and CU are among the league leaders in steals.
The Buffs, she said, "do a great job of making you pay for it if you're not strong and smart with the ball. You can't afford to give up free points."
With so much to gain in their final eight games, the Buffs can't afford to give up anything - especially potential wins at home against a ranked opponent.
Over the next eight games, Smith knows her young team's margin for error "most definitely" begins shrinking - like right now.
"But I think we're growing . . . people are starting to recognize things, learn from mistakes," Smith said. "We've played everybody once - the North teams at least. I think that's going to help us. We just have to stay positive and focused."
If accomplishing that takes an occasional peek at those printed league standings, peek away.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
