Colorado University Athletics
Colorado Hosts The 19th Annual Coors Classic
THE TOURNAMENT: The University of Colorado will host the 19th Annual Coors Classic Nov. 25-26 at the Coors Events/Conference Center. On Friday, Illinois (1-0) will face Utah State (0-1) in the first game at 6:30 p.m. and Colorado (1-1) will then host Northern Iowa (0-1) at 8:30 p.m. The consolation game is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday with the championship game at 7 p.m.
BROADCAST: Colorado’s game against Northern Iowa will be broadcast live on KKZN AM 760, Boulder’s Progressive Talk station. Tim Smile will handle play by play duties and is joined by USA Basketball’s Carol Callan with the color commentary. If Colorado is in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m., the broadcast will air on KVCU AM 1190. If the Buffaloes are in the consolation game at 5 p.m., the contest will air on AM 760.
THE BUFFALOES: After defeating Cal State-Fullerton 100-71 in the season opener on Nov. 18, Colorado fell back to Earth with a 66-50 setback to Wyoming on Nov. 21 to move to 1-1 on the young season.
Sophomore Jackie McFarland recorded double-doubles in each contest and enters the Coors Classic averaging a Big 12 Conference-best 31 points per game to go along with 13 rebounds per game. She his hitting 55.1 percent from the field (27-for-49) and has six blocks and five steals. Junior Jasmina Ilic is averaging 17.5 points per game, and got there in an odd way. Ilic scored a career-high 34 points against Cal State-Fullerton, but was held scoreless against Wyoming. Senior guard Whitney Law is averaging a league-best 10.5 assists per game, including a school record 15 against Cal State-Fullerton.
LAST TIME OUT: Jackie McFarland recorded her second double-double in as many games, but Colorado could not repeat its first-game performance as Wyoming took a 66-50 decision over the Buffaloes on Monday night at the Coors Events Conference Center.
McFarland had a game-high 28 points on 13-of-20 from the field and added 11 rebounds. She had 34 points and 15 rebounds in CU’s 100-71 season-opening win against Cal State-Fullerton on Nov. 18.
Four Cowgirls registered double digits, led by Jodi Bolerjack’s 16 points. Wyoming (2-0), which last won in Boulder on Feb. 20, 1976, held a 41-35 edge on the boards, paced by Erin Hicks’ 12 rebounds.
Yari Escalera added 12 points for Colorado (1-1), hitting 3-of-4 from the 3-point arc. Junior Jasmina Ilic, who had 34 points in the win over Cal State-Fullerton, was held to just one free throw, missing all 13 attempts from the floor.
Colorado found itself in a big hole early as Wyoming held a 17-4 lead just 6:30 into the first half. McFarland scored 14 of the Buffs’ first 18 points as the lead was cut to seven (25-18) with 6:08 remaining in the half.
Escalera then found her groove scoring nine of her 12 points in a two-minute span at the end of the half. She hit two 3-pointers, the second one giving the Buffaloes a 29-28 lead with 1:58 remaining in the half. Wyoming came right back and scored a quick bucket by Rebecca Vanderjagt as the Cowgirls took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.
Escalera’s final points, 1:11 into the second half, gave CU a 35-32 lead but the Cowgirls would go on a 10-2 run and would hold the lead for the rest of the game.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS: Northern Iowa opened its season on Nov. 18 with a 62-48 loss at Valparaiso. The Panther’s 6-foot-7 center Cassie Hager led the way with 14 points and three blocks. Hager, a preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference pick, is 10 blocks away from setting the league’s all time mark with 222. Junior guard Jessie Biggs pitched in 11 for UNI in the loss to Valparaiso. The Panthers were picked to finish fifth in the MVC preseason poll.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: Utah State is 0-1 in 2005 after being edged 71-70 by Montana in the season opener on Nov. 18. Senior center Ali Marchant scored a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Grizzlies. For Marchant it was her 12th career double-double and is needing just 10 points to break into Utah State’s top 10 scoring list. Sophomore guard Taylor Richards had 16 points and four assists while junior forward Brittany Tressler and senior center Jessica Freeman each had 10.
ABOUT THE ILLINI: Illinois got a good start on the 2005-06 season with a 79-39 win at Loyola on Nov. 18. Freshman guard Lori Bjork had a memorable collegiate debut scoring a team-high 13 points with five assists and three rebounds. Senior guard Maggie Acuna had 11 points and junior forward Audrey Tabon had 10 as 12 different Illini had at least one field goal. Illinois was picked to finish ninth in the Big Ten Conference in the annual preseason poll. The Illini, 1-0 overall, will play at Northern Colorado on Nov. 23, before heading to the Coors Classic.
SERIES RECORDS: Colorado and Northern Iowa will meet for the first time on Friday. Colorado is 2-1 against Illinois with both wins at the Coors Events Conference Center. The Buffs defeated the Illini 78-70 in the last meeting on Dec. 28, 1999, in Boulder. Colorado is 10-5 all-time against Utah State with the first potential meeting on the horizon since Dec. 13, 1986. The Aggies won the first five meetings between 1975-78, then the Buffaloes have won the last 10.
Kathy McConnell-Miller is 0-1 against Northern Iowa and has never faced Utah State or Illinois in her six-year head coaching career.
COORS CLASSIC: Colorado is 30-6 all-time in the Coors Classic, winning 12 of the previous 18 championships. The Buffaloes were second last year, falling 75-44 to No. 2, and eventual Women’s Final Four participant, LSU. Illinois is making its second trip to the Coors Classic. The Illini played in the 1991 edition, losing to the Buffaloes 83-65 in the first round and then defeating Virginia Tech 68-66 in the consolation game.
CONNECTIONS, CONNECTIONS, CONNECTIONS: Kathy McConnell-Miller has never faced Illinois as a head coach, but she is very familiar with the program. McConnell-Miller was an Illini assistant from 1995-98 and associate head coach in 1998-99 under Theresa Grentz, winning one Big Ten title and appearing in three NCAA Tournaments. The two coaches go even further back as McConnell-Miller was an assistant under Grentz at Rutgers from 1993-95.
One of Colorado’s most celebrated players returns to the Coors Events Center this weekend as Raegan (Scott) Pebley is in her third season as Utah State’s head coach. Pebley, who has a 19-37 record with the Aggies, scored 1,045 points and grabbed 701 rebounds for the Buffaloes from 1993-97. A second-team All-Big 12 Conference as a senior, Pebley helped CU to four NCAA Tournaments, three Sweet 16 apperances, the 1995 Elite Eight and the inaugural Big 12 Conference Tournament title in 1997.
Utah State’s media relations director Mike Strauss is a graduate of Colorado and a one-time CU women’s basketball SID. Aggie sophomore forward Anne-Marie Torp is a native of Louisville, Colo., and is the younger sister of CUfootball punter and Ray Guy Award finalist John Torp.
MILESTONES GALORE IN SEASON OPENER: Several milestones were reached in Colorado’s season-opening 100-71 win over Cal State-Fullerton.
Junior Jasmina Ilic and sophomore Jackie McFarland each had 34 points, both career highs, marking the first time in team history two players hit the 30-point mark in the same game. McFarland recorded her sixth career double-double, grabbing a personal-high 15 rebounds. Ilic also had a personal-best 12 field goals and tied a career mark with 10 rebounds.
Senior Whitney Law dished out a school record 15 assists, breaking the previous record of 14, which was done twice, last by La Shena Graham vs. Missouri in 1998. She also had nine assists in the first half, breaking a 26-year old school record. Sandy Bean recorded eight assists in a half against Northern Colorado on Feb. 1, 1979.
Colorado recorded its first 100 point game since a 114-52 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 28, 1994.
BUFF DEBUTS: Colorado had three players -- two freshmen and a junior -- make their initial appearance in a Buffaloes uniform Nov. 18 against Cal State Fullerton. Freshman forward Caley Dow hit all three of her field goal attempts and finished with seven rebounds, six points and four steals in 15 minutes. Guard Hannah Skildum had four points on 2-of-4 shooting and three rebounds in 13 minutes. Junior forward Courtney Wallace made her official CU entrance in the closing seconds of Friday’s contest.
WALLACE ACTIVATED: Junior forward Courtney Wallace has waited more than a year to put on the Buffaloes uniform and now she will get her chance. Wallace, a walk-on transfer from CU-Colorado Springs, was officially added to the active roster on Nov. 17. Wallace practiced with the Buffs for most of last season as she sat out her NCAA mandated redshirted year after transferring from the Springs campus. She has been practicing and conditioning with the Buffaloes since the start of the school year. Wallace played two years for the Mountain Lions and was a two-year letterwinner for Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, graduating in 2004.
ON THE MEND: Sophomore center Kara Richards is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks after suffering a fracture in her left foot during practice on Nov. 15. Richards underwent surgery on Nov. 16 to repair the fracture to the fifth meta-tarsal, also known as a “Jones fracture.” Richards started in 26 of 28 games for the Buffaloes as a true freshman last winter, averaging nine points, 5.3 rebounds and one block per game. She earned a spot on the Waco Tribune-Herald’s All-Big 12 Conference Freshman team in 2004-05 and was named the Buffs’ Rookie of the Year. A native of Graham, Texas, Richards averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in CU’s two exhibition games earlier this month.
Senior center Tami Garnett, missed the exhibition schedule, recuperating from preseason surgery on the meniscus in her left knee. Garnett has returned to practice and played the last minute of the first half against Cal State-Fullerton. She did not play against Wyoming.
BUFFS IN OPENERS: With its win over Cal State-Fullerton, Colorado moved to 27-5 (.844) all-time in season openers and a whopping 31-1 (.969) all-time in home openers. CU has won six straight season debuts and 19 of its last 20 with the lone loss in that span coming at Denver on Nov. 19, 1999.
NOVEMBER SUCCESS: Fast starts in November are common for Colorado. The Buffaloes are 89-23 (.795) all-time in the month of November and a stunning 74-10 (.881) at the Coors Events Conference Center. CU is 16-3 at home in November since 2000.
BUFFS IN PRESEASON: Colorado has had five straight seasons with a record of .500 or better during the non conference schedule. The Buffs have only finished below .500 twice during the nonconference schedule in the Big 8/Big 12 era going 5-6 in 1999-2000 and 4-9 in 1984-85. A five-game winning streak last December allowed CU to keep the string alive at with a 7-6 preseason mark.
CLIMBING THE ?3’ LADDER: Juniors Jasmina Ilic and Anna Nedovic entered CU’s top 20 for all-time 3-point field goals last year and both have legitimate shots to enter the top 10 sometime this season. Ilic is currently 14th on the all-time list with 43 and just one shy of reaching Shelley Garcia (1994-99) for 13th. Nedovic is right behind in 17th place with 37.
BUFFS PICKED 12TH: Colorado was picked to finish 12th in the annual Big 12 Conference Coaches Preseason Poll. CU received 14 points meaning no less than eight Big 12 coaches picked the Buffaloes to finish in the 12th spot (coaches do not vote for their own teams). It is the first time the Buffaloes have been picked lower than eighth since the coaches poll began in 1997. Defending NCAA champion Baylor was picked to win its second consecutive Big 12 title, landing six first place votes and 113 total points to edge out second place Texas with two first place nods and 110 points. Texas Tech was a close third with the four remaining first place votes and 108 points. Oklahoma was fourth (91), followed by Nebraska (70), Kansas (66), Texas A&M (59), Kansas State (56), Iowa State (45), Missouri (37), Oklahoma State (23) and Colorado.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Colorado once again faces a tough schedule, featuring at least 14 games against 2005 NCAA or WNIT tournament teams. Defending national champion Baylor, who the Buffs will face in Waco on Feb. 22, is the highest ranked team on the schedule, checking in at No. 5 in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls. The Big 12 Conference Southern Division is prominent in the preseason polls. Texas Tech is 14th in the AP poll and 16th by the coaches. Texas is ranked 18th in both polls while Oklahoma is 22nd in the AP poll and 23rd in the coaches poll. As far as the north, Kansas is the only team receiving votes in both polls, while Kansas State is receiving votes in the coaches poll. Oregon and South Florida are the Buffs’ only non conference opponents currently receiving votes in the coaches poll.
HOME AT THE CECC: Colorado is traditionally tough at home with a 290-79 all-time record at the Coors Events/Conference Center (.786). The Buffaloes have won 10 or more games in a season at the CECC in 18 of the previous 27 years including five undefeated seasons (1980-83, 1992-94). Colorado had a rare sub-.500 season last winter at 5-9, marking just the second time the Buffs have been below .500 for a season in the 27-year history of the CECC.
BUFFS ON TV: Colorado’s schedule features seven games that will be televised either regionally or nationally by Fox Sports Net. All but one of the FSN games is in Boulder, with the lone exception at Colorado State on Nov. 30. Buffs fans will see a familiar face on their TV sets during those games as longtime CU coach Ceal Barry is scheduled to provide the color commentary on a majority of the broadcasts.
UP NEXT: Colorado will play its first road game of 2005-06 as the Buffaloes make the one-hour trip north to face Colorado State on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.
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