Colorado University Athletics
Women's Basketball At Creighton Saturday Afternoon
THE GAME: The University of Colorado (2-3) makes its first trip outside the Centennial State this season as the Buffaloes face Creighton University on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2:05 p.m. MST in the Omaha Civic Center in Omaha, Neb.
BROADCAST: The Colorado-Creighton game will be broadcast live on KKZN AM 760, BoulderGÇÖs Progressive Talk station. Tim Smile will handle play by play duties and is joined by USA BasketballGÇÖs Carol Callan with the color commentary.
THE BUFFALOES: Colorado comes into the Creighton contest at 2-3 and will be looking to rebound from a nail-biting 86-83 loss at rival Colorado State on Nov. 30. Two of CUGÇÖs three losses this season have been close ones, as the Buffs fell 74-65 in overtime to Northern Iowa on Nov. 25.
Colorado is scoring well, but also giving up the points. The Buffaloes rank fourth in the Big 12 Conference in scoring at 74.2 points per game, but rank last in scoring defense at 70.6. ColoradoGÇÖs 83 points against Colorado State were the most the BuffsGÇÖ had scored in a loss since the semifinals of the 2001 Big 12 Tournament when No. 7 Oklahoma knocked off No. 20 CU 102-93.
Sophomore post Jackie McFarland is averaging a double-double over the first five contests, sporting a Big 12 Conference best 23.4 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per contest which is third on the league charts. Junior Jasminia Ilic is 12th in the Big 12 in scoring at 15 points per game. She was held to just one point against Wyoming, but already has outputs of 34 (Cal State-Fullerton) and 24 (Utah State) this season. ColoradoGÇÖs back-court trio of senior Whitney Law and sophomores Lauren Lubin and Yari Escalera have put up some impressive numbers in the five early games. Law, who missed the Utah State game with a sprained ankle, rebounded in a big way with a career-high 22 points against Colorado State. She is third among Big 12 players in assists with 7.3 per game. Escalera, one of the top five foul shooters in the Big 12 at 85.7 percent, tied a career-high with 19 points to lead CU against Northern Iowa. Lubin, who has started in the place of Law the last two games (Law came off the bench at CSU), has responded with two straight double-doubles, averaging 14 points and 11.5 rebounds over her two starts. Lubin, Escalera and McFarland are first and fifth and sixth respectively on the Big 12 free-throw percentage charts and combined are hitting 86.8 percent from the charity stripe (59x68). As a team, Colorado is holding its opponents to 38.9 percent from the field (121x311) and out-rebounding its opponents by seven rebounds per game.
LAST TIME OUT: Whitney Law scored a career-high 22 points, but it was not enough as Colorado State held off a furious second half comeback by Colorado and defeated the Buffaloes 86-83 Wednesday night at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
Colorado had a two point lead at halftime (35-33), but it slipped away under a steady offensive performance from the Rams (3-1) who had four players score in double figures led by Vanessa Espinoza who had a game-high 23 points.
CSU led by as much as 14 in the second half and held an 11-point advantage with just 2:13 remaining. Law, who came off the bench and was playing in her first game since spraining her ankle against Northern Iowa, scored eight of her 22 points in the final two minutes and cashed in on a 3-point play with just under a minute left that cut the RamsGÇÖ lead to 83-81.
On the next possession, CSUGÇÖs Marilyn Moulton scored on a put back off a Sara Hunter miss, to put the Rams back up four with 0:23 left. Law hit a pair of free throws on the other end to get the lead back down to two. Anna Nedovic fouled Moulton who hit one of two foul shots with 13 second left for the final margin as CU was unable to get off a potential game-tying shot on its last possession.
Colorado also had four players in double figures, Law (22), Jackie McFarland (19), Lauren Lubin (15) and Nedovic (11). LubinGÇÖs points were a career high and Nedovic turned in her best performance of the year on the scoreboard.
CSU jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first 3:18 and hitting 4-of-5 from behind the arc to start the game. The Rams had made just 25.7 percent of their 3-point attempts in their first three games.
Colorado chipped away at that lead behind eight points from Law and six boards from Lubin who had 10 rebounds on the night, her second career double-double and second in as many games.
McFARLAND 20-10: Jackie McFarland is the first player in CU womenGÇÖs basketball history to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds over the first five games of a season. McFarland currently leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring at 23.4 points per game and is third on the league charts in rebounding at 10.4 per contest.
McFarlandGÇÖs 23.4 points per game average over the first five games is second all-time in school history trailing only Jamillah Lang who averaged 24.2 points over the first five games of the 1993-94 campaign.
POINTS AVERAGE
FIRST FIVE GAMES
Name
(Season) PPG
1.
Jamillah Lang (1993-94) 24.2
2. Jackie
McFarland (2005-06) 23.4
3. Tera
Bjorklund (2003-04) 21.0
4. Tera
Bjorklund (2002-03) 20.8
5. Tera
Bjorklund (2001-02) 19.0
LUBIN BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLES: With her performances against Utah State and Colorado State sophmore guard Lauren Lubin became just the fifth true guard in team history to record two or more points-rebounds double-doubles in a career and only the second to do it back-to-back games. Former Big Eight Conference MVP Bridget Turner did it in back-to-back games during the 1988-89 season and leads all CU guards with nine total points-rebounds double-doubles. Lubin joins three other guards with two points-rebounds double-doubles and included in that list is teammate Whitney Law who had a pair last season. Lubin had 13 points and 13 rebounds against Utah State and had 15 points and 10 rebounds at CSU.
ABOUT THE BLUEJAYS: Creighton is 1-2 overall and coming off a win in its home opener, 76-59, against the University of Houston on Nov. 30. The Bluejays are led by senior forward Angie Janis, a 2005 All-Missouri Valley Conference first team performer. Janis is averaging 15.7 points through the first three games and hitting 50 percent from the field. She is joined by fellow senior Kristi Woodard, a 5-9 guard, who is also averaging 15.7 points per contest and has hit 10 of her first 18 3-point field-goal attempts this season (55.6 percent). Senior forward Christy Erickson has a team-best six rebounds per game and also has eight assists. Creighton features six seniors on its roster and 10 letterwinners from a 2004-05 squad that advanced to its third straight postseason WNIT.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be the third meeting between Colorado and Creighton with the teams splitting in the first two contests. ColoradoGÇÖs win over the Bluejays was a 76-60 effort at the Freedom Bowl Classic in Irvine, Calif., on Nov. 27, 1987. CreightonGÇÖs win came last season in Boulder, 84-68, on Dec. 4. CreightonGÇÖs Angie Janis had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the contest as the Bluejays pulled away with a 48-point second half. Jackie McFarland registered her first career double-double for Colorado with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Buffaloes are 9-5 against current Missouri Valley Conference teams, having faced Northern Iowa last weekend in the Coors Classic, a 74-65 overtime PanthersGÇÖ victory.
Kathy McConnell-Miller is 0-2 against Creighton in her head coaching career, both games coming while at Tulsa.
MILESTONES GALORE IN SEASON OPENER: Several milestones were reached in ColoradoGÇÖs 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. CUGÇÖs 58 first-half points tied for the sixth-most in team history, a feat also achieved against TCU on Dec. 7, 1993 and vs. St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 28, 1994.
CLASSIC IN REVIEW: Colorado placed third in the 19th Annual Coors Classic Tournament Nov. 25-26 at the Coors Events Conference Center. The Buffaloes fell to Northern Iowa, 74-65, in overtime marking the first time in Coors Classic history that CU lost a first round match up. Colorado rebounded to take the consolation game from Utah State, 73-56. Northern Iowa would go on to take the tournament title by defeating Illinois 71-47.
Sophomore Jackie McFarland was named to the All-Tournament team as she averaged 18 points, 8.5 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Northern Iowa senior center Cassie Hager, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks against CU, was the tournament MVP.
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-HeraldGÇÖs All-Big 12 Conference Freshman team in 2004-05 and was named the BuffsGÇÖ Rookie of the Year. A native of Graham, Texas, Richards averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in CUGÇÖs 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 has played in two of four games including a season-high seven minutes against Utah State.
McCONNELL-MILLER 100 IN DEBUT: Kathy McConnell-Miller led Colorado to the century mark in her first game as head coach, by far the best total of any current Big 12 Conference coach in their debut at their school. Bill Fennelly of Iowa State was the closest as he led the Cyclones to an 82-55 win over Idaho State in his debut in 1995. Ironically, McConnell-Miller is not the first Colorado womenGÇÖs coach to debut with a 100-point performance. Sox Walseth led the Buffs to a 107-73 win over Colorado WomenGÇÖs College in his first game as womenGÇÖs head coach on Nov. 18, 1980.
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.
TIS THE SEASON FOR WINS: Colorado has been dominant in December over the years compiling a 107-46 overall record. The Buffaloes are a whopping 54-9 (.857) at home in the 12th month and four games above .500 on the road at 31-27. December was ColoradoGÇÖs most successful month last season as the Buffaloes went 4-2.
ON THIS DATE: On Dec. 3, 1995, No. 8 Colorado defeated No. 7 Purdue 79-64 in the consolation game of the Kona WomenGÇÖs Classic in Kailua-Kona, HawaiGÇÖi. Raegan Scott and La Shena Graham each had 12 points and Erin Scholz had 16 rebounds to lead the Buffaloes who would finish 26-9 and win the last ever Big Eight Tournament title.
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 ?3GÇÖ LADDER: Juniors Jasmina Ilic and Anna Nedovic entered CUGÇÖs 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 13th on the all-time list with 47 and just two shy of reaching Erin Carson (1984-88) for 12th. Nedovic is tied with Linda Lappe (1998-03) for 16th place with 39.
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 is ranked No. 16 by the AP and No. 18 by the coaches. Oklahoma is 19th by the coaches and 20th by the AP. Texas Tech, off to a 1-4 start, is 24th in both polls. As far as the north, Kansas State is receiving a few votes in the coaches poll while Kansas has a single vote in the AP poll. Oregon is the BuffsGÇÖ only non conference opponents currently receiving votes, with a hand full in both polls.
HOME AT THE CECC: Colorado is traditionally tough at home with a 291-80 all-time record at the Coors Events/Conference Center (.784). 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: ColoradoGÇÖs 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.
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