Colorado University Athletics
Colorado Hosts Pacific Thursday
THE GAME: The University of Colorado (2-4) will host the University of the Pacific on Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Coors Events Conference Center.
BROADCAST: The Colorado-Pacific 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.
Live video of the game will be streamed on the internet at CUBuffs.com through The Stampede Online subscription service. Audio streaming of the game will be through Yahoo! Sports.
THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 2-4 overall, looking to break a two-game losing streak. Both losses came on the road and both saw the Buffaloes overcome double-digit second-half deficits, only to fall short in the closing seconds.
Colorado is scoring well, but also giving up the points. The Buffaloes rank sixth in the Big 12 Conference in scoring at 73.8 points per game, but rank last in scoring defense at 71.7, and CU is giving up 75.6 points per game in its four losses. 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 six contests, sporting a Big 12 Conference best 23.3 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per contest which is third on the league charts. Junior Jasmina Ilic is 10th in the Big 12 in scoring at 16.8 points per game. She was held to just one point against Wyoming, but already has outputs of 34 (Cal State-Fullerton) 26 (Creighton) 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 six 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 fifth among Big 12 players in assists, and 14th in the nation, with 6.4 per game. Escalera, one of the top 10 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 the last three games, has responded with two double-doubles, averaging 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds over her three starts. Colorado has four of the top 15 free-throw shooters in the Big 12 led by Lubin who ranks third at 90 percent (18x20).
LAST TIME OUT: For the second-straight game, Colorado fought back from a double-digit deficit in the second half, only to fall short as Creighton staved off a furious Buffaloes rally for a 77-72 decision on Dec. 3, at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Colorado trailed by 13 points, 63-50, with 11:46 remaining in the contest but embarked on an 18-5 run over the next 8:22. Sophomore post Jackie McFarland had seven points during the CU run including a free-throw to tie the game at 68-68 with 3:24 left.
Creighton senior guard Kristi Woodard didnGÇÖt allow the Buffaloes to get over the hump. Woodard, who led the Bluejays with 26 points, hit five free throws in the final two minutes as the Bluejays ended on a 9-4 run.
The Buffaloes had a similar comeback on Nov. 30 against Colorado State. CU erased a 14-point second half deficit and a potential game-tying possession, but came away with an 86-83 setback.
McFarland led Colorado with her fourth double-double in six games this season registering 23 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior forward Jasmina Ilic scored 26 points tying a career-high with six 3-point field goals.
Ilic, who was held to just seven points against CSU, hit 9-of-18 overall from the field, but as a team Colorado went cold in the second half. The Buffaloes shot just 32 percent in the second stanza (11-of-34) and 38.7 percent for the game (24-of-62).
Creighton was hot for the first 30 minutes of the game. The Bluejays shot 54.8 percent in the first half (17-of-31) and then cashed in on eight of their first 15 shots in the second half (53.3 percent) which helped them stretch their two-point halftime lead to 13. Creighton cooled off just enough towards the end of the game for CU to come back, but still hit 47.5 percent for the contest (28-of-59)
Junior Anna Nedovic had eight points for Colorado while freshman Hannah Skildum had four points and a career-high seven rebounds.
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 six games of a season. McFarland currently leads the Big 12 Conference in scoring at 23.3 points per game and is third on the league charts in rebounding at 10.7 per contest.
McFarlandGÇÖs 23.3 points per game average over the first six games is second all-time in school history trailing only Jamillah Lang who averaged 24.8 points over the first six games of the 1993-94 campaign.
POINTS AVERAGE FIRST SIX GAMES
Name (Season)
PPG
1. Jamillah Lang
(1993-94) 24.8
2.
Jackie
McFarland (2005-06) 23.3
3. Tera
Bjorklund (2003-04) 21.0
4. Tera
Bjorklund (2002-03) 19.7
5. Tera
Bjorklund (2001-02) 17.2
LUBIN BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLES: With her performances against Utah State and Colorado State sophomore 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 TIGERS: Pacific defeated Texas Southern 72-61 in its season opener, but has lost five straight to sit at 1-5 overall. The Tigers will be playing the Buffaloes with a new head coach as Craig Jackson, who was 37-55 in three-plus seasons with Pacific, resigned on Monday. Karen Weitz, a first-year assistant under Jackson, has taken over as head coach on an interim basis. Sophomore guard Kelsey Lavender is PacificGÇÖs only double-digit scorer at 10.7 points per game. Junior guard Jerise Freeman and senior forward Tina Sanerivi are each averaging 9.7 points per contest. PacificGÇÖs defense is allowing only 66.7 points per game and keeping the opposition under 40 percent from the field, but the TigersGÇÖ offense is only putting up 55.5 points per game and shooting just 36 percent from the field.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be just the second meeting between Colorado and Pacific. The only other contest between the two schools came on Dec. 18, 2004 in Stockton, Calif., with the Buffaloes edging the Tigers 45-42. Anna Nedovic had 10 points and nine rebounds to lead Colorado, which recorded its lowest scoring output in a win in team history. Kelsey Lavender had a game-high 19 points for the Tigers.
Kathy McConnell-Miller has never faced Pacific as a head coach.
NUMBERS ON A 2-4 START: Colorado will be trying to avoid its first 2-5 start since 1984 when the Buffs face the Tigers. CUGÇÖs has started 2-4 on two occasions since 1984 (1999 and 2004), winning game No. 7 in both instances. CU picked up its third win in game No. 7 last year against Colorado State 83-77 which sparked a season-best five-game win streak. CU started 2-8 in 1984 before picking up its third win and was 2-12 overall in 1975.
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 six 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 138-56 (.711) overall record. The Buffaloes are a whopping 66-14 (.825) at home in the 12th month. Colorado dropped its first December .
ON THIS DATE: Colorado scored its only victory in four tries against national power Tennessee with a 78-60 win in Boulder on Dec. 8, 1981. Lisa Van Goor had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Sandy Bean had 16 points and 14 rebounds as the Buffaloes upset the Lady Vols who has finished as the AIAW runner up the year before.
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: Junior Jasmina Ilic hit six 3-point field goals against Creighton and has moved into sole possession of 11th place on CUGÇÖs all-time list with 53 as she leap frogged Erin Carson (49 from 1984-88) and Emily Waner (51 from 2003-04) over the weekend. Ilic needs eight more 3-point field goals to reach the 10th spot currently held by former teammate Vernoica Johns-Richardson who had 65 from 2001-05.
Junior Anna Nedovic is tied with Linda Lappe (1998-03) for 16th place on the all-time list 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. Oklahoma is No. 16 in the most recent AP poll and No. 17 in the coachesGÇÖ poll. Texas is No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the coachesGÇÖ poll. Texas Tech, a preseason Top 15 team, is receiving votes 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.
UP NEXT: Colorado will have its longest break of the season as finals week hits the Boulder campus Dec. 9-15. The Buffaloes will return to action with three games at the San Juan Shootout in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Dec. 19-21.
For the complete release as well as player notes and statistics, click on the link below.