Colorado University Athletics
Colorado Women's Basketball Preview
Despite a 9-21 record in her first season as Colorado’s head coach, Kathy McConnell-Miller has several reasons to be optimistic about the 2006-07 season. Specifically, she has seven.
Seven represents the number of players that CU will have on the court this year that were not in uniform last season. Four freshmen, two transfers and a returning starter from the 2004-05 season. Combine that with returning the top two scorers and rebounders from a year ago, and the fact the Buffs have a roster of 14 eligible players for the first time in three seasons, Colorado has the looks of a team on the rise once again.
Colorado will conduct its first official practice for the 2006-07 season on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 8 a.m. at the Coors Events Conference Center.
The guard position at Colorado will be very intriguing. Only one true guard on the current roster ? Junior Lauren Lubin ? actually played in a game for CU last year, but the potential of this group is great.
True freshman Whitney Houston is a natural point guard and will see a lot of time running McConnell-Miller’s offense. She is very quick and has great instincts at the position. A finalist for the Miss Basketball award in Tennessee, Houston is coming off a very successful high school career culminating in a state title for her Hillcrest team her senior year.
Like most young players, Houston will still need a lot of time to develop her game. Two transfers have had a lot of time to develop their game and are very eager to see the floor for the first time. Junior Susie Powers and freshman Bianca Smith each had to sit out last year after transferring to CU. Both players took advantage of their redshirt season to really improve their games.
“I think you’re going to see the combination of the three of them as the point guards,” McConnell-Miller said. “You’re going to see a lot of Susie and Bianca at the two spot. They’re very efficient from beyond the three-point line. Both have worked extremely hard over the summer, developing their range and consistency from beyond the arc. Both of them defensively are pretty strong defenders and have really bought into our defensive philosophy and have gotten stronger in the off-season. During their off year, they had a lot of time to mature, grow and flourish in our system without the pressure of having to compete in games.”
Lubin will join Powers and Smith in the rotation at the two-guard position. She started 11 games last season and was the team’s most accurate shooter from 3-point range hitting 12 of 28 attempts (.429). Freshman Candace Rucker, an All-State performer for Northside High School in Memphis, will also battle for time on the court. Rucker is a solid two-way player who can create her own shot on offense and pressure full court on the defensive side.
Colorado will also have the services of RyAnne Ridge in practice. A former adiddas All-American, Ridge is a transfer from Tulsa where she played for McConnell-Miller as a freshman in 2004-05. She will have to sit out the 2006-07 season due to NCAA transfer rules and will have two years of eligibility remaining in 2007-08.
Senior Jasmina Ilic returns as CU’s starting small forward and chief outside scoring threat. She averaged 14.8 points per game as a junior and led the Buffaloes with 55 3-point field goals. She is eighth on CU’s all-time list for 3-pointers with 94 and is on pace to reach 1,000 career points. Ilic had surgery on her partially dislocated shoulder last March, but is recovering nicely and ahead of schedule in returning to 100 percent.
“(Jasmina) is clearly in the best shape since I’ve known her,” McConnell-Miller said. “I think the time off helped her step away from the court and really has her refocused and regenerated. She’s been great in work outs, she’s in great condition, has really gotten stronger since last season and rehabilitated the shoulder without setbacks.”
Sophomore Hannah Skildum can play both the small forward and shooting guard spot. She played in all 30 games last season, mainly off the bench, and is according to the coaching staff, one of the most improved players on the roster. Senior Courtney Wallace, was CU’s practice player award winner this past year, and is on scholarship for her final collegiate campaign.
Colorado’s strength last year was is in its front court and the return of one of the top players from two seasons ago will make the front line even stronger. Kara Richards will return to the CU lineup after missing the 2005-06 season with a Jones Fracture in her left foot, suffered just days before the season opener. She averaged 9.0 points and 5.3 in starting 26 of 28 contests as a true freshman. Richards, technically a junior, but will likely return to sophomore status once her paperwork for a medical redshirt is completed some time this winter.
The return of Richards means that one of the top players in the Big 12 can return to her natural spot at power forward. Junior Jackie McFarland had an outstanding sophomore season averaging 17.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game earning second team All-Big 12 honors.
“I think moving Jackie to her natural position in the four spot is going to allow her to draw the smaller defenders, give her the ability to face up a little more than she was able to last year,” McConnell-Miller said. “When Kara went down we really had to make some adjustments in our offense to get Jackie off the blocks for a portion of the season but I think Kara and Jackie side by side, they’re experienced and there is such a presence about the two of them, they are extremely complementary of each other on the floor, they read each other really well. Kara as strong a center as our conference has, she’s great with her back to the basket, she makes great decisions.”
Anna Nedovic is CU’s most experienced player in terms of games played (84) and is always a threat to shoot from outside or crash down on the blocks. Sophomore Caley Dow had a very good freshman season coming off the bench for Nedovic and McFarland and ended up ranking second on the squad in rebounding with 5.5 per game.
A pair of first-year players will also look to contribute right away. Freshman Aija Putnina, who helped Regis High School to the Colorado Class 4A state championship game in 2006, has the size at 6-foot-3 to play the power forward spot, but also has the versatility to play the small forward, where she will likely see the majority of her minutes. Courtney Dunn will give CU depth at the post. Dunn, an all-state performer out of Berkeley’s St. Mary’s High School in California, has great size and athleticism and has gained a lot of experience playing with one of the most traveled AAU programs on the West Coast, the East Bay Xplosion.
Colorado’s schedule will feature at least 17 games against teams that advanced to NCAA or WNIT postseason tournaments in 2006. The Buffaloes will host perennial NCAA women’s basketball powers Southern California and Vanderbilt during the non-conference season as well as region rival Colorado State. Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma come to Boulder this year out of the Big 12 South along with the Buffs’ usual Big 12 Northern Division opponents.
“I think this team has really responded to our coaching staff and the changes that we have implemented,” McConnell-Miller said. “I think some great leaders have evolved in the past 12 months. It’s been a challenging year really getting acclimated to the players and non-conference schedule and conference schedule, but overall really feel like by the end of the year this staff and team really came together and felt the chemistry was the best that I’ve been associated with in a long time.”
“I think one of our priorities is to implement our defensive philosophy as far as containment and keeping our opponents to a low percentage as far as shooting. Our focus is going to be on the defensive end, knowing our personnel and who gives us the best opportunity to win is going to start through our defense. We’re still getting to know these players, we’re excited about the addition of all the new players and the transfers and of course Kara returning. With that lineup, with those players, its going to allow us to play a little more up tempo, its going to give Jackie more opportunities to score, but this team likes to play fast, they’re aggressive on the offense and we’re going to have ample opportunity in transition because of the defense.”