Colorado University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hands Out Awards
BOULDER -- The annual University of Colorado Basketball Banquet was held Wednesday night in the Byron White Stadium Club at Folsom Field as second-year head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller and her staff handed out the team awards for the 2006-07 season.
For the second-straight season senior Jasmina Ilic and junior Jackie McFarland were co-winners of the Offensive Player Award. McFarland led the Big 12 and ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage at 60.5 percent. Her 17.8 points per game and 18 double-doubles ranked second in the Big 12 and this season she set a school record with 161 free throws made. Ilic ranked second on the team at 12.4 points per game and led the Buffaloes with 50 3-point field goals. She ranked second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.5 percent and was fifth on the league charts in 3-point field goals made with 1.67 per game.
McFarland also won the Lisa Van Goor Rebounding Award and the Crystal Adams Scholar-Athlete Award for the second-straight year. She repeated as an ESPN The Magazine second team Academic All-American and also appeared on the Academic All-District VII and Academic All-Big 12 first teams. An accounting major who sports a 3.95 GPA, McFarland is working on a concurrent degree program in the school of business which will allow her to earn her MBA while completing her undergraduate accounting degree. On the floor, McFarland's rebounding totals from this season rank among the best in CU history. Her 325 total rebounds were the most by a Buffs' junior and fifth-best overall. She was second in the Big 12 in rebounding and 11th in the national rankings. McFarland had 19 games with 10 or more rebounds this last season including a personal-best 18 against Kansas on Feb. 6.
Junior guard Susie Powers won the Defensive Player Award. She ranked second on the team in steals with 34, had a back-court best eight blocked shots and was one of the reasons the Buffaloes trailed only Oklahoma in field goal percentage defense during league only games. Freshman forward Aija Putnina won the Sixth Man Award. She was second on the team in total rebounds with 113 and blocked shots with 19. Early in the season when the bench was shortened due to injuries she stepped up and recorded a pair of double-doubles and had four-straight double-digit rebounding games, a feat that has been achieved by only two other freshmen in team history.
CU's Most Improved Player Award went to freshman guard Whitney Houston, who emerged as a viable offensive threat in the second half of the season. She had a hand in running the BuffaloesGÇÖ offense for much of the season and moved into the starting lineup at point guard for the final 11 games. Houston was third on the team in scoring at 7.9 points per game and improved that mark to 8.6 per game during the conference schedule. She also led the team in assists with 64 and was fourth in steals with 25.
Sophomore forward Caley Dow received the Community Service Award. Dow is active in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has participated in a variety of community service projects such as Trick or Treat Street, visits to Children's Hospital, Healthy Kids Day and Read with the Buffs. Sophomore guard/forward Hannah Skildum received the Practice Player Award for her contributions on scout teams and her overall performance during practice sessions.
Senior forward Anna Nedovic received the Ultimate Team Player Award, given every year since 1984 to recognize attitude, leadership, desire and commitment. Nedovic played in 108 career games for Colorado and ranks 13th on the Buffs' all-time list for 3-pointers with 52.