Buffs Route Gonzaga, Advance in WNIT

By Daniel McHugh SPM CO Writer
Posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. - Colorado came into Monday night's WNIT game against Gonzaga with a bittersweet taste in its mouth, having watched the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. The Buffaloes (17-14) finished the regular season in ninth place in the Big XII. The top eight teams all made the NCAA Tournament. Then those top eight teams each won their first-round games, meaning a quarter of the 32 teams remaining in the field are from Colorado's conference. The Buffs knew they had been well tested throughout the conference schedule but just because their current opponent was from the smaller West Coast Conference didn't mean they could take a night off.

The Bulldogs (25-9) from Spokane, Wash. came in as one of the more decorated teams in the country and with a bad taste of their own. Two weeks ago they were a shoe-in for the "Big Dance" as a heavy favorite to win the WCC Tournament. But an upset loss to San Diego in the tournament final landed them in the WNIT.

Regardless of which tournament they play in, they bring with them a busload of trophies. The Bulldogs boast the WCC Player of the Year (Heather Bowman), Defensive Player of the Year (Jami Bjorkland) and Newcomer of the Year (Courtney Vandersloot). In addition to all of that talent, their coach Kelly Graves happens to be the WCC Coach of the Year as well.

None of those awards, however, will score the basketball. Colorado's Brittany Spears and Jackie McFarland took care of that, proving CU to be a less than gracious host, routing the Bulldogs 82-68. Award-winners themselves -- Spears is a member of the Big XII All-Rookie Team and McFarland was named to the All-Big XII team for the second straight year -- the duo both reached double digits in scoring by halftime and didn't let up from there. McFarland, the senior leader and team captain, finished the game with 21 points and nine rebounds. She also made history early on when she scored her first bucket of the game. That basket gave her 1,859 career points, passing Tera Bjorklund for second place all-time in Colorado history. "Looking at the players I've passed, that's the crazy thing," an all smiles McFarland said after the game. "It's a great honor."

Freshman sensation Brittany Spears also scored early and often, netting 22 points to go with 10 rebounds, recording her seventh double-double this season.

"We had two weeks off and we didn't want to come out flat," Spears said. "Getting off to a fast start was big for us."

In building an early 23-8 lead it was Colorado who looked like the team that averages 77 points a game, not the visiting Bulldogs. It wasn't only McFarland and Spears who had big nights for the Buffaloes; the team shot 50.8 percent from the field including 10-21 from 3-point range.

Back-up point guard Whitney Houston, who also sang the National Anthem prior to the game, ran the fast-paced, precision offense for 27 minutes, scoring nine points and finding her teammates for four assists. Sophomore sharpshooter Bianca Smith hit four of her six 3-pointers for 12 points and registered a career-high six assists.

The 82 points marked the most CU has scored in a game since they beat Jacksonville State 91-64 on December 30th, 2007.

Equally impressive was the defensive job Colorado did on the WCC's leading scorer Heather Bowman. The 6-2 sophomore came in averaging 20.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, but the Buffs didn't allow her to reach either as a combination of fast hands on defense and CU's size in the post limited her to just 16 points and six rebounds. Gonzaga forward Vivian Frieson did log a double-double, pulling down 11 rebounds to go with her 10 points.

Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller was pleased with her team's effort, especially after going 13 days without playing a game. "Tonight I saw a refreshed team. A team with a little more confidence. A team with some swagger."

The Buffs found out right after the game that they will get another chance to show the fans in Boulder that swagger as they will host Villanova on Thursday in the third round of the WNIT.

"Getting to the post season was huge," McFarland said of her first career post season game. "It's a brand new season right now. It's win or you go home."

Tip-off time for Thursday is 7pm.