Colorado Can't Come Back This Time; Marquette Advances to the WNIT Final

By Daniel McHugh: SPM CO Writer
Posted Wednesday, April 2, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. - Colorado (19-15) has been playing with fire for a week now, and Wednesday night they finally got burned.

In their two previous WNIT games they were able to advance by battling back from large deficits. Against Villanova in the third round they were down by 11 in the second half before pulling it out . On Sunday they trailed 20-4 before beating TCU in overtime. This time, however, there was no comeback. Marquette made sure of that as they handled the Buffs 86-72.

Much like Villanova and TCU, the Marquette Golden Eagles (20-14) started fast. The difference was they played fast the entire game. Marquette had three players reach double figures by halftime as they started the game on a 25-5 run. Starting guards Angel Robinson, Janelle Harris and Krystal Ellis ended the half with 10, 11, and 12 points respectively.

An even bigger contributor to the Buffs trailing by as many as 25 in the first half were their 14 turnovers. Marquette turned those miscues into 17 points, many coming on easy layups or transition 3-pointers after picking off errant back-court passes. When it was all said and done the Buffs had given up a season-high 45 points in the half and trailed by 20.

"We got down in the first half and we could not recover. Offensively we couldn’t get anything going and defensively we gave up a lot," Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said after the game. "You can’t get down 25 against a great team."

While CU had a few scoring spurts in the second half they never got closer than 12 points. Their own turnovers combined with Marquette’s scorers were too much to overcome. Ellis, Marquette’s leading scorer, again led the way with 27 points, and she had plenty of help from her teammates. Robinson scored 17 points with seven rebounds and Janelle Harris chipped in 13 points.

"They had players that made plays," a proud McConnell-Miller said. "Even when we started scoring in the second half we couldn’t get stops."

In what turned out to be her last game in Black & Gold, senior Jackie McFarland led Colorado with 17 points and nine rebounds. Even though she had played all 40 minutes in each of the past two games nobody was surprised when McConnell-Miller went to her bench with 1:50 remaining. The coach wanted the CU faithful to give her, and fellow senior Susie Powers, the proper send-off.

As McFarland walked toward the bench the 3.761 in attendance gave her a well-deserved standing ovation. "It doesn’t really hit you until you leave the court," an emotional McFarland said afterward. "[In the post-season] everyone stepped up and played well. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that much fun playing basketball."

Powers shared the same sentiments. "Some of my favorite memories from my time at CU will be from this tournament."

"I thought we had a great run. I’m very proud of them," McConnell-Miller added.

Despite the loss, the future in Colorado does look bright. Joining McFarland in double-digit scoring were freshman Brittany Spears (16 and six rebounds), sophomore Bianca Smith (12 with six rebounds and five assists) and sophomore Whitney Houston (10).

Marquette meanwhile moves on to East Lansing, Mich. to face the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon. MSU got by North Carolina State 58-57 to reach the final.