McFarland Leads Buffs to Victory

By Daniel McHugh SPM CO Writer
Posted Friday, March 28, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. - The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team had its fans on their feet for eight full minutes Thursday night against the Villanova Wildcats (17-16).

But they weren’t standing for an ovation, or because the Buffs came out in the same dominating fashion as they hadd Monday in a rout of Gonzaga. The Boulder faithful remained on their feet until the 15:15 mark of the first half because, per Buffalo tradition, the crowd doesn’t sit until the home team makes a shot.

The vocal crowd didn’t mind standing at the beginning of the game, once they were able to stand up at the end. Everyone again stood for the final three minutes as they helped the Buffs (18-14) to a remarkable 64-58 come-from-behind victory to advance in the WNIT.

"The energy from the fans got us over the top," CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said after the game.

She wasn’t alone in the gratitude towards those dressed in black and gold. Senior Jackie McFarland, who led all scorers with a season-high 32 points, also had high praise for Buff fans. "That was the best crowd I’ve played in front of in my four years at CU."

Sure the crowd was great, but there were some Colorado players who had a lot to do with the victory as well, namely McFarland and freshman Brittany Spears. McFarland registered her ninth double-double on the year as she added 12 rebounds to her 32 points. It’s a good thing she came up big because for most of the game it appeared as if she was the only one who came at all. En route to finishing with half of her teams total points, she set a school record for free throws made in a game, shooting 15-16 from the line.

Down most of the game, at times by as many as 11, Colorado turned to McFarland often and she came through more times than not. She dominated in the low post and was never subbed out, playing all 40 minutes.

"She’s a leader and we knew we had to get the ball to her," Colorado guard Whitney Houston said.

As good -- make that great -- as McFarland was, it almost wasn’t enough.

Coach Harry Perretta’s Wildcats came out on fire despite being without one of their leading scorers. Lisa Karcic suffered a season-ending knee injury in a loss to Pittsburgh in the Big East Tournament. Led by Stacie Witman (20 points, six rebounds) and Maria Getty (15 points, six rebounds) the Wildcats shot 61 percent from the floor in the first half and led by seven at the break. Villanova would maintain that lead well into the second half, but with less than four minutes to go McFarland finally got the scoring help the Buffs so sorely needed.

Freshman Brittany Spears, who had only scored two points for the first 36 minutes, hit a 3-pointer with 3:10 to go to cut the lead to six at 57-51. Seconds later she hit another three and followed it up with a driving layup, pulling the Buffs to within one.

"The last three minutes I played some better defense and made some big shots," the freshman said afterwards. Spears finished the game with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

"She’s the type of player that likes to be in the scheme of the offense," McConnell-Miller said of her freshman star.

The spark from Spears and some suffocating defense down the stretch allowed McFarland to put the finishing touches on the comeback. With 1:22 left she once again posted up and scored from close range, drawing a foul on the play. By converting the 3-point play she gave Colorado its first lead of the night, 59-58. Colorado ended the game on a 16-1 run.

The emotional victory means Colorado will next host Texas Christian University on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the WNIT. Tip time for the game is 2pm.