Lady Buffs now 8-9 heading into showdown with Oklahoma State
Senior Jasmina Ilic’s game high 29 points were not enough to push the CU women’s basketball team past the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night. The Buffs fell 82-67 and are now 8-9 overall.
“I thought it was a great challenge for us tonight. I’m very proud of the team,” Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said.
The Buffs have now lost three games in a row to ranked Big 12 Conference Southern Division opponents. Making the team’s conference record is now 2-3.
“I do not think that these three games have made anyone of them look themselves in the mirror and think they are not as good as they were two weeks ago,” McConnell-Miller said.
Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris had a good night statistically, even though the Buffs played tough defense against the stand-out center. She finished with 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
“I think their team does a really great job of making that extra pass and finding the open person,” junior forward Jackie McFarland said. “If you pass enough times, you’re going to the inside shot on the block and I think they did and that’s how she got a lot of her points tonight.”
Ilic was the Buffs’ offensive playmaker all night. She drained three 3-pointers and made 12 of 13 from the charity line. In the first half, she helped the Buffs come back from a 16 point deficit to pull within eight at halftime.
“I think the overall picture is we lost the game, so we just need to build on everything we do. Personally, I just need to keep shooting the ball well,” Ilic said.
The Buffs did not shoot the ball well in the first half, making only 32 percent of their field goals. It was hard for the Buffs to keep up with the Sooners with their poor shooting in the first half because Oklahoma shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field.
CU came out strong after halftime and took their first lead of the second half, 48-46. But the Sooners would pull away by 10 with 5:47 left to play and hold on to the lead for the rest of the game.
Although the Buffs lost by 15 points, the score did not accurately reflect how hard the girls played Saturday night.
“All in all, I’m proud of our girls and fell like there is no doubt in my mind that they have improved from non-conference to Big 12 play,” McConnell-Miller said.
The Buffs will have two road games in a row coming up, as they will face Oklahoma State on the Jan. 24 and Missouri on the Jan. 28.
