Talented freshman class, Coach McConnell-Miller contribute to team’s success
Change can never come soon enough in the world of sports. At a time when a team can go from cellar-dweller to champion in the matter of one off-season, a fan’s patience can waiver.
In our society’s constant search for the quick-fix, minor improvements can be missed. Case in point: the CU women’s basketball team.
Beneath the rubble of the CU men’s basketball team at the Coors Events Center lies a women’s program that is slowly, but surely, returning to respectability.
On the heels of Saturday night’s physical 59-50 win over Kansas, the Buffs (12-15, 6-9) are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12. While that position may not blow the collective socks off of CU nation, it’s marked improvement for a team that had all of three conference wins last season on its way to an eleventh-place finish in the league standings.
Last year’s CU squad didn’t find much success out of conference either, as it went 9-21 overall in one of the worst year’s the program has suffered through in quite some time. The 2005-2006 campaign was the inaugural one for Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller.
McConnell-Miller arrived from Tulsa to replace CU coaching legend Ceal Barry. In her 22 seasons at the helm for the Buffs, Barry recorded a record of 427-242 that included multiple trips to the NCAA Tournament. But for those Buffs fans who were expecting a seamless transition, the last two years have been a harsh reminder that things don’t always happen as quickly as desired.
For all the great things Barry did during her tenure at CU, leaving a full cupboard for the next coach was not among them. In her final season on the Buffs sideline, Barry’s team went 9-19 and finished in the bottom half of the conference for the first time in over five seasons.
Then came McConnell-Miller and the rebuilding project.
Faced with the tough task of inheriting another coach’s players and trying to blend in her own style, McConnell-Miller has done an admirable job. Her first recruiting class was ranked in the top 30 in the country. The class brought in two players in point guard Whitney Houston and forward Aija Putnina who look like they’ll be fixtures in the women’s program for the next three years.
Adding a talented freshman class to an already young team, fans should feel good about the Buffs’ future. The team will bring back eight of its nine most significant contributors from this year’s team for next season with the exception of senior Jasmina Ilic. While replacing Ilic, who is averaging over 12 ppg, will be a tough task, the Buffs have plenty of players capable of picking up the load.
The team will return All-Big 12 performer Jackie McFarland who currently ranks in the top three in the league in scoring and rebounding. Also returning next season will be sophomore post player Kara Richards. Richards has picked up her game in the past week by combining to go for 35 points and 19 rebounds against Kansas and Baylor. If Richards continues to improve her offensive game, the Buffs will have one of the league’s best frontlines next season.
Surround the post players with threats on the perimeter such as Bianca Smith, Susie Powers and Houston, and the Buffs will have a nice complement of size and skill.
All that being said, the team still has areas it needs to improve upon. The team currently ranks dead last in the conference in scoring defense and turnover margin. The turnover margin is to be expected to a degree with a freshman running the point most of the season, but the defense must improve.
Despite the team’s issues with defense and turnovers, it still have a chance to go into the Big 12 Tournament as the league’s seventh seed — all it will take is an upset on the road by the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Lose to the Huskers, and the Buffs are possibly looking at a 10 seed. Either way, it’s better than what people around the league predicted heading into the season.
Progress is being made, even if it is too slow for hardly anyone to notice.
