Women’s basketball looks to improve against Nebraska
The CU women’s basketball team is looking to get back on track against Nebraska in Boulder Wednesday night.
“I think Jackie (McFarland) may see the Nebraska game with a sense of urgency, but I don’t see our other players as a whole see it as a desperation game,” coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said.
“Jackie plays with desperation every possession, but I just don’t see (Brittany) Spears, Bianca (Smith) or our other players looking at the next game with urgency because of their youth.”
The Buffs have dropped six of their past seven games in Big 12 conference play. With Nebraska next on the schedule, a team the Buffs have not beaten since March of 2005, a win would give the Buffs some momentum before they head to Norman, Okla. to face the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners.
“We can’t say we’ll see what happens,” McFarland said “We need to start winning and we need to do it now, or it’s too late.”
The Buffs outscore their opponents an average of 8.4 points a game on the season. But since the start of Big 12 conference play on Jan. 9, the Buffs’ opponents have outscored them by an average of 4.6 points per game.
McFarland said this slump may be due partially to the fact the young players on the team are not accustomed to playing thirty games in a season.
“I think a lot of the younger players were expecting the season to die down a bit after twenty games, because that’s what they’re used to from playing in high school or coming off the bench last year,” McFarland said. “People are starting lose body and their endurance a bit.”
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are fifth in the Big 12 standings and are coming off a come-from-behind victory at Missouri on Feb. 3. The Huskers trailed by 10 with 5:30 on the clock before rallying for the win.
The Huskers have had more success in their Big 12 play than the Buffs, beating opponents by an average of ten points per game. Nebraska is driven by their leading scorer, junior forward Kelsey Griffin.
“This is our first team in the Big 12 where their strength was in their interior offense, not the guards,” McConnell-Miller said. “If that’s an advantage to us or not, we will have to wait and see.”
In Saturday’s game, the Buffs gave up 82 points to the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. If CU gives up 80 or more points to the Huskers on Wednesday night, it should be noted that the Huskers have won 49 straight games when they have scored 80 or more.
McConnell- Miller said it is all about halftime for her team.
“It’s just like coming into halftime being down 10, that’s where we are,” McConnell-Miller said. “But if you score 11 in the second half you win, and that’s what we need to do to bounce back.”
Side Notes: Whitney Houston and Courtney Dunn were both absent from Tuesday’s practice, but coach McConnell-Miller said they are probable against Nebraska.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Brent New at brent.new@colorado.edu
