Oklahoma City – Kathy McConnell-Miller learned quite a lot Wednesday afternoon about what it takes to succeed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament and beyond. It was a hard lesson for the Colorado women’s basketball coach.
Several of the Buffs’ weaknesses were exposed in a 62-45 loss to No. 14 Texas A&M during the quarterfinal matchup at the Cox Convention Center. The Buffaloes (13-17) shot just 26.1 percent from the field and committed 26 turnovers in their season finale.
CU’s guards couldn’t penetrate or get the ball inside.
“There’s some pieces to the puzzle that are still missing,” McConnell-Miller said. “We’ve got a get a little more athleticism, a little more quickness to compete. There are teams in the league where we’re so outmatched with quickness. A&M’s pressure was too much for us.”
The eighth-seeded Buffs scored just 15 points in the first half, connecting on 5-of-27 shots (.185). Junior forward Jackie McFarland, who had tallied a season-best 32 points Tuesday to beat Texas Tech, managed only 17 points against the Aggies.
CU’s second scoring option, senior forward Jasmina Ilic, always had a hand in her face. She hit 2-of-17 from the field for five points, seven below her season average.
Using their quickness to swarm to the ball and deny passing lanes, the top-seeded Aggies (24-5) make it difficult on everybody. During the regular season they led the Big 12 in scoring defense (53.7) and in 3-point shooting defense (.262).
“We never could get set in our offense,” McFarland said.
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair applauded the defense of junior Patrice Reado, who checked McFarland for most of the game.
“I was really proud of our half-court defense and the job Patrice did on McFarland,” Blair said. “I had nightmares about McFarland getting another 32 points.”
The Buffs did pull to within six points when reserve forward Hannah Skildum hit a 3-pointer to make it 41-35 with 10:27 left. But the Aggies answered with an 11-0 run.
In an attempt to find some of the pieces, McConnell-Miller signed three Californians in the fall – 5-foot-9 point guard Britney Blythe of San Mateo; 6-1 swing player Chelsea Dale of Palos Verdes; and 6-1 forward Brittany Spears of Pasadena.
Spears has exceptional quickness. Dale is a pure shooter. And Blythe will give sophomore-to-be Whitney Houston competition at point guard, McConnell-Miller said. Losing only one starter (Ilic), the coach wants to add a power forward during the spring signing period.
COLORADO (13-17)
Ilic 2-17 0-0 5, McFarland 4-9 9-10 17, Richards 0-1 0-0 0, Houston 3-10 3-4 9, Powers 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Skildum 2-4 5-7 10, Nedovic 0-1 0-0 0, Rucker 0-0 2-2 2, Putnina 0-0 0-0 0, Dow 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 12-46 19-23 45.
TEXAS A&M (24-5)
Atunrase 2-9 1-2 5, Reado 6-14 1-3 13, Micheaux 1-3 1-2 3, Starks 7-17 1-1 16, Franklin 5-11 0-0 13, Buchanan 0-0 0-0 0, Gulley 0-0 0-0 0, Wilks 0-0 0-0 0, Pounds 1-2 0-0 3, Horton 0-0 0-0 0, McGowen 1-1 0-0 2, Limbaha 0-1 0-0 0, Zimova 0-1 0-0 0, Gant 3-3 1-2 7. Totals 26-62 5-10 62.
Halftime – Texas A&M 26-15. 3-point goals – Colorado 2-8 (Skildum 1-1, Ilic 1-5, Powers 0-1, Houston 0-1), Texas A&M 5-20 (Franklin 3-7, Pounds 1-2, Starks 1-7, Atunrase 0-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Colorado 40 (McFarland 13), Texas A&M 36 (Atunrase 9). Assists – Colorado 4 (Dow, Houston, Rucker, Skildum 1), Texas A&M 11 (Franklin 4). Total fouls – Colorado 14, Texas A&M 21. A – N/A.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
