KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After watching 11th-seeded Colorado get ousted 72-65 Thursday night by No. 6 seed Baylor in the first round of the Big 12 women’s tournament, CU athletic director Mike Bohn said a decision has not been made whether coach Kathy McConnell-Miller will return for a sixth season.
“We’ll huddle up when we get back to Boulder and go through the usual process that we go through after each season with coaches in all of our programs,” Bohn said of meeting with McConnell-Miller. “We’ll talk about adjustments and opportunities and trying to compete in an extremely competitive conference.”
McConnell-Miller, 65-88, left Tulsa to become Bohn’s first hire at CU, in the spring of 2005. She has had one winning season in Boulder — 19-15 in 2007-08.
With Bohn and other Colorado administrators sitting in the back of the postgame news conference, McConnell-Miller was asked if she is confident she will be around to continue the building process. CU, getting 24 points from junior forward Brittany Spears, finished 13-17, and McConnell-Miller said she and her staff are working hard to find a big center.
“I’m confident in my coaching ability and my ability to recruit,” she said. “Nobody in the program top to bottom feels good about the record, but we feel progress continues to be made.”
Baylor (23-8) missed two starters: 6-foot-8 freshman sensation Brittney Griner (serving the second game of a two-game suspension for punching a Texas Tech player March 3) and junior guard Melissa Jones, a former Legacy High School standout from Thornton who has a stress fracture. But the Bears still had enough to overcome a 39-31 halftime deficit.
Baylor extended its defensive pressure in the second half and forced CU into mistakes. The Buffs scored only one field goal in the first 3:49 of the second half, with their ball handlers getting trapped in the corners.
“We had to gamble to get back in the game,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
After losing its halftime lead, CU appeared to regain control when a basket underneath by Spears put the Buffs up 62-58. But CU would not score another field goal.
“I think we have a lot of good things in store for this program,” said CU sophomore guard Alyssa Fressle, who scored 16 points.
Whether that future includes the current coach remains to be seen.
COLORADO (13-17)
Fressle 5-9 3-4 16, M.Malcolm-Peck 3-5 0-0 7, Spears 9-23 3-4 24, Jeffery 2-7 4-4 8, Dunn 3-4 0-0 7, Smith 1-7 0-0 3, Seabrook 0-0 0-0 0, Mullaney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 10-12 65.
BAYLOR (23-8)
Hayden 4-9 1-4 10, Washington 2-3 0-0 4, Griffin 3-7 2-2 8, Field 2-3 0-0 4, Medlock 6-9 2-6 14, Madden 1-5 5-6 8, Zachariason 5-10 2-2 17, Condrey 2-4 1-2 5, Chandler 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-53 13-22 72.
Halftime — Colorado 39-31. 3-point goals — Colorado 9-24 (Fressle 3-3, Spears 3-10, Dunn 1-2, M.Malcolm-Peck 1-3, Smith 1-5, Jeffery 0-1), Baylor 7-19 (Zachariason 5-10, Madden 1-4, Hayden 1-4, Griffin 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Colorado 32 (Jeffery 7), Baylor 35 (Medlock 11). Assists — Colorado 13 (Spears 4), Baylor 14 (Griffin 9). Total fouls — Colorado 16, Baylor 16. A — 4,363.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
