The CU women’s basketball team dominated the Colorado School of Mines Sunday afternoon although two of CU’s starters got into foul trouble early in the game.
Juniors Kara Richards and Jackie McFarland each had three fouls by the end of the first half, and both had their fourth within the first three minutes of the second half. Richards fouled out later in the second half. The Buffs were forced to rely on players off the bench in their 73-37 exhibition win.
“As a team we got better tonight, and individually, there were some performances that definitely improved from Friday night’s game,” said Kathy McConnell-Miller, the Buffs’ head coach.
Freshman Whitney Houston used her speed to tally two steals and nine points in only 11 minutes of playing time.
“(Houston) and Candace Rucker are two of the quickest players I’ve ever coached,” McConnell-Miller said. “They do take a lot of chances, and sometimes that’s exciting.”
Houston continues to learn something every game she plays.
“It was just a learning process for me,” Houston said. “I think Friday I was just nervous. (It was my) first college game.”
Freshman Candace Rucker didn’t start the game, but she was substituted in and quickly contributed five points and one steal to help the Buffs acheive an early lead. The Buffs never trailed after the first seven minutes of the game.
An upperclassman who made a big impact was senior Jasmina Ilic, who shot 5 of 8 from the 3-point range and totaled 23 points.
“We all have to depend on each other, and that starts from team spirit and defense,” Ilic said.
The Buffs played the game with an experimental 3-point line, which was 9 inches further away than usual.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Ilic said. “It’s a European 3-pointer, and that’s how I used to play since I was 10.”
Ilic is from Becej, Serbia.
Mines made only 32.5 percent of their shots in the game, but the coach said the team’s defense played well.
CU had 15 steals and three blocked shots, while Mines had 10 steals and did not have any blocked shots.
McConnell-Miller said that Tom McConnell, the assistant coach, deserves a lot of credit for their game strategy: “playing a type of defense that makes people take tough shots, not giving them lay-ups, not allowing any backdoors, really playing in the gaps.”
“Some of them like it because it’s really trusting in your teammates,” McConnell-Miller said.
The Buffs are expected to have the same starting five for the exhibition games start in the regular season opener on Friday, McConnell-Miller said.
