Graves wary of Buffaloes
Looks can be deceiving.
Gonzaga, sporting a 25-8 record and 41 in the NCAA RPI, faces Colorado (16-14, 85) tonight in the second-round of the Women’s NIT in Boulder, Colo.
Despite the disparity in numbers, Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves is extremely worried about the Buffaloes.
“I know they’re long, very long, especially (inside) and they have good depth there,” he said. “They have good quickness on the perimeter. They have a great player, I think she’s an All-American, definitely a go-to kid. And they’re battled tested, obviously, playing in the toughest conference in the country.”
Of the Buffs’ 14 losses, 12 were against Big 12 Conference rivals, all but one against teams in the NCAA tournament, for a ninth-place finish.
“I like what I see, they’re a good team,” Graves said. “They didn’t finish strong but of their three wins down the stretch they beat Texas and Kansas State, those are quality wins.”
Jackie McFarland, a 6-foot-3 senior and two-time first-team all-conference forward, leads CU with 17.9 points on 56 percent shooting and eight rebounds per game. She is only the second Buff with 1,800 points and 1,000 rebounds.
She isn’t the only CU player with star power.
Brittany Spears, a 6-1 freshman forward, has started all 30 games, averaging 13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Whitney Houston has four starts and contributes 3.2. points.
Also seeing big minutes are 6-3 sophomore Aija Putnina and 6-4 Kara Richards.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with their big kids,” Graves said. “They play two at a time and they roll in about four of them. Our inside play is really going to be tested.”
Colorado is 38-52 under third-year coach Kathy McConnell-Miller.
“This is a great step in the process of what we’re trying to accomplish,” McConnell-Miller said. “We look forward to playing at home and generating a lot of fan support. We just finished playing in the toughest conference in the nation and we feel we are battle tested for the postseason.”
After losing consecutive games early, the Buffaloes ran off 11 straight wins and moved into the Top 25. They beat GU West Coast Conference rivals San Francisco (66-48) and Pepperdine (70-58). Then they had a 1-9 stretch in the league, but ultimately finished 3-4 against ranked teams.
Colorado is making its 18th postseason appearance, the first since the 2004 NCAA tournament, the last time the Buffaloes had a winning season. They are 15-4 in home postseason games. The Buffs’ only other WNIT was in 1999, going 1-1 with both games at home.
The game will be streamed live – and free – through BuffsTV on CUBuffs.com. Tip-off is 6 p.m. PDT. The winner moves on to play Villanova, which won at Wisconsin 60-54 Saturday night.