2000-01 Women's Basketball Roster
Tera Bjorklund
- Position:
- Center
- Height:
- 6-5
- Class:
- Freshman
- Hometown:
- St. Peter, Minn.
- High School:
- Sibley East
Barry on Bjorklund: “Tera is probably the best scoring center we’ve at Colorado since Isabelle Fijalkowski. If she continues to improve her right hand, she’ll be unstoppable this year. She’s clearly one of the best in the country at her position.”
2003-04 Honors: ? John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team ? WBCA Wade Trophy National Watch List ? Received
2002-03 (Junior): She set the tone for her season from day one in the opener versus Rice, as she led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. She poured in a game-high 27 points and had nine rebounds and, perhaps most impressive, played all 40 minutes of the game in the Coors Classic tournament championship loss to Villanova. Bjorklund’s showing in the Coors Classic earned her All-Tournament Team honors. Bjorklund topped all CU scorers for the fourth time in five games scoring 23 points in Colorado’s first road game of the season at Wyoming. Her passing was potent against Evans-ville in the first round of the Oakland Tribune Classic, as she scored 14 points and dished out a career-high eight assists. She then led her team to the tournament title with her second double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds, both game-highs. She also shot 9-of-14 from the floor, earning All-Tournament Team honors. Bjorklund turned in a solid all-around performance vs. CSU with 14 points, six boards, five assists and four blocks. Just 10 days later, she dominated inside against a very physical USC team scoring a career-high 28 points in just 21 minutes. She was also instrumental in CU’s overtime win at Syracuse, with 21 points and five rebounds and put Colorado ahead 74-72 with 1:20 left in the extra period, going 8-of-12 shooting and chipping in four assists. Big T scored 11 points for her 11 straight double-digit scoring performance of the year at Buffalo before going through a slump which saw her average six points per game in the first three contests in Big 12 play. She notched her first double-digit scoring effort of the Big 12 season with 12 points and eight boards in CU’s win over Kansas, also chipping in two assists and two blocks in 36 minutes of play. Had her second-straight double digit Big 12 effort with 14 points against the Cowgirls, also holding OSU’s Trisha Skibbe to nine points, 13 below her then-22.0 average in Big 12 play. She pulled together back-to-back 20-plus efforts against Texas Tech (26) and Baylor (20). Had her fifth-straight double-digit scoring effort with 17 at Mizzou, followed by 18 points and nine boards vs. Kansas and 12 points in 35 minutes of play at Texas A&M. In a rematch of last year’s Elite Eight game with Oklahoma, Bjorklund had 10 points and eight boards, before moving on to Texas where after getting saddled with early fouls, Bjorklund had her 10th straight double digit game with 10 points in just 16 minutes, her fewest minutes all season. Bjorklund bounced back by scoring 22 points, her seventh 20-plus game of the season in a win over Missouri, followed by a team high 22 points for the second straight game at Iowa State, also holding Iowa State’s center to just two points and four turnovers in 19 minutes before fouling out. Bjorklund recorded her third-straight 20-plus scoring effort with 24 points on 10 field goals and four free throws against No. 5 Kansas State, with 22 to follow in a win at Nebraska. As is usually the case for great players, the regular season was just a warmup for First Team All-Big 12 pick Bjorklund, as she entered postseason on a four-game 20-plus scoring streak. She carried that into CU’s game against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament, where she went for a tournament-record 32 points in CU’s win over the Sooners. It was more of the same vs. Texas, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in CU’s narrow loss to UT, earning Bjorklund a spot on the All-Tournament team, the first Buff on the squad since CU won the title in 1997. It was her sixth-straight 20-plus effort, setting a new CU record for consecutive 20-plus scoring games. The streak was snapped when she scored 11 vs. BYU, but she pulled her weight by adding 11 boards, five rejections and seven assists in CU’s first round win over the Cougars. She saved her best for the last home game of the season, dropping 34 points on the No. 12-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, also grabbing eight boards with four blocked shots in 38 minutes. It was the second-highest single game performance of the NCAA Tournament and earned her mention as ESPN.com’s Player of the Day for March 24. CU’s final game of the season, a 53-51 loss at Villanova gave Bjorklund a shot at showing her stuff on the Sweet 16 stage again, and despite the result, she did not disappoint with 29 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes. Following the season, she was named CU’s Offensive MVP for the second-straight year.
2001-02 (Sophomore): Year two of Bjorklund’s Buff career turned out to be a coming-out party more than anything else. CU’s backup center for much of the season, she was the Buffs’ second-leading scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game. Big T was also CU’s second-leading rebounder, averaging 4.8 per game, up from her average of 3.6 as a freshman. She started the season, literally, earning her first career start at CU in the season opener against Oral Roberts in the WNIT, scoring a career-best 28 points. She also grabbed 14 rebounds in the outing for her first career double-double. In 31 minutes in New Mexico at The Pit, went toe to toe with Jordan Adams and came out the winner with 15 points, five boards and two rejections and more importantly, the win. Against No. 3 Vanderbilt and Chantelle Anderson, Bjorklund dominated the ESPN Preseason Player of the Year with 25 points and two blocked shots to Anderson’s 18 points and 5 fouls, earning All-Preseason WNIT honors. She then returned home to put 19 points and 13 boards on San Diego in a Coors Classic tune-up. One week later at CSU Bjorklund caught fire and scored 17 points and grabbed 10 boards for her third career double-double. Bjorklund was named CU’s Athlete of the Month for her November stats, averaging 17.1 ppg and 7.7 rpg. After a rough outing at Florida, which saw her go 1-10 with no boards, Bjorklund redeemed herself against LSU in the Triple Crown Classic, going 7-8 from the floor with five rebounds in a starting effort. After the LSU game, Bjorklund scored in double figures in three straight games, with efforts of 16 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, 15 against No. 21 Texas, and 17 at No. 14 Kansas State. She would then cool off a bit over the next four Big 12 efforts, before exploding for 17 points and seven rebounds at Missouri on Jan. 26, including 9-12 from the free throw line. Five more double-digit scoring efforts would follow, including a game-high 18 points at No. 12 Texas Tech in CU’s first-ever win in Lubbock over the Lady Raiders. At Iowa State on Feb. 9, Bjorklund went 5-7 from the floor with 13 points, and followed that up with an 18-point, nine rebound effort vs. Missouri on Feb. 13. Her 17 points off the bench vs. LSU in the NCAA tournament, including 5-7 from the floor and 7-8 from the free throw line were her most points since a win over Missouri on Feb. 20. She was CU’s leading scorer in postseason play, with four double-digit efforts in five games for 13.4 points. In all, she scored in double figures in 10 of CU’s 16 Big 12 contests and was CU’s top scorer vs. ranked opponents last season, averaging 13.6 ppg. She was named to the Kansas City Star Big 12 All-Improved Team, and was named CU’s Most Valuable Offensive Player for the 2001-02 season. Against Stanford in the Sweet 16, she became just the eighth player in CU history to top the 700 point mark during her sophomore year.
2000-01 (Freshman): Was a capable backup to Britt Hartshorn at the center position, actually leading the Buffs in 20-plus scoring efforts with four, and also notching 13 double-digit scoring efforts on the year. Had her breakout game on the road, scoring 28 points in Colorado’s 78-70 win over Wyoming on Nov. 29. Her 28 points were the most in a single game by a freshman since future All-American Shelley Sheetz went for 31 against Nebraska on Feb. 29, 1992. She was 9 of 13 from the floor and 10 of 13 from the charity stripe, all career highs. Scored 21 points and combined with junior Britt Hartshorn for 38 total points from the center position vs. Missouri. Was a perfect 10 for 10 from the floor, 3 for 3 from the free throw line for 23 points in Colorado’s 65-62 loss at Texas. She was just one field goal short of the Colorado record for makes from the floor without a miss, as Tracy Tripp holds that mark at 11 for 11, set vs. Wyoming on Dec. 2, 1986. Had 25 points in just 27 minutes at Texas A&M, also grabbing a career best eight boards. Was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for Nov. 27-Dec. 3 for her performance against Wyoming. She was 14th in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 81.7 percent, and was 14th in field goal percentage, shooting 49.5 percent from the floor. She had the best shooting performance in the conference with her 10 for 10 outing at UT, and was named to the Kansas City Star’s All-Freshman Team.
High School: Bjorklund wrapped up her final season at Sibley East in Arlington, Minn., as its all-time leading scorer (1,831), as well as setting the school record for points in a season (583 in 1999-2000). Bjorklund also holds the Sibley East record for points in a single game, notching 33 vs. New Ulm during the 1997-98 season. She averaged 20.1 points and 9.1 boards per game as a senior, earning first team all-state honors from Minnesota’s AP voters, the conference Co-MVP award, all-state tournament honors, and was a coaches all-state selection as well as KNUJ-TV’s player of the year. Her senior year, Bjorklund’s squad took second in the state tournament with a 26-3 record. She was a preseason Street & Smith’s Honorable Mention All-American and was tabbed one of Blue Star Index’s top-100 seniors (56th), and one of the top-80 players in the country, coming in at 63rd. A four-year starter, Bjorklund led coach Steve Schmitz’s teams to a 88-17 (.838) overall record. As a freshman, Sibley East was 20-5, sub-sectional champions and the sectional runner-up while Bjorklund averaged 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds. During the 1997-98 campaign, the sophomore starter contributed 17.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while rejecting 3.0 shots a night en route to an 18-7 team mark and the Minnesota River Conference Championship where she was the conference’s Co-MVP in addition to earning honorable mention all-state accolades. She repeated her Co-Minnesota River Conference MVP award and was a first-team all-state pick following a near-perfect 24-2 record, where Bjorklund nearly averaged a double-double, pouring in 19.6 points while grabbing 9.6 boards and averaging 4.0 blocks a game as a junior. Sibley East took the Minnesota River Conference title, as well as winning the section and the sub-section. A multi-sport athlete, Bjorklund was also a four-year middle hitter on Sibley East’s volleyball team that advanced to the sub-section finals her senior year. Her only other campus visit was to Drake.
Off The Court: Tera Tracie Bjorklund was born June 29, 1982 in St. Peter, Minn. She is the eldest of Dale and Tracie’s four children, with one sister, Jennifer, who plays at Minnesota State-Mankato, and two brothers, Joseph and Marshall. She is majoring in communication at Colorado and lists the biggest moment of her high school career as playing in the 2000 state tournament in Williams Arena. Bjorklund was also recruited by Drake, Iowa State, Minnesota and Ohio State.
