Hannah Skildum #11

Bio

A hard-nosed, athletic, intense veteran for the Buffaloes, Hannah Skildum is CU’s active leader in games (92) and minutes (1,433) played. She’s quick enough to play and defend in the back court and also big and strong enough to take her game into the paint. CU’s “unofficial” leader in Coors Events Center floor burns, Skildum’s veteran presence will be a key factor in the Buffaloes’ season.

 

 

2007-08 (Junior): Played in all 34 games, starting in 16, and was one of the first, if not the first, off the bench in the majority of the other 18 contests. She had a season high 11 points in a loss to Siena in the first round of the Coors Classic and added eight the next night in a win over Rice. CU’s win over Rice sparked an 11-game winning streak in which Skildum started 10 of those contests. She improved her offensive game from the outside hitting 13 3-point field goals, nearly tripling her total from her first two seasons (5). On the defensive end, she had 17 blocked shots contributing to CU’s school season team record of 185. Skildum shared the team’s Practice Player of the Year award with Kara Richards.

 

2006-07 (Sophomore): As the season progressed, Skildum became a more formidable presence and one of CU’s first options off the bench. Already established as one of CU’s best defenders, Skildum’s offensive productivity increased at the tail end of her sophomore campaign. She scored a career-high 16 points in the regular season finale at Nebraska (2/27) on a personal-best 7-of-10 from the floor. Skildum hit a pair of 3-pointers in the Nebraska game, which had equaled her career output through 55 games to that point. She followed up that performance with a 10-point, five-rebound effort against Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Big 12 Championship. One of the key reasons for her increase in productivity was a dramatic rise in her field goal shooting. Although her season totals list her at 39 percent (31-of-79) that number skyrocketed to 47 percent (18-of-38) during the Big 12 schedule.

 

2005-06 (Freshman): Averaged 3.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game as a first-year player. A key reserve off the bench, Skildum actually started seven games at various points of the season, some at shooting guard and others at small forward. She scored double-digits in three games as a freshman, with all three coming on the road against Big 12 teams. Skildum first established a personal-best with 12 points against No. 18/16 ranked Oklahoma (1/7) and repeated her performance just one week later at Kansas State (1/14). Skildum played in all 30 contests, scoring in 20 and grabbing at least two rebounds in all but six outings. She was fifth on the team in assists (34) and tied for third in blocked shots with nine.

 

High School: Skildum is a 2005 graduate of Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minn. She averaged 16.3 points and eight rebounds per game as a senior for the Mustangs. She was a three-year letterwinner for Mounds View and two-time Offensive Player of the Year. Skildum was a two-time All-Suburban East Conference first team pick and an all-state honorable mention. She was a Miss Minnesota Basketball nominee and a member of the Minnesota Girls Basketball All-Star team. She was named as one of Minnesota’s Fabulous 40 Seniors by Minnesota Sports Preview prior to her senior season. Skildum averaged 11 points, six rebounds and three assists as a junior to lead Mounds View to a 17-11 mark and a spot in the Section 4-AA semifinals in 2004. Skildum, a Minnesota state champion in the high jump, played her AAU ball with a North-Tartan 16’s team in 2004 that finished 34-7 and tied for ninth place in the national tournament.

 

Academics: Skildum is a communications pre-journalism major at Colorado. She was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2008 spring semester.

 

Personal: Hannah Christine Skildum was born March 26, 1987, in St. Paul, Minn. She is the daughter of Timothy and Cheryl Skildum and has two sisters Kara and Kelsey. Kara graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she played tennis. Kelsey is a sophomore at Iowa State. Her uncle is Flip Saunders is the former head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons of the NBA and another uncle Steven Skildum played college football at Minnesota-Duluth. Skildum enjoys wakeboarding and skiing and hopes to travel, coach and work with kids after college.