Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
3-0
Hartford
0-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford | 19 | 21 | 40 |
| Colorado | 33 | 36 | 69 |
WBB Tops Hartford, Advances to Title Game
November 29, 2002 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - Hartford cut a 16 point Colorado lead to four points with 16:59 left in the game, but the Buffaloes ended the game on a 33-11 run to win 69-40 and advance to the championship game of the 16th Annual Coors Classic on Saturday night against Villanova.
"We had a good defensive effort tonight," said Colorado coach Ceal Barry. "They (Hartford) are a good team, they were an NCAA tournament team last year."
Tera Bjorklund continued to impress pouring in 16 points to go along with her six rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. Sabrina Scott two was points shy of a double-double finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Amber Metoyer also did damage for Colorado (3-0) scoring 11 points and grabbing seven boards in just 17 minutes.
Colorado jumped out to a 17-2 lead in the first 7:07 and led 33-19 at halftime. But Hartford, (0-3) scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the deficit to 33-29 behind Angie Pezzeta's seven points during the run. Colorado then held the Hawks to just 11 points through the remainder of the game.
"We shot the ball better in the second half. Our defense needs to hold us until our offensive loosens up, and I think our offense loosened up in the second half," Barry said.
Colorado forced 24 turnovers, after forcing 35 turnovers against Detroit-Mercy last Sunday, and held the Hawks to 28 percent shooting.
Pezzeta was the only Hartford player in double digit scoring, hitting for 17 points.
The Buffaloes will look to pick up their seventh straight Coors Classic title tomorrow night after beating Houston last year in the championship game.
In the first game of the tournament, Trish Juhline scored 20 points and had four assists and Courtney Mix had 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Villanova past Ohio State, 58-51 at the Coors Events Center Friday night and will face Colorado in the championship game.
Ohio State had a big game from Courtney Coleman who was 8-9 from the field and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, but it wasn't enough to handle Villanova's disciplined offense which only had eight turnovers and used the majority of the shot clock on each possession.
Ohio State will take on Hartford in the consolation game Saturday night at 6 p.m., followed by the Coors Classic Championship between Colorado and Villanova at 8 p.m.
