Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
14-3, 4-2Big 12
Texas Tech
16-2, 5-1Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | 45 | 35 | 80 |
| Colorado | 26 | 32 | 58 |
Buffs Beaten By No. 7 Texas Tech
January 26, 2003 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - Natalie Ritchie scored 18 of her 21 points in the first half, helping open a 19-point halftime lead, and No. 7 Texas Tech cruised to an 80-58 victory over Colorado on Sunday.
Texas Tech (16-2, 5-1 Big 12) also got 22 points and eight rebounds from Plenette Pierson and 19 points from Jia Perkins.
Tera Bjorklund had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Colorado (14-3, 4-2).
The Red Raiders, rebounding from Wednesday's 69-58 loss to No. 17 Texas, used a 16-1 run early in the game to build a 12-point lead and never looked back. Tech shot 47 percent to Colorado's 38 percent and outrebounded the Buffaloes 44-37.
Ritchie hit four 3-pointers in the first half as the Red Raiders bolted to a 45-26 lead.
Tech's early 16-1 run, which featured seven points from Perkins, produced an 18-6 lead with 14:17 left in the half. Two of Perkins' baskets came on layups after she stole the ball on the other end.
Pierson had two straight baskets to cap a 6-0 run for a 28-13 lead. Colorado countered with six straight points of its own, capped by Bjorklund's layup, but the Red Raiders than ran off nine straight points for a 37-19 lead. Ritchie started the flurry with a 3-pointer, and Cisti Greenwalt hit four free throws.
Ritchie hit consecutive 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the half to give Texas Tech its biggest lead of the half, 45-24.
Ritchie made another 3-pointer early in the second half, and Pierson had three layups in the first five minutes as Tech pushed its lead to 64-34.
Bjorklund scored 12 of Colorado's first 14 points in the half, and she sparked a 10-1 flurry that cut the deficit to 65-46. But the Buffs got no closer.
Bjorklund, a 6-foot-5 junior center, hit a layup with 12:30 left for her 22nd point of the game, making her the 19th player in Colorado history with 1,000 points.
