BUFFS UPSET NO. 15 NOTRE DAME IN OVERTIME

Saturday, November 15

Boulder, Colo.

8:15 p.m.

Colorado

(2-0)

Notre Dame

(1-1)

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Notre Dame	37	18	8	63
Colorado	33	22	12	67

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

November 15, 2003 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: CUBuffs.com

BOULDER ? Tera Bjorklund scored 21 points to lead No. 20 Colorado to the title in the 2003 WBCA Classic with a 67-63 overtime win over No. 15 Notre Dame.

The Buffs shot a dismal 20 percent from beyond the arc, but came through in the clutch with treys from Veronica Johns-Richardson to send the game into overtime while freshman Emily Waner hit one with 13 seconds left in the overtime period to put the Buffs ahead for good.

“We couldn't hit a shot all night, and when our backs were against the wall, we hit those two big threes,” head coach Ceal Barry said. “We hit those two shots right at the end. I think our team grew up a lot tonight. Between the hours of 8:15 and 10:40, I told our team that we grew up a lot. It's just a great win for our program. After being down 12-0 and still winning...I've never seen anything like it.”

The Irish opened the game with a 12-0 run, and Colorado chipped spent the rest of the first half chipping away at the deficit. The Buffs were within one with 19 seconds left in the first frame, before Notre Dame forward Le'Tania Severe hit a three as time ran out. The Irish led 37-33 at the break.

The teams traded leads throughout the second half. Colorado's largest deficit in the final period came with 30 seconds remaining, as the Buffs trailed by five.

Johns-Richardson would score Colorado's final five points to tie the game. Her first two came on a pair of free-throws with 24 seconds remaining. After Notre Dame's Megan Duffy missed the front end of a one-and-one from the line, Bjorklund snatched the rebound, giving Colorado one final possession.

After Johns-Richardson and freshman Anna Nedovic were tangled up, sending Nedovic to the floor, Johns-Richardson found herself open with four seconds left, took two dribbles and buried her first three of the night from the right side with under a second remaining to tie the game. She was 0-6 on the night before hitting the game-tying shot.

“When it came out of my hand, I couldn't believe it,” Johns-Richardson said. “The only shot I was able to make all day and it was that one. As a shooter, you can feel when your shot is going to go in and when it's going to miss. I knew all my other shots were off, but not that one.”

Colorado trailed by two, three minutes into the extra frame, but back-to-back threes from Waner sealed the victory. The freshman launched the gamewinner with 12.5 seconds left to put Colorado up 64-63. After an Irish timeout, tournament MVP Bjorklund snatched a steal in the paint on Notre Dame's last possession. She was fouled, and hit the ensuing two free throws to clinch the Buffalo victory.

Colorado, now 2-0 on the season, will hit the court again Nov. 22 against Harvard at the Subway Classic at the University of Minnesota. They will then face either Southern or No. 10 Minnesota.

WBCA Classic - All Tournament Team

MVP-Tera Bjorklund, Colorado; Emily Waner, Colorado; Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame; La'Tania Severe, Notre Dame; Natasha Brackett, Auburn; Shereese Grant, Old Dominion.