COLORADO OPENS WITH EXHIBITION WIN OVER FORT LEWIS

Veronica Johns-Richardson scored 22 points and Anna Nedovic added 17 as the Colorado Buffaloes defeated Fort Lewis College 99-68 Saturday.

After a close opening few minutes, Johns-Richardson completed a three-point play with 14:23 left in the first half to give the Buffs a lead they would not relinquish.

“They sagged off on (Johns-Richardson) and she went off on them. She has been working on her shooting and it paid off. Overall, I think we had balance tonight,” said head coach Ceal Barry.

One of only two seniors on the team, Johns Richardson is looking forward to starting the season. “It's exciting, we have a good team. We are very talented, but like coach said we have some stuff to work on,” she said. “People have been too focused on what we've lost not what we've got. We're ten deep, we can go two deep at every position.”

Freshman center Kara Richards recorded a double-double as she grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds and scored 13 points in her first game as a Buff. Also making her first appearance in the gold and black was junior transfer Tami Garnett who netted 12 points, five rebounds and led the team with two blocks.

“Ft. Lewis wasn't very big, but they played a very aggressive style of defense. They would double or even triple team us inside. We learned a lot from tonight's game; our inside players have different types of games. We will give different players the ball in different situations,” Barry said.

Up 14 at the half, the Buffs used the second period to build on their lead and never let the Skyhawks get within 10 points. Jasmina Ilic added 16 points giving Colorado five players in double digits.

The Buffs will next be in action Friday November 12 when they close out their exhibition schedule against the University of South Dakota at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Tami Garnett

Jasmina Ilic

Veronica Johns-Richardson

Anna Nedovic

Kara Richards