Colorado vs. Nebraska
Coors Events Center, March 2, 2005
GAME NOTES
? The Buffaloes (9-18, 2-14 Big 12) earned their second conference win of the season, beating Nebraska 78-76, as head coach Ceal Barry bid adieu to the CU faithful in her last home game as a coach. The Cornhuskers (16-12, 8-8 Big 12) couldn't overcome a 12-point halftime deficit after the Buffs played easily one of their best halves of the season in front of a season-high crowd of 4,423. Barry improved to 21-2 all-time against the Huskers in Boulder, with the last 21 all coming in succession. She is 34-13 overall against Nebraska.
? Nebraska went on a 15-2 run during a 4:14 span after center Kara Richards gave CU an early 10-2 lead on a lay up. Colorado quickly made up the difference, knotting the score at 17 with 11:55 remaining in the first half after forward Anna Nedovic converted on three-point play.
? Down by four points with 9:51 in the first half, the Buffs went on a 14-0 run spanning the next 4:28, capped by Nedovic's conversion after forward Sara Lini's initial put back attempt. The run gave them a 31-21 lead.
? Taking advantage of Nebraska's use of three forwards because of their lack of height, CU outscored the Cornhuskers 36-24 in the paint.
? CU out-rebounded Nebraska 41-34, marking the fourth time in Big 12 play the Buffs have out-rebounded an opponent.
? Colorado's 44 first half points were the most in any Big 12 conference game this year. Their previous best output was 34 points, which they accomplished on several occasions. It also marked their second best scoring first half of the season (they scored 45 against Northern Colorado in non-conference play). They went into the break with a 12-point lead, their largest lead of the half after guard Yari Escalera hit a lay up with two seconds remaining in the half. The last time CU had a lead going into halftime was against Missouri on Feb. 9 when they went into the break leading 34-25.
? Coming into the game, CU's opponents had made 148-of-299 shots (49 percent) in the last five games. Nebraska finished the night shooting 26-of-69 (37.7 percent).
? In the previous six games, CU had made 117-of-345 shots (34 percent). They finished the game shooting 28-of-57 (49.1 percent).
? CU had their highest scoring output of the Big 12 season with 78 points. Their previous best was 76 points in a loss against Iowa State on Feb. 2.
? Nebraska had 19 steals in the game, the second-most ever by a CU opponent. Texas A&M had 20 steals against the Buffs on Feb. 5 of this season.
? Senior guard Veronica Johns-Richardson scored 18 points, her third-highest scoring output of the season.
? Lini had the most points (5) since scoring six against Kansas on Jan. 25.
? Nedovic scored eight points, all in the first half, the first time she had eclipsed eight points in a game since scoring 12 against Kansas on Jan. 25. She also collected 10 rebounds, the most since she had 12 against Kansas State on Jan. 29.
? Richards had her way in the paint, finishing with 19 points, her highest output since she scored 19 against Iowa State on Feb. 2. It also marked just the third time in the last 14 games in which she eclipsed double digits in points.
HALF OF RUNS... The first half was a game of runs; CU scored just once on a possession without coming right back with the next score, and Nebraska did so twice. Otherwise, CU had runs of 4-0, 6-0, 5-0, 14-0, 7-0 and 4-0; Nebraska had runs of 11-0, 4-0, 4-0, 5-0 and 3-0.
FORMER CU “CELEBRITIES” IN THE HOUSE... It was a Hall of Fame roll call: former ADs Bill Marolt and Dick Tharp; over two dozen of Barry's former players, including Bridget Turner, Shelley Sheetz, Erin Scholz, Tera Bjorklund, Jenny Roulier and Jamillah Lang; and former men's basketball player David Harrison.
