Colorado
7-2
Southern Utah
3-8, 1-1Summit
Buffs' Early Run Wipes Out Thunderbirds
December 19, 2009 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - After the first 10 minutes, more than one person in a sparse Coors Events Center crowd wondered if another 30 minutes was necessary.
Of course, the rulebook said it was, and the Colorado women's basketball team took full advantage, blowing past overmatched Southern Utah 88-36 on Saturday night.
"It wasn't what we expected, particularly in the first half," CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said, referring to her team's 24-0 run to open the game and its 53-11 halftime lead.
It was the third-largest run ever by a Buffaloes women's team and the second-largest halftime margin. Plus, Southern Utah's 11 first-half points were the fifth fewest ever by a CU opponent.
The two schools from neighboring states have a short history, but it belongs to CU. In their only other meeting, the Buffs bashed the Thunderbirds 81-38 on Dec. 28, 2007.
Junior Brittany Spears led CU with 23 points, while senior Bianca Smith added 15 - including the 200th three-pointer of her college career. Of the 13 Buffs who played, 11 scored.
"It's a great milestone, but I'm focused on the team and helping us get more wins," said Smith, who made her first start of the season, of her 200th trey.
CU's full-court pressure helped force 27 Southern Utah turnovers that resulted in 33 points, and the Buffs owned a 13-3 advantage in steals.
McConnell-Miller called her team's pressure "the best it's been . . . I thought we played (hard) for 36 minutes; the first 4 minutes of the second half, we came out and didn't match the intensity from the first half.
"We walk away from tonight having that being the only concern. I'm very pleased with the overall effort, particularly on the boards."
The Buffs wound up outrebounding the Thunderbirds 47-36, but they were dominant in every other statistical category as well - an 18-0 advantage in fast break points, a 42-20 advantage in the paint and a 19-8 edge in second-chance points.
CU (7-2) led by 44 points on three occasions in the first half and didn't allow Southern Utah (3-8) its first basket until 9:45 remained in the half.
The Buffs led 24-2, 40-4, 49-5 and 53-9 before the Thunderbirds, who were on a three-game winning streak (one was an exhibition win), reached double figures. CU led by as many as 55 (87-32) in the second half.
McConnell-Miller used all of her players except senior center Courtney Dunn, who had started seven previous games. McConnell-Miller called Dunn's remaining seated throughout the blowout "a coach's decision."
CU had an eight-day layoff after a 69-61 loss at Colorado State on Dec. 11, but several other factors - finals week, practicing in the CU recreation center, her absence for a couple of days while recruiting - also concerned McConnell-Miller.
"All those factors kept me up at night," she claimed. "The upperclassmen never flinched. It never really affected them and the underclassmen and the freshmen go by their lead."
It didn't take CU long to blow this one open. After their first field goal at 9:45, the T-Birds waited 5:33 to score again. By that time CU enjoyed a 40-4 lead.
Although the Thunderbirds' points never came in bunches, they did manage to reach double figures by halftime. But by then, the Buffs had 53 and were cruising.
Spears, who added four steals, three assists, two blocked shots and six rebounds to her 23 points, said playing with such a large advantage throughout amounted to "just practice . . . whether it's practicing our offense, getting in conditioning or learning your position, it's practicing in the game."
Southern Utah hit just five of its 27 first-half shots (18.5 percent), while CU was 22-for-41 (53.7). The Buffs finished with a 45.9 field goal percentage (34-of-74), while the T-Birds were at 25.5 (14-of-55) and made only one of nine three-pointers to the Buffs' 9-of-18.
The Buffs play San Jose State Dec. 22 in the second game of a men's-women's double header at the Events Center. The CU men face Cal State Northridge at 5:30 p.m., followed by the CU women against San Jose State at 8 p.m.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
