Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
9-3
Virginia
10-3
Cavs' Wright Blisters Buffs In Second Half
January 02, 2010 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Virginia All-America candidate Monica Wright signed off Saturday afternoon on Colorado's opportunity for a signature win.
Limited to six first-half points, Wright shook loose for 18 in the second half to lead the No. 23 Cavaliers to a 74-59 victory against the Buffaloes.
The loss was CU's first in nine games this season at the Coors Events Center, dropping the Buffs to 9-3 overall. They play Yale on Monday night (7 p.m., no television) before opening their Big 12 Conference schedule at home on Jan. 9 against Missouri.
UVA, CU's first ranked opponent in 2009-10, improved to 10-3 overall.
The game was an emotional one for CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller, a UVA alumna who played point guard for veteran Cavaliers coach Debbie Ryan from 1986-89.
"Leading up to (Saturday's game) was probably more stressful than the 40 minutes of basketball," McConnell-Miller said. "She's made a major impact on my playing and coaching career."
Saturday's meeting was the second in two seasons between teacher and pupil. Last November in Charlottesville, No. 16 Virginia crushed CU 77-43, and the rematch didn't turn out anywhere near what CU expected.
Still, the Buffs left the court believing they can be competitive against nationally ranked opponents.
"We showed we can hang with Top 25 teams," senior guard Bianca Smith said. "People will look at the score and get the wrong impression."
Smith led the Buffs with 23 points - 15 in the second half - and was the only CU reserve to score. UVA's bench, meanwhile, contributed 37, led by Whitny Edwards' 14 and a team-best nine of the Cavaliers' 43 rebounds (the Buffs collected 30).
But it was the 5-foot-11 Wright, a senior from Woodbridge, Va., that made the difference for the Cavaliers. Her half a dozen first-half points could have been attributed to two early fouls that benched her for nine minutes.
 Ryan disputed it: "I really don't feel like that was it at all. I feel like Colorado was ready for us; they played to our weaknesses and I thought it was a great job by them. I felt like I played Monica a decent amount of time."
It was more than enough to impress CU sophomore Alyssa Fressle, who drew the assignment of guarding Wright, who averages 21.0 a game.
"She's the real deal," Fressle said. "She can shoot it, she can post up and she can drive . . . she's the toughest opponent I've had to guard."
Wright also might be one of the toughest defenders Brittany Spears has faced. After scoring 13 first-half points, the CU junior was held without a field goal in the second half. She did, however, convert seven of 10 free throws and finished with 20 points - .2 below her average.
Spears called Wright "the same player from the first half to the second half. She just played more."
Wright & Co. forced the Buffs into 16 turnovers, six of them by freshman guard Chucky Jeffery, who said the experience showed her she must "learn how to keep my composure more under pressure.
"I struggled a bit and (must learn) not to settle for shots . . . I just let it get to me. I just need to learn how to stay level-headed and work under pressure."
Accustomed to big halftime advantages - an average of 33 points - in the three most recent games before Saturday, the Buffs found themselves trailing by a basket (31-29) at intermission.
And that was despite the Cavaliers losing starting guard China Crosby, a 5-6 freshman, to a sprained medial collateral ligament in the game's first 2 minutes. She was replaced by junior Paulisha Kellum, who responded with eight points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
UVA's biggest lead before intermission was six points, but the Cavs outscored the Buffs 13-6 to open the second half and led by double figures (46-35) with 11:14 to play.
From that point, Smith canned four of her six three-pointers, helping CU pull to within 52-50 - the closest they'd been since 33-31 - with 5:54 remaining.
Then Wright stepped up, scoring seven of UVA's next nine points and helping the Cavs open a 61-53 lead with just over 4 minutes left.
The Buffs closed to within five points twice in the final 3:22 but could get no closer as the Cavs pulled away.
Ryan called coaching against McConnell-Miller "very, very difficult. I mean, I love seeing her and I love being here, but it's a difficult thing to have to do.
"It is really bittersweet. It is so hard because she is trying to establish herself nationally and we were sort of like the stepping stone for them but I think she proved a lot today."
Were it not for Monica Wright, the Buffs and McConnell-Miller might have proved much more.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
