Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-3, 1-0Big 12
Missouri
10-4, 0-1Big 12
Buffs Finish Fast To FlushTigers
January 09, 2010 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - An opening statement was in order Saturday, and the Colorado women's basketball team penned what was expected of it.
In its 64-48 win against Missouri, CU was eloquent early, sluggish at mid-sentence and profound at the finish.
The punctuation mark: A 17-4 run over the final 5:54 that blunted an inspired Mizzou comeback and allowed the Buffaloes to open Big 12 Conference play in the proper context.
"It's great to open at home and come out with a win," CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. "I'm very proud of my team . . . . Overall, a good performance, and I'm happy to be sitting here 1-0 in the Big 12."
Down by 17 points at halftime, the Tigers pulled to within three before the Buffs regained their offensive composure, ratcheted up their defense by going to a zone, then finally pulled away.
The Buffs, improving to 11-3 overall (10-1 in the Coors Events Center), had four players in double figures, led by Brittany Spears' 16 points. Chucky Jeffery and Courtney Dunn added 12 each and Alyssa Fressle contributed 11.
CU made only one of its 11 three-point attempts - a season low. That late trey was courtesy of the 6-foot-4 Dunn, whose basket allowed the Buffs to extend their streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 150.
McConnell-Miller said waning confidence from behind the arc caused her team to pass up "a lot of open looks" and encounter difficulty with the shot clock on several late second-half possessions.
Plus, Missouri (10-4, 0-1) turned up its backcourt pressure on CU's ball handlers. But the Buffs trumped that by switching to the 2-3 zone and, noted McConnell-Miller, "The good news is that we responded to their run."
After trailing 32-15 at halftime, the Tigers steadily cut into the Buffs' lead until they'd narrowed the margin to 47-44 on a steal and layup by RaeShara Brown.
That basket capped a 14-3 Mizzou run during which the Buffs lost their offensive rhythm. But following a timeout by McConnell-Miller, CU switched from its man-to-man defense to the zone featuring Spears and Jeffery on top.
That, said McConnell-Miller, "made us very long and created a lot of steals and scoring through our defense."
Also, Jeffery said she and her teammates realized losing their big lead and allowing the Tigers back into the game "was not acceptable. When coach Miller called that timeout, she told us to relax and calm down.
"When we came out of the timeout, we had more energy with our defense and that's what really got us back into it. We went to the zone, got some steals and that gave us energy."
After the timeout, CU scored on consecutive layups by Bianca Smith and Jeffery, then added a pair of free throws by Spears.
That 6-0 run put the Buffs up by nine (53-44), and the Tigers appeared spent. CU kept up the pressure and closed it out with a flourish.
"We made a good effort to make it close in the second half and did a lot of things well to cut their lead," MU coach Cindy Stein said. "But we had too many turnovers (16 to CU's 15).
"Give Colorado kudos; they played well and deserved to win the game. Jeffery had a couple of big steals at the end that really changed the game."
Jeffery finished with five of the Buffs' 11 steals. She also collected eight rebounds (Spears had nine) and dished out four of her team's 10 assists.
The Buffs enjoyed a 34-24 scoring advantage in the paint, with Dunn's dozen points a career best against a league opponent and her eight rebounds matching an overall career high.
"I've been taking a beating from the (opposing) post players for a couple of years, so I can pretty much handle what they give me," Dunn said.
Trailing only once (2-0) before intermission, the Buffs ended the first half with an 11-0 run and posted a 32-15 halftime lead.
Mizzou's 15 first-half points were the fewest the Buffs have allowed since holding Kansas to 14 in 2003. Also, CU's 17-point halftime bulge was its largest since being up by 24 against Iowa State in 2007.
Had they been more effective in finishing - specifically making layups in transition - the Buffs might have matched that total (or exceeded it) at the break. At least half a dozen layups were missed.
Nonetheless, McConnell-Miller believes her team is "getting more comfortable with our transition offense . . . our objective when we have numbers is to score."
Opening with a quickened pace, CU outscored Mizzou 10-0 in first-half fast break points and 18-2 for the game.
CU makes its first conference road trip on Tuesday, playing at Texas Tech (6 p.m., MST).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
