Women's Basketball Begins Practice Monday

Linda Lappe was introduced as head coach on April 12, 2010

Since Linda Lappe returned to the University of Colorado as head women's basketball coach this past April, she's been preaching fundamentals, discipline and communication to her new team. After all those were traits instilled in her as a player for the Buffaloes from 1998-2003, an impressive ride that culminated with three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2002 Elite Eight.

Lappe has been able to work with her new team in bits and pieces since her hiring, guiding the Buffaloes through an offseason program which included strengthening academics and on the floor individual workouts, focusing on fundamentals.

Now, eight years removed from wearing a CU uniform, Lappe will pull her new team together on the floor as a whole for the first time as practice for the 2010-11 season officially begins on Monday, Oct. 11, from 1-3:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.

"We want to get started off on the right foot," Lappe said. "In week one you really focus on the pace of practice, getting into drills quickly, learning the drills and catching on as fast as you possibly can so we can move on to bigger and better things.

"With the new coaching staff, we'll be implementing a lot of new things and we're going to be expecting our players to catch on quickly...work hard and have a great attitude so we don't have to coach those two things."

Lappe is counting on the Buffaloes to be able to draw upon the lessons learned during individual workouts and apply them to the start of full team practices.

"We spent a great deal of time in the preseason just working on fundamentals, passing, shooting, footwork and closeouts on defense. Practice takes everything to a new level but we have a lot of the basics (in place).

"The goal of the preseason was to help set the tone for what practice is going to be like and I think we've done a good job of doing that. I think (the players) know what to expect, now it's just a matter of adding more 5-of-5 scenarios, defensively and offensively."

Lappe, who amassed a 50-36 record in three seasons as head coach at Metro State (Colo.) before returning to her alma mater, welcomes in eight returnees, including three starters from the 2009-10 season, and four newcomers.

Brittany Spears is one of only six players in team history with 1,500 points and 700 rebounds.

Senior forward Brittany Spears, who has started all 93 career games, has led Colorado in scoring and rebounding the last two seasons. She is coming off a junior campaign in which she averaged 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds, earning honorable mention to the 2010 All-Big 12 Conference team. One of only six players in CU history to record 1,500 points and 700 career rebounds, Spears is sixth in 3-point field-goals made (156) and attempted (464), seventh in blocked shots (116), ninth in scoring (1,533), rebounds (720) and steals (176), 10th in field-goals made (557) and 16th in free-throws made (260) on CU's all-time charts.

A pair of sophomores who had solid first-year campaigns return in guard Chucky Jeffery and forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck. Jeffery topped the Buffaloes in assists as a true freshman in 2009-10 while averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Jeffery also played solid defense, leading all Big 12 freshman in steals with two per outing, and ranking fourth overall on the league charts. Malcolm-Peck pitched in 5.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and was CU's top shot blocker with 34 in her initial season.

Colorado lost a lot of scoring from its backcourt, most notably with the graduation of Bianca Smith, who averaged nearly 13 points per game in 2009-10 and is CU's all-time leader in 3-point field goals. The Buffaloes will look to a balance of upperclassmen with minimal playing experience and newcomers to fill that void.

The senior back-court duo of Britney Blythe and Chelsea Dale have worked limited minutes for much of their three years, but have shown glimpses of what they can do between the lines. Dale, a sharp-shooting off guard, played in a career-best 23 games in 2009-10, hitting on 50 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from downtown. Blythe, a natural point guard, appeared in only 10 games last year, but has starting experience, getting the opening call in 15 of 27 games as a sophomore in 2008-09, most of those starts logged during Big 12 play.

Chucky Jeffery led Colorado in assists and ranked fourth in the Big 12 in steals as a freshman in 2009-10.

Newcomers in the back court will include 5-foot-8 twin sisters Ashley and Brittany Wilson whose prep resumes rank up with some of the best in the nation. The Wilson's teamed up for national prep powerhouse Long Beach Poly High School, compiling a four-year record of 131-9 which included three-straight California Division I-AA state titles and a runner up finish in 2010.

Spears will play a prominent role on the front line, but expects to get help from a pair of local products, one new and one returning. Freshman forward Shae Kelley hopes to continue her own personal Coors Events Center magic. Kelley was the Denver Post's 2010 Ms. Colorado Basketball after leading Denver East to its first state title, on CU's home floor last March. Brenna Malcolm-Peck, Meagan's twin sister, will hope to return from an injury plagued freshman season to contribute minutes. Malcom-Peck, at 6-2, can stretch the floor with her outside shot and also help out on the boards.

Down on the block, junior Julie Seabrook has the most playing experience, seeing action in 51 games over her first two seasons. The 6-3 forward averaged just over six minutes a game in 2010, connecting on 52 percent of her field goal attempts (11-of-21). The tallest player in Colorado women's basketball history, 6-7 center Melissa MacFarlane returns for her sophomore season, after playing in 18 games in 2010 against some of the best post players in the country.

Freshman Rachel Hargis, who is Lappe's first recruit as she signed this past May, will join the mix down low. A 6-4 center from Robinson, Texas, she led Robinson High School to the 2009 Texas Class 3A state title as was the tournament MVP.

Colorado will host an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 5, against Western State (Colo.) College and open the regular season by hosting Regis (Colo.) University on week later on Nov. 12. The Buffaloes will play 10 of 13 nonconference games at home, including match-ups with Illinois (Dec. 4) and Colorado State (Dec. 8). For the 24th straight year, CU will host a tournament over Thanksgiving weekend as Evansville, Loyola-Chicago and Eastern Washington come to Boulder for the Omni Hotels Classic, Nov. 26-27.

CU will begin its final season as a member of the Big 12 on Saturday, Jan. 8, at Texas A&M and its home conference opener will be Wednesday, Jan. 12, against Kansas. The Buffaloes will join the Pac-10 Conference for the 2011-12 season, and will get an early taste of their new digs, traveling to play at USC's Tournament, Dec. 18-19.

Despite minimal expectations by outsiders for her first team - the Buffs were picked to finish 12 in their final season in the Big 12 by the league's coaches - Lappe and her staff of assistants (Johnna Pointer, Jennie Baranczyk and Jonas Chatterton) hold high expectations for this year's edition.

"We have really high expectations, and I think those high expectations are getting the players ready to compete at a high level. It's not something you can just talk about, but you demand as coaches and they have to be willing to put themselves through the rigorous workouts and push themselves to get better at everything that they do, and when we can do all of those things we will become a pretty good team."