Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Regis University
Buffs Heat Up, Rout Rangers In Lappe's Debut
November 12, 2010 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - They needed maybe 5 extra minutes to get untracked, but once they did the Colorado Buffaloes produced a tantalizing tip-off to the Linda Lappe Era in women's basketball.
CU overran Regis 76-38 Friday night at the Coors Events Center, giving Lappe a victorious debut on the same court where she starred for CU Hall of Fame inductee Ceal Barry before finishing her collegiate eligibility in 2003.
"It's always great to get the first one," Lappe said. "We had some early-game jitters, but that's normal. We picked it up midway through the first half . . . and it started with our defense."
The Buffs' post and transition defense improved as the night went on, and once they settled down, their offense wasn't too shoddy either.
Four Buffs players reached double figures, led by senior Brittany Spears with 20 points. Senior guard Britney Blythe scored a career-high 15 points, including a career-best five three-pointers. Sophomore Chucky Jeffery contributed a double-double - 13 points and 12 rebounds. She also had a game-high six assists and six steals, while sophomore Meagan Malcom-Peck added 10 points.
Jeffery called her diverse role in the opening-night "real fun . . . it's not too much about scoring for me. I'm big on the assist game now . . . it's good to know I can pass to my teammates and they'll knock down the shot."
Spears said the win "felt good. It always feels good with a win . . . we know we're playing for each other."
That thought will have to stay in their minds as the season unfolds.
Lappe's team opened the season with a sparsely populated bench. She knew academics would sideline senior guard/forward Chelsea Dale for the fall semester and that sophomore guard/forward Brenna Malcolm-Peck's hyper-extended left knee would keep her out of the lineup indefinitely.
But on Friday, top recruit Shae Kelley, an athletic forward from Denver East, informed Lappe she was leaving the program for personal reasons. In the Buffs' 93-62 exhibition rout of Western State a week prior to the opener, Kelley came off the bench to score 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field.
That turned out to be her lone appearance in a CU uniform in the Events Center. As a result, CU suited up eight players to face Regis in Lappe's debut.
"It leaves us in a tough situation," she said. "But our players are great . . . with eight players, everybody has got to contribute. We just have to be in great shape . . . these guys played a lot of minutes. But we work hard all off-season for that. It leads to some great team chemistry; we'll use it as positive."
Lappe said she "wishes Shae the best of luck, but we're focused on our team and getting better every day."
CU opened slowly and frigidly, hitting just one of its first six field goal attempts in the first 4:15 and falling behind 8-2. But after they caught the Rangers at 8-8, the Buffs began to take off.
They went ahead 17-10, then allowed Regis to climb back as close as 17-16 before Blythe & Co. put the hammer down by hitting three consecutive three-pointers. Malcolm-Peck opened the onslaught with a three with 5:55 remaining before halftime, and Blythe followed with back-to-back treys.
For Blythe, a 5-9 senior from Mateo, Calif., her three-pointer with 5:20 left in the half were her first official points since Feb. 14, 2009 at Texas A&M. (She scored nine in CU's exhibition win against Western State.)
Blythe said she "felt good, but I'm not thinking about shooting - unless things are open."
After their 8-8 tie, the Buffs outscored the Rangers 34-9, including a 25-1 run in the first half's final 5:55. The score at intermission: CU 42, Regis 17.
And the Buffs weren't done. They scored the first 13 points of the second half, taking a 55-17 lead with 15:30 to play. The Rangers got their first points of the second half on a three-point play Salina Kuiper with 15:10 remaining, but by then it was 55-20 and CU was looking at a name-your-number opening night.
The Buffs eventually led by 43 points before the final buzzer.
"I thought we played hard . . . we didn't have the mid-game lull," Lappe said. "I really liked how we finished the first half - a 14-0 run to finish the first half and a 12-0 run to start the second."
CU plays at the University of Denver on Tuesday night, then returns to the Events Center on Friday night against Santa Clara. Both contests start at 7 p.m.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
