Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
1-1
Denver
1-1
Clutch Free Throws Put Denver Over Colorado
November 17, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Brittany Spears led Colorado (1-1) with 24 points and 10 rebounds, her 23rd career double-double. Meagan Malcolm-Peck had 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
DU (1-1) and Colorado went back-and-forth, 10 ties, 15 lead changes and just six points - two possessions - was the largest margin for either team. But a few costly CU mistakes down the stretch and Denver's ability to capitalize was the difference.
Colorado made six of its first eight shots from the field and Spears' third 3-pointer in the first nine minutes gave Colorado a 17-12 lead.
But turnovers hurt the Buffaloes. Denver pressed, giving CU's back court some problems which turned into easy buckets. The Pioneers scored 14 points of 14 first half CU turnovers and led 32-29 at the break.
The Buffaloes continued to keep the Pioneers within reach early in the second half and momentum began to swing when CU amped up the defensive effort and began to return the favor.
"We pressured them," CU head coach Linda Lappe said. "We became the aggressors on defense, which is how we need to play the entire game, but it really spurred our run and we were able to get some easy baskets."
After DU held its largest lead of the game at 52-46, CU's defense sparked a 9-0 run. Spears scored first on a put back and after a stop Malcolm-Peck drilled a 3-pointer to pull CU to within one at 52-51. Spears then recorded steals on back-to-back possessions, the first resulting in a coast-to-coast layup and the second ending in a Malcolm-Peck bucket as CU led 55-52 with 5:31 left.
But shortly after, momentum took a swift shift back to Denver. The Buffaloes played 29 seconds of solid defense on the other end and had DU needing to get a shot on rim off an inbounds play with just one second left on the shot clock. DU found its leading scorer Kaetlyn Murdoch, but she missed a shot from the elbow. Pioneer Brianna Culberson won a struggle for the rebound with Malcolm-Peck. The CU sophomore was called for a foul, but the setback was compounded by a technical foul call on Spears who batted the ball away in frustration.
Rice made one of two shots, and on the ensuing possession, Murdoch was fouled and made the subsequent free throws to tie the game up at 55 with 4:56 remaining.
The Buffaloes fought to claim a 62-61 with just 2:13 remaining and had the ball but couldn't extend their lead despite having three chances on the same possession. Spears missed two short range jumpers and Malcolm-Peck couldn't quite stick the put back as Rice finally corralled the rebound and was fouled.
She made both foul shots to give DU a 63-62 lead with 1:09 left. Colorado once again had three chances at regaining the lead, but couldn't connect. Rice, once again corralled the rebound, this time off a Malcolm-Peck 3-point attempt, was fouled and sank another pair of free throws with 39 seconds on the clock to put the Pioneers up 65-62.
The Buffaloes were unable to get a quality shot off on the other end. Murdoch, who survived early foul trouble to score 17 points, followed Rice's lead with a pair of free throws to give DU a two-possession lead at 67-62.
"We fought hard," Lappe said. "We could have folded a few times in this game, down five a couple different times, and really fought back. I thought we had a lot of momentum down the stretch, then a couple possessions where things didn't quite go our way and we weren't quite able to bounce back from that."
CU freshman Brittany Wilson made a pair of driving layups to extend the game, but it was not enough. Denver was clutch at the line making 22-of-25 free throws, including 9-of-10 in the final 1:09.
Chucky Jeffery had 10 points and four rebounds. Wilson had nine points and three rebounds.
Colorado returns home to host Santa Clara on Friday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
