Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
6-2
Illinois
4-5
Buffs' Late Rally Against Illini Comes Up Short
December 04, 2010 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - Linda Lappe wanted to see how her Colorado women's basketball team measured up against an opponent from another power conference in Saturday night's Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.
In the effort and tenacity categories, Lappe liked what she saw - but on the scoreboard, not so much.
Her Buffaloes gamely rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to take a two-point lead, but the Illini outscored them 8-2 in the final 3:11 and left the Coors Events Center with a 63-59 victory.
"I liked our fight, our determination; we showed a lot in that stretch (coming back)," Lappe said. "We just have to continue to have confidence . . . we'll be ready to bounce back."
Lappe's returning players contended that coming back from a double-digit deficit last season might not have happened.
"We're fighters this year; we don't give up this year - ever," said junior forward Julie Seabrook, who scored a career-best 15 points and had seven rebounds.
Added sophomore point guard Chucky Jeffery: "We're just way closer this season and know how to push each other . . . and nobody goes their separate ways. We didn't have as much fight in us (last season)."
Although the Illini brought a losing record (3-5) to Boulder, they dealt the Buffs their first home loss of the season. CU (6-2) had three players in double figures, led by Jeffery's 17. Senior Brittany Spears added 15.
The Buffs' already depleted roster shrunk to seven when freshman guard Ashley Wilson suffered a concussion late in Wednesday night's game against Texas State.
To add depth, Lappe looked to CU's volleyball team and found Nikki Lindow, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Centaurus High School. Lindow averaged 17.5 points a game for Centaurus, and when Lappe coached at Metro State, she thought enough of Lindow's ability to recruit her for hoops.
Lindow practiced once with the Buffs this week but did not leave the bench Saturday night. Lappe hopes Wilson can return for the next game, but she must be "symptom free" on Sunday.
The Buffs play again Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the first game of a women's/men's doubleheader against Colorado State at the Events Center. The men's contest is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
After falling behind 6-1 in the first 3 minutes Saturday night, the Buffs rallied and took their largest lead (15-8) on a 7-0 run with baskets by Seabrook, a three-pointer by Meagan Malcolm-Peck and a pair of free throws by Jeffery.
CU held the lead until Lana Rukavina's layup tied the score at 21-21 with 5:50 left in the half. Thereafter, there were three lead changes, with the Buffs going up by as many as four points (28-24) until Lydia McCully's trey from the right corner cut the Illini's deficit to one.
McCully followed that with another three-pointer and Adrienne GodBold's follow at the buzzer pushed Illinois in front, 32-28.
The Illini's size and aggressiveness gave the Buffs problems early, with the visitors outscoring CU 20-8 in the paint in the first half and 32-24 for the game. The Buffs' lack of depth also took a toll; Illinois' bench outscored CU's 18-5. The Buffs were outrebounded 19-12 in the first half, but came back to hold a 34-33 board advantage at game's end.
McCully opened the second-half scoring with a layup, giving the Illini a six-point lead. They increased went ahead by seven (38-31) on a steal and layup by GodBold before Malcolm-Peck's trey pulled the Buffs to 38-34.
But Rukavina answered with a three-pointer and restored the seven-point Illini advantage. Less than 3 minutes later, it went to 10 (46-36) on a three-point play by Eboni Mitchell, then 11 (55-46).
The Buffs didn't go belly up. An 11-0 run tied the score at 55-55 with 4 minutes remaining, with Spears' basket completing a fast break and knotting the score.
Half a minute later, Seabrook's two free throws gave CU its first lead (57-55) since late in the first half (28-27). Rukavina matched Seabrook's free shots to tie the score, then Penn hit one of two with 1:48 remaining to put the Illini up 58-57, then banked in a running hook for a 60-57 advantage with 50 seconds left.
When Penn hit another pair from the foul line with 16.4 seconds left, Illinois went ahead 62-57. But Seabrook answered with two free throws with 6.8 seconds to play, pulling the Buffs to 62-59. A free throw by McCully on the next possession gave Illinois its four-point win.
Penn, a 6-2 sophomore, finished with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
CU will look back on a late pair of misspent possessions, one coming when the ball was inbounded with a second remaining on the shot clock and Jeffery apparently unaware.
"I have to be more aware of the shot clock . . . I was too focused on what we were doing; it was a bad misunderstanding on my part," she said.
"Close games come down to a lot of little things," Lappe said.Â
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
