Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
7-2
Colorado State
5-3
Buffs Rebound With Dominant Effort Against Rams
December 08, 2010 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Linda Lappe wasn't around last season to see the Colorado Buffaloes blow a 16-point first-half lead and suffer an embarrassing loss at Colorado State.
On Wednesday night, Lappe's first CU women's basketball team made sure she wouldn't witness a repeat performance.
Leading from buzzer to buzzer, the Buffs bounced back from their first home loss of the season and cruised past their in-state rival 73-49 at the Coors Events Center.
"Well, that was a whole lot of fun," Lappe said. "We were focused, we defended, we stayed with our game plan. It's kind of cliché, but it was a total team effort."
Sophomore point guard Chucky Jeffery led CU with 21 points and 12 boards, while senior forward Brittany Spears added 20 points and 9 rebounds. Sophomore forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck chipped in 14 points.
It was Spears' 33rd career 20-point game and Jeffery's sixth career double-double. Jeffery scored 19 of her points in the second half.
"I was just kind of off in the first half," she said. "We started playing defense, then my game got going. It picked up my energy."
The Buffs were dominant in almost every category. They finished with season-highs in total rebounds (51) and offensive rebounds (16), and committed a season-low 16 turnovers.
"We wanted to attack, to crash the offensive glass," Lappe said. "We set that tone of getting to the rim."
Equally vital to the Buffs was their defense, particularly on Rams leading scorer Kim Mestdagh. She entered the game averaging 20.1 points, but 121/2 minutes into the second half she had managed just four points. Mestdagh, a 5-foot-10 junior from Ieper, Belgium, finished with a season-low 10.
For Lappe, one of the night's highlights was her team turning the page on its first home loss of the season. CU (7-2) was beaten 63-59 by Illinois on Saturday night, snapping a six-game home winning streak. CSU (5-3) saw its five-game win streak end Wednesday night.
The Buffs defeated the Rams for the seventh time in their last 11 meetings and increased their advantage in Boulder to 21-2.
The game's first 41/2 minutes were dominated by defense - or possibly nerves. Malcolm-Peck's three-pointer from the right wing put the Buffs up 3-0 at the 16:27 mark, and the Rams didn't score until nearly a minute later.
CU pulled away early on seven consecutive points by Spears - a short jumper, a layup and a conventional three-point play that gave the Buffs a 10-2 lead with 14:32 left in the half. Spears finished with 13 first-half points.
"It was very important (to come out fast)," Spears said. "Last year we gave it away."
The Rams caught up with an 11-4 run and closed to 14-13 on Mestdagh's first field goal with just under 8 minutes before intermission. During that CSU surge, CU was without Jeffery, who limped off the court at the 11:00 mark and stayed on the bench for the next 3:01.
She scored her only points of the half on a pair of free throws that increased the Buffs' lead to 16-13, but they sparked a 9-0 run that gave CU the first of its pair of 10-point leads.
Over the final 7 minutes of the opening half, the Buffs outscored the Rams 10-3 and led 26-16 at the break - the fifth time this season the Buffs have held an opponent under 20 points in the first half.
Also, CU outrebounded CSU 29-17 in the first 20 minutes, with the Buffs total including an impressive 10 offensive boards.
Just as she did to open the game, Malcolm-Peck knocked down a trey to start the second half - and the Buffs followed her lead. Her basket sparked an 8-0 spurt that pushed CU in front by 18 points (34-16) and CSU Coach Kristen Holt needed a timeout.
But before the Rams could get their first points of the last half, they surrendered a layup to Jeffery and fell behind by 20 (36-16). Over the next 3 minutes, CSU managed a 5-0 run and got to within 39-23, but CU extended its advantage to 46-25 on a three-point play by Jeffery and was in command the rest of the night. With 4:24 to play, the Buffs were up by 30 (69-39) and back in the kind of groove was expecting.
"We're extremely happy with the win," Lappe said. "We'll get ready to go into finals and then go to USC."
After breaking for final exams, CU travels to Los Angeles on Dec. 18-19 to play in the Women of Troy Tournament. The Buffs' first game is against the host school at 5:30 p.m. MST on Dec. 18. Dayton and San Diego State round out the four-team field.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
