Brooks: Jeffery's Return Bolsters Buffs For Pair At Home

BOULDER - Chucky Jeffery vaguely remembers taking an elbow, but it wasn't until she wiped her forehead after the Kansas game that she felt a marble-sized knot. Her Colorado teammates noticed it, too, and asked how it got there.

Jeffery, the sophomore point guard on the CU women's basketball team, later began experiencing concussion symptoms - which had never happened during a stellar athletic career that included football (yes, football) when she was a kid in Colorado Springs.

"Amazingly," said Jeffery, "that was my first concussion."

It's amazing because, if you've seen Jeffery play, you know how she plays - all out, all the time. As coaches sometimes tell their players, if you're going to make a mistake, make it at 100 mph. Jeffery pushes the speedometer to about 110.

But symptoms that might have been ignored years and years ago aren't anymore. Thankfully in athletics now, even the slightest hint of a head injury is viewed as serious. Jeffery was tested, then sidelined; she missed a home game against Iowa State and a trip to Oklahoma State.

On Thursday, nine days after receiving the errant elbow, she was cleared to return to practice. She'll be back in the lineup on Saturday against Missouri at the Coors Events Center (4 p.m.).

"It's great to have Chucky back; we're glad she's going to be with us on Saturday," Buffs Coach Linda Lappe said after Jeffery's first afternoon back on the court. "Everything went well and she's ready to go . . . she's full-go."

Missing two games and five days of practice made Jeffery's game "a little bit" rusty, but it didn't affect her conditioning. And, she added Thursday afternoon, "I've still got my aggressiveness. I was just a little hesitant to shoot, but I'll get it back; it was just a first-day thing."

In Jeffery's absence, the Buffs went 1-1, winning their first Big 12 Conference game (66-60 in overtime over No. 17/16 Iowa State) before losing at Oklahoma State (58-49). CU is 10-7 overall, 1-3 in the league.

It requires a leap of faith to conclude that Jeffery's presence at Oklahoma State might have helped produced a CU win. But there's no denying that her not making the trip diminished the Buffs' chances. She's in the midst of a nice season: She leads the Big 12 in rebounding (9.2 a game), is CU's second-leading scorer (15.3) and also is the league-leader in steals (3.3 a game) and defensive boards (6.6).

Having to stay behind when the Buffs journeyed to Stillwater, Okla., earlier this week disappointed Jeffery - but she understood. "Yeah, it bothered me," she said. I wanted to be there, just so I could support my teammates."

Maybe the chief reason she wanted to make the trip was to continue to lend support to Brittany Wilson, who stepped in at point guard for two games. A 5-foot-8 freshman, Wilson is a more natural shooting guard than a point guard. But she filled the need of the moment when Jeffery went out - and Jeffery said her stand-in "did a wonderful job, especially being a freshman. That was a big step for her; I know she's got a head full of confidence right now.

"She played, I think, a really great game (against Iowa State). It was exciting for me to even watch the game. I was probably more excited on the bench than I would have been on the floor . . . she just played great, stepped up the plate and did everything that was asked of her. I was real proud of her."

In the surprising win against Iowa State, Jeffery made it a point to leave the bench at every timeout, seek out Wilson and offer either encouragement or advice.

"When 'B-Wil' was on the floor, every time she came off we had a little talk," Jeffery said. "I like to help them out and just be that positive energy on the bench for them. So it sucked not going (to Oklahoma State), but I understand why - with school and everything else (the concussion)."

Wilson filled in admirably for Jeffery, scoring a career-best 19 points against Iowa State and adding 11 at Oklahoma State. However, her inexperience at the point position at this level showed, with a seven-to-two turnover-assist ratio in each game. Still, Lappe easily found a silver lining in the second half of the loss to the Cowboys, as Wilson's turnover total dropped from five to two.

"I thought she did a nice job, especially in the Iowa State game," Lappe said. "She kept her composure and led our team. She did everything a point guard was supposed to do, plus score a few baskets. And she hit some big ones. In the Oklahoma State game, between the first and second half, she was a much different player.

"She's happier than anybody to get Chucky back . . . I know she stepped in at the point guard position, but I'm not sure that's the position she necessarily loves to be at. That was her role, her job for those two games and she did it with flying colors and no questions asked. I know she's also looking forward to being back on the wing as well."

With Jeffery's return and Wilson gaining experience at the point, Lappe can experiment (if she wishes) with sets involving that pair.

"We've played them together before, but never played Brittany as the 'one' and Chucky as the 'two,'" Lappe said. "But I could definitely see that happening a little bit more. We've been wanting to do that in a few of our sets, but we didn't know if Brittany was quite ready to take on those point guard responsibilities.

"But I think after the last two games, the experience she's gotten, I think we'll have that (option) for certain sets where Chucky might be better at the 'two' and Brittany at the 'one' we'll look to do that."

Wilson has started four games and averages 23.1 minutes. She's the Buffs' third-leading scorer (8.1 points) and is third in steals (23) behind Jeffery (49) and senior Brittany Spears (32). Lappe sees one of Wilson's chief assets as scoring in transition, which doesn't mix with playing point guard.

"One of the best things she does is run the lanes in transition," Lappe said. "When she's at the point, it kind of takes her off of that. We didn't have that in the last couple of games - somebody running the wing in transition and being able to get some easy baskets."

With Jeffery back, Wilson should return to that role against Mizzou, the first of back-to-back home opponents for CU and a pair of prime opportunities for the Buffs. Following MU (9-9, 1-3), Kansas State (12-5, 2-2) comes in Wednesday night.

Lappe wants her team to "defend inside-out" against the Tigers, who are strong at the point and in the post, and limit their trips to the free throw line. Conversely, she wants the Buffs to get there more often.

"I don't think we've done very well at that in any of our conference games yet," she said. "We can do that by just being aggressive and getting 20 to 25 free throws."

That's where Jeffery's return and her penchant of getting to the rim become factors. She leads the Buffs in free throws attempted (78) and made (50). Yes, there's a reason Lappe says, "It's great to have Chucky back."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU