Buffaloes Open Season With Northern Arizona Friday

THE GAME: The University of Colorado women's basketball team opens its 38th season by hosting Northern Arizona University on Friday, Nov. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.

BROADCAST: Friday's game will be broadcast live on KKZN AM 760. Mike Rice will be at the call with Carol Callan of USA Basketball providing the color commentary. Live video of Friday's game can be seen on BuffsTV, a subscription service through CUBuffs.com. Live audio is also available through BuffsTV free of charge.

OPENING TIP: Colorado is a perfect 25-0 in overall season openers played at home.

FRIDAY NIGHT DOUBLEHEADER: Both men's and women's teams open the 2011-12 season Friday night at the Coors Events Center. The women play Northern Arizona at 5:30 p.m., with the men taking on Fort Lewis at 8 p.m. Half-price tickets are being offered, with reserved seats starting at $7.50 for the men's game while mid-court seats are available for $10. For the women's game, reserved seats are $5, with mid-court seats priced at $7.50. More information: call 303-492-8337 or 800-872-8337, or email cutix@colorado.edu.

EXHIBITION WIN: Four Colorado players scored in double-digits as the Buffaloes ran to a 78-40 women's basketball exhibition win over Regis on Nov. 6 at the Coors Events Center.

Junior guard Chucky Jeffery and freshman Lexy Kresl each had 14 points. Sophomore Brittany Wilson had 12 off the bench and her twin sister Ashley Wilson had 10.

Colorado forced 32 turnovers from its NCAA Division II neighbor from Denver and outrebounded the Rangers 50-28. Sunday's exhibition was the perfect chance for the young players to get their feet wet and for the coaching staff to experiment with the lineup. Seven players played at least 20 minutes, but only Jeffery played 30; and that was right at 30. Nine of the 10 active players played at least 15 minutes.

"(This game) gave us a chance to use a lot of different lineups and put players in different situations," head coach Linda Lappe said. "Anytime you have an exhibition game I think those are the things you are trying to get out of it more so than a win or a loss. We had things that we had been working on all week and I thought we got better from this week to last week."

Colorado's front line of senior Julie Seabrook and sophomore Rachel Hargis helped the Buffs get off to a fast start accounting for the team's first 10 points, and a 10-4 lead.

"Both (Julie and I) worked really hard during the offseason getting stronger down low," Hargis said. "We've worked really hard on our turnaround jumpers, being able to post up easily, not having to make a move and just go up to the basket and score."

Soon after the Buffaloes started to turn Regis over, allowing the back court players to run in transition. With CU up 10-6, Jeffery recorded a steal which turned into a Meagan Malcolm-Peck 3-pointer. Her 3-pointer sparked an 11-2 run that put the Buffaloes up by double digits for good.

Colorado also took advantage of getting to the free-throw line in the first half. The Buffaloes made 10-of-13 freebies and took a 40-20 lead at the half.

Kresl scored eight of her 14 pionts in the second half. The sharp-shooter from Arizona missed her first four shots from 3-point range, but came back to make 2-of-4 in the second half. Colorado's four active newcomers contributed 25 points and 12 rebounds.

"I was definitely a little nervous in the beginning, but I got used to it as the game went on, "Kresl said. "(Today) was just finally realizing that all the work is coming together and it's finally starting. I have a good feeling about this season."

Colorado's lead stayed right around 20 early in the second half, but the Buffaloes began to pull away in the last 10 minutes. CU closed out the game on a 30-10 run.

"I thought everybody had a solid game," Lappe said. "In regards to the freshman they got a lot of minutes, and it was good for them to just get out on the floor and get some of those jitters out."

Malcolm-Peck led all players with 10 rebounds. Seabrook had eight boards while hitting 4-of-7 from the field. Ashley Wilson had six rebounds, all on the offensive end. The Buffaloes had almost as many offensive rebounds (24) as Regis had total rebounds (28).

Tae'lor Purdy led Regis with eight points and five rebounds. Sarah Feeney had seven points. Regis was able to get to the line against Colorado, which proved to be their best offense. The Rangers sank 16-of-20 free-throw attempts while making just 12-of-40 from the field.

ABOUT THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona returns three starters and eight letterwinners from its 2010-11 team that finished 11-18 overall and seventh in the Big Sky Conference at 6-10. The Lumberjacks were picked to finish sixth by the coaches and seventh by the media in the annual Big Sky Preseason Polls.

Junior guard Amy Patton is Northern Arizona's top returning player, leading the Big Sky in scoring last season at 16.4 points per game. Tyler Stephens-Jenkins also returns for the Lumberjacks, ranking second on the team in scoring at 9.4 per outing.

Northern Arizona defeated Azusa Pacific, 79-66, in its lone exhibition game on Nov. 4. Patton nearly had a double-double with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. She also dished out six assists. Sophomore guard Amanda Frost, a transfer from Fullerton College, made her unofficial Lumberjack debut with 15 points on 6-of-9 from the field along with five steals.

SERIES RECORDS: Colorado and Northern Arizona meet for the first time since 2005 and just the second time since December of 1993.

The Buffaloes lead the all-time series with NAU 13-2, but it's the Lumberjacks who have the last win, an 84-83 squeaker at the 2005 San Juan Shootout in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Colorado is a perfect 7-0 at home against the Lumberjacks. The teams played each season from 1975-76 through 1983-84, with most of those match ups coming during the old Intermountain Conference days of the AIAW, before the Buffaloes joined the Big 8 Conference for women's basketball competition.

Linda Lappe has never faced Northern Arizona as a head coach. NAU head coach Laurie Kelly is 1-0 against Colorado, guiding the Lumberjacks to the 2005 win in Puerto Rico.

Colorado is 47-19 against the schools that currently make up the Big Sky. This will be the Buffaloes' first game against the Big Sky since CU defeated Idaho State 73-57 on Dec. 30, 2008 at the Coors Events Cetner.

INTERMOUNTAIN REUNION: Friday's game is just the first of several games Colorado will play this season against old Intermountain Conference rivals.

The Buffaloes played in the Intermountain Conference from 1975-82, prior to the Big 8 Conference holding a championship for women's basketball (the Big 8 began regular league play in 1982-83). Colorado won outright or shared three straight Intermountain titles from 1980-82.

With Colorado's move to the Pac-12 Conference for this season, the Buffaloes renew rivalries with old Intermountain mates Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. In addition, CU has nonconference games scheduled with Weber State along with Colorado State and NAU.

FAMILIAR FACES: Colorado has one player from Arizona on its roster, freshman guard Lexy Kresl who is scheduled to make her collegiate debut. She is only Colorado's second player from the state of Arizona (Lynda Gehrke, 1977-78, Tucson). Kresl is from Paradise Valley, near Scottsdale.

Northern Arizona doesn't have a Colorado native on its roster, but sophomore Patricia Gortarez played the 2009-10 season for the University of Denver before transferring to NAU. Gortarez played two minutes for the Pioneers in Colorado's 84-57 win over DU on Dec. 2, 2009.

BUFFS IN OPENERS: Colorado is 32-5 (.865) all-time in season openers and will start the season with a home game for the 26th time in 38 seasons. Colorado is an outstanding 35-2 (.946) all-time in home openers. Colorado has never lost its overall season opener when played at home (25-0).

All-time Home Openers
11/28/75 FLATIRONS W 49-42
11/18/76 ST. MARY'S W 80-56
11/11/77 HELPING HAND W 79-38*
11/25/78 NEBRASKA W 63-62
11/16/79 COLORADO STATE W 112-48*
11/18/80 COLO. WOMEN'S CO. W 107-73*
11/18/81 PACIFIC CHRISTIAN W 108-43
11/19/82 UTEP W 76-45*
11/18/83 BYU W 89-72*
11/28/84 NEW MEXICO W 71-69
11/23/85 ADAMS STATE W 106-54*
12/2/86 WYOMING W 80-57
12/3/87 PURDUE W 79-55
11/25/88 DAYTON W 86-53*
11/24/89 WESTERN ILLINOIS W 78-59*
11/23/90 GONZAGA W 87-59*
11/22/91 WICHITA STATE W 82-55*
12/8/92 ARKANSAS W 94-67
11/26/93 WEBER STATE W 84-53*
11/25/94 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN W 72-48*
11/15/95 NEW MEXICO W 63-56*
11/29/96 BOWLING GREEN W 74-62
11/22/97 BYU W 84-68*
11/14/98 DENVER W 70-58*
11/21/99 MICHIGAN L 63-77
11/17/00 ALBANY W 93-43*
11/9/01 ORAL ROBERTS W 78-49*
11/22/02 RICE W 85-66*
11/14/03 OLD DOMINION W 84-67*
11/26/04 PENNSYLVANIA W 69-49
11/18/05 CAL STATE-FULLERTON W 100-71*
11/10/06 SAN FRANCISCO W 62-56
11/23/07 SIENA L 74-83
11/16/08 UCF W 86-59*
11/15/09 UC IRVINE W 61-56
11/12/10 REGIS W 76-38*
*Also Season Opener

MALCOLM-PECK AMONG BEST FROM 3-POINT RANGE: Junior Meagan-Malcolm Peck enters the season at 14th on CU's all-time list for 3-pointers made with 60 and needs five to catch former Buff Veronica Johns-Richardson, who had 65 from 2001-05, for 13th.

Malcolm-Peck made 38-of-106 from downtown as a sophomore, which percentage wise (.358) ranked 13th in the Big 12. Her career .339 average (60-of-177) sits among the top 15 in school history and actually mirrors the final career average of former teammate and all-time leading scorer Brittany Spears (237-of-699).

JEFFERY MOVING UP IN STEALS, ASSISTS: Junior guard Chucky Jeffery enters the season in 19th on CU's all-time list for steals at 134. It won't take many to make jump up this list as she is just 11 steals out of the top 15. Jeffery has 225 career assists, needing eight to crack the top 20. Jackie McFarland (2004-08) currently sits in 20th with 233 career assists.

YOUNG BUFFS: Colorado sports its youngest team in recent memory with just three upperclassmen. Forward Julie Seabrook is the lone senior with Meagan Malcolm-Peck and Chucky Jeffery the two juniors. Brenna Malcolm-Peck is part of the junior class, but redshirted in 2010-11 with an injury and is a sophmore in eligibility.

Current CU head coach Linda Lappe was part of the last Colorado teams to feature a roster this young. Colorado's 1999-2000 squad had only one upperclassman - junior Kami Carmann - on an 11-player roster which featured seven sophomores (including Lappe) and three freshmen. That next season, 2000-01, Carmann was the lone senior on the team, marking the last single-senior instance prior to this year.

RULES CHANGES: Three notable NCAA women's basketbal rules changes were made in the offseason and are effective immediately.

The women's 3-point line has been moved from 19-feet, 9-inches back to 20' 9", equal to the NCAA men's line. The Coors Events Center will keep the old 19' 9" line on the floor, because it remains the 3-point distance for the high school level. Coors hosts numerous prep games throughout the season, including the Colorado Class 5A and 4A State Championships.

Underneath the basket there is a new restricted arc area that spans out 3-feet. The arc, familiar to those who follow the NBA, marks the area under the basket where a secondary defender is not permitted to establish a legal guarding position. Specifically, a defender must be outside this arc in order to have the ability to draw an offensive charging foul.

Lastly, after the second horn of a timeout, if a team is not ready to play, officials will warn that team on the first offense. On the second and subsequent offenses, the official will make the ball ready for play, regardless if both teams have returned to the floor.

BUFFS SIGN THREE TO NLI's FOR 2012-13: Lauren Huggins, Jamee Swan and Kyleesha Weston have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball and continue their education at the University of Colorado in 2012-13, head coach Linda Lappe announced on Wednesday.

This highly touted class features two Top 100 players in Swan and Huggins and an up-and-coming point guard of the future in Weston. Lappe's second full recruiting class is ranked the 20th best in the nation by ESPN.com's HoopGurlz.

Huggins, a 6-foot-1 wing from Littleton, Colo., averaged 12 points and nearly eight rebounds per game as a junior, guiding the Heritage High School to the Colorado Class 5A Sweet 16. HoopGurlz lists Huggins as the 63rd best player in the nation and the 11th at the small forward position

Swan is a 6-2 forward from Tucson, Ariz., and is a four-star HoopGurlz prospect from Marana High School. She is rated as the eighth best forward in the nation and the 38th best player overall. Swan averaged 19.6 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.1 blocked shots and 4.1 steals for the Tigers as a junior, earning outhern Class 4A All-State first team honors.

Weston is a 5-7 point guard from Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo. As a junior last winter, she averaged 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.5 assists per game. Weston earned first team All-Kansas City Suburban Big 6 Conference and all-district honors as a junior.

BUFFS PICKED 11TH/12TH: Despite coming off an eighth place finish and 18-16 record in its final year in the Big 12 Conference, Colorado was picked to finish 11th in its first season in Pac-12, according to the league's annual Preseason Coaches Poll.

2011 NCAA Women's Final Four participant Stanford was picked to win the Pac-12, compiling the maximum amount of points (121) and first place votes (11) possible. 2011 Postseason WNIT runnerup USC claimed the other first place vote and was second in the poll (111). California was third with 98 points followed by UCLA (83), Arizona State (68), Utah (61), Washington State (59), Oregon (51), Arizona (48), Washington (38), Colorado (36) and Oregon State (18).

Colorado was picked to finish 12th in the Preseason Pac-12 Media Poll. Stanford was picked to repeat its title, and the top six mirror that of the coaches poll released earlier. Oregon jumped to seventh in the media poll followed by Arizona, Washington State, Washington, Oregon State and Colorado.

HOME AT THE CECC: Colorado is traditionally tough at home with a 355-120 all-time record at the Coors Events/Conference Center (.747). The Buffaloes have won 10 or more games in a season at the CECC in 22 of the previous 33 years. The Buffaloes have enjoyed five undefeated seasons (1980-83, 1992-94) at the CECC.

BUFFS ON TV: Colorado's regular season schedule will feature at least nine regionally or nationally televised games in 2011-12. CU will make its first appearance on The Mtn as the Buffaloes travel to Colorado State on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. Colorado will have eight games air on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain, beginning with the Nov. 30 game against San Francisco. Also scheduled for ROOT sports are Idaho (Dec. 4), Denver (Dec. 8), Stanford (Jan. 14), at Arizona (Jan. 22), UCLA (Jan. 29), Utah (Feb. 18) and Oregon (Mar. 1). All ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain games are available nationally on DIRECTV and DISH Network.

The games with Arizona and UCLA are part of the Pac-12's FSN national package. In addition, CU's home game against Arizona State on Saturday, Feb. 11, is part of the Pac-12's FSN Wildcard Weekend. One of the five league contests scheduled for that date will be picked up for national broadcast, but that determination won't be made until the last week in January. If the CU-Arizona State game is selected for FSN the game time will change from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. MST, per conference guidelines.

CU has appeared on 91 regional or national telecasts over the last 10 seasons.