Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Regis (Colo.) (Exhibition)
Colorado Runs Past Regis 78-40 In Basketball Exhibition
November 06, 2011 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - Four Colorado players scored in double-digits as the Buffaloes ran to a 78-40 women's basketball exhibition win over Regis Sunday afternoon 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.
"I think the biggest thing today was that our defense was absolutely tremendous," Regis head coach Linda Raunig said. "We forced a lot of turnovers and we did a much better job of rebounding in the second half. We caused CU to have to call a couple of timeouts because they were in a bind...that's the thing we want to get out of a game like this."
Colorado will open regular season play by hosting Northern Arizona on Friday, Nov. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. Friday is a women's-men's doubleheader as Tad Boyle's team will tip off against Fort Lewis (Colo.) at 8 p.m. One ticket will get fans into both games. Please note that season ticket holders and fans with reserved seats have seating priority for their ticketed game only.
