Colorado University Athletics
Buffaloes Enter New Year With North Dakota
BROADCAST: Tuesday's game will be televised by FSN Rocky Mountain. Marc Stout will have the call with legendary CU head coach Ceal Barry providing the color commentary and Alanna Rizzo reporting from the sidelines. Tuesday's game can be heard live on KKZN AM 760. Mike Rice will handle play-by-play duties while Carol Callan of USA Basketball provides the color commentary. Live internet audio is available on CUBuffs.com, through the BuffsRadio free subscription.
THE BUFFALOES: Colorado snapped its two-game skid by defeating Colgate 74-52 on Dec. 30. Colorado has been successful at home, establishing an 8-1 mark at the Coors Events Center during the nonconference schedule. The Buffaloes are holding opponents to just 49.8 points per game and 34 percent shooting at home. CU is also winning the battle of the boards by nine per game.
Colorado has had overall success on defense, allowing opponents just 54.7 points per game and 35 percent from the field (227-of-649). The Buffaloes have been even more stringent from the 3-point line, allowing just 23.8 percent from beyond the arc, ranking ninth in the nation. Colorado has also been winning the battle of the boards, outrebounding its opponents by 6.3 per game.
Senior guard/forward Brittany Spears leads CU and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring at 17.0 points per game. She is also fourth in defensive rebounds (5.8 drpg) and eighth in overall rebounding (7.7 rpg) and 3-point field goals made (2.1 3mpg) on the league charts. She is coming off a 21-point effort in the win over Colgate, her 35th career game of 20 or more points. Spears has registered double digits in 11 of 12 games this season and in 90 of 105 career outings. She is also second on the team in steals (21) and assists (24).
Spears was named to the USC Women of Troy All-Tournament team after scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the loss to Dayton. The double-double was her fourth of the season, and 26th of her career which ranks fourth on CU's all-time list.
Sophomore guard Chucky Jeffery is CU's top rebounder (9.3 rpg) total while ranking second on the team in scoring at 15.5 an outing. Jeffery has a Big 12-leading six double-doubles this season, including the second triple-double in team history by recording 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against Loyola Chicago. Jeffery tops the Big 12 and is seventh in the nation in steals at 3.5 per game (42) and is coming off a career and team season-high seven swipes against Colgate (more on that note below). Jeffery also ranks third in defensive rebounding (6.5 drpg) and overall boards (9.3 rpg), fourth in minutes (33.0 mpg), seventh in assists (4.9 apg), 10th in offensive rebounds (2.8 orpg) and 13th in scoring on the Big 12 charts.
Junior forward Julie Seabrook is averaging 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 53 percent from the field (34-of-64). She has shot 60 percent or better in six of 12 games, and 50 percent or better in eight of 12 outings. Seabrook, who attempted and made her first career 3-pointer in the win over CSU, has three games of double-digit rebounds including 10 against the Rams. She currently ranks 20th in the Big 12 in rebounding.
Sophomore guard/forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck is averaging 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds. Malcolm-Peck is heating up from the outside, making nine of her last 18 3-pointers (.500) spanning the last five games. She recorded her first career double-double with a 14-point, 10-rebound effort against Loyola Chicago.
Senior guard Britney Blythe is averaging four points over the first 12 games, mostly from long range. Thirteen of her 15 field goals this season have come from 3-point range.
BENCH PRODUCING: With nine active players available, the Buffaloes have been making good use of their bench. Colorado's bench is averaging 22 points and 15 rebounds over the last three games, marking the time senior guard Chelsea Dale returned to the lineup to make the Buffaloes' bench four-players strong. Dale and freshman guard Brittany Wilson are both averaging between eight and nine points per game. Freshman post Rachel Hargis is pulling down four rebounds a game during that span, bolstered by a career-best seven in the win over Colgate. Brittany's twin sister Ashley Wilson is averaging three points and three rebounds. The quartet has also accounted for 11 steals over the last three contests.
ABOUT THE FIGHTING SIOUX: North Dakota is 2-10 overall, coming off a 71-55 loss at Toledo on New Years Day. A former NCAA Division II women's basketball national power, the Fighting Sioux are in their third year of a four-year transition to NCAA Division I. Currently a member of the Great West Conference, UND will move to the Big Sky Conference in 2012-13, the first season it will be eligible for NCAA championships. North Dakota averages 58.8 points per game while giving up nearly 75 to its opponents. The Fighting Sioux will be looking for their first true road win of the season (0-6).
Senior forward Mallory Youngblut paces the Fighting Sioux at 11.8 points per game and is the team's top 3-point shooter with 24 on the season. Freshman center Allyssa Wall is UND's second-leading scorer at 9.8 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field. Senior forward Corey Lof tops the Sioux in rebounds a five per contest. Junior guard Charnay Mothershed has a team best 49 assists while averaging 4.4 points per game.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and North Dakota as well as the Buffaloes' first match up with a team from the Great West Conference, which is made up of several schools that are either transitioning or have recently transitioned into NCAA Division I. Colorado has played only one other time against a team from the state of North Dakota as the Buffaloes defeated North Dakota State, 87-69, on Dec. 30, 1978.
JEFFERY 'STEALS' THE SHOW: Sophomore Chucky Jeffery had a career and team season-high seven steals in the win over Colgate. It's the 21st time a Buff has registered seven or more steals in a game, but the first since Damietta Velicica had seven vs. Tulane on December 6, 1997. Jeffery, who currently leads the Big 12 at 3.5 steals per game, has had six steals in two other games this season (Regis, Evansville) and has at least three steals in eight of 12 games.
DALE RETURNS: In just three games back from missing the fall semester with academic issues, senior guard Chelsea Dale has fit nicely into the CU rotation. She is averaging just under nine points while grabbing three rebounds over three games. Dale is coming off a career-game, scoring 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the win over Colgate. Dale's 26 points in three games back is just three less than the 29 she scored over 23 games in 2009-10. She made her season debut at USC, contributing 10 points and a career-best five rebounds off the bench in the loss to the Trojans.
SPEARS' STREAK: Senior Brittany Spears started her 101st consecutive game against Illinois, breaking a tie with Lisa Van Goor (1980-85) for the most consecutive starts to begin a CU playing career. Spears, now at 105 straight starting nods, trails only Amy Mathern (1989-93) for overall consecutive starts. Mathern started the final 112 games of her distinguished career. Overall, Spears' 105 career starts are the ninth most in team history.
DEFENSIVE FEAT A FIRST: Colorado allowed 34 points to Loyola Chicago and 35 points to Texas State, the first time in team history that the Buffaloes have held an opponent below 40 points in consecutive games. The 69 combined points also marks the lowest two-game total in team history, eclipsing the 72 allowed in wins over Texas Southern (64-29) and Dartmouth (57-43), Dec. 14 & 21, 2007.
The 34 points allowed to Loyola Chicago tied for the seventh lowest single-game mark in team history (Southwest Missouri State, March 17, 1995), while the 35 points to Texas State ties for the ninth lowest with three other games (most recently against Kansas on Jan. 16, 2002).
Fast starts have certainly helped, especially at home. Colorado has held six of its nine previous home opponents to under 20 first half points. The Buffaloes gave up just 18 to Colgate in their last outing.
JEFFERY'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Chucky Jeffery recorded the second triple-double in team history by totaling 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the Omni Hotels Classic Championship game against Loyola Chicago. The only other CU triple-double was by Sandy Bean vs. Utah State on Feb. 16, 1979. Bean had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
It marked career highs in both rebounds and assists for Jeffery as well as team season highs in both categories. She's the first CU player with 10 assists in a game since Susie Powers dished out 10 against Pepperdine on Jan. 4, 2008. Jeffery was awarded as the Classic's Most Valuable Player.
Jeffery's triple-double was the 18th in Big 12 Conference history (Baylor's Britteny Griner notched No. 19 the next day, Nov. 28) and she becomes the 11th different Big 12 player to record a triple-double.
SPEARS CLIMBING CAREER LADDERS: Brittany Spears not only achieved her 26th career double-double against Dayton, with her 22 points and 12 rebounds she became the third player in team history, joining Lisa Van Goor (1980-85) and Jackie McFarland (2004-08) to record 1,700 points and 800 rebounds in a career.
CU Career
1,700-800
Name
(Years)
Points
Rebounds
Lisa Van Goor
(1980-85)
2,067
1,145
Jackie
McFarland (2004-08)
1,957
1,048
Brittany
Spears (2007-
)
1,737
812
Spears is fifth overall in career scoring with 1,737, 38 behind Shelley Sheetz (1991-95) for fourth place. She also ranks fourth in 3-point field goals attempted (542), fifth in rebounds (812) and field goals made (634), sixth in 3-point field-goals made (181), seventh in blocked shots (123) and minutes (3,471), eighth in steals (197), ninth in games started (105) and 13th in free-throws made (288) on CU's all-time charts.
HOME AT THE CECC: Colorado is traditionally tough at home with a 348-115 all-time record at the Coors Events/Conference Center (.752). The Buffaloes have won 10 or more games in a season at the CECC in 21 of the previous 32 years. The Buffaloes have enjoyed five undefeated seasons (1980-83, 1992-94) at the CECC.
BUFFS ON TV: Colorado's regular season schedule features nine games televised either regionally or nationally, seven of which are at home. CU's season opener against Regis on Nov. 12 was the first FSN Rocky Mountain televised game and the next will be the Dec. 8 battle against Colorado State. FSN Rocky Mountain will also televise home games against North Dakota (Jan. 4), Kansas (Jan. 12), Kansas State (Jan. 26), Nebraska (Feb. 6) and Oklahoma (Feb. 23) and road games at Kansas State (Feb. 16) and Nebraska (Mar 2). The home game against Nebraska will be televised nationally on FSN as part of the network's Big 12 package.
CU has appeared on 81 regional or national telecasts over the last nine seasons.