After trailing by eight with 8:33 to go, Colorado women’s
basketball held Utah scoreless for the duration of the game to win, 58-52.
“We knew we had to play better and get stops,” said head
coach Linda Lappe. “I knew our offense would finally catch fire, and it did at
the end.”
Senior forward Julie Seabrook led the Buffs in scoring with
17 points, 12 from beyond the arc. Brittany Wilson added 14 points, bringing
her usual spark off the bench.
Saturday’s triumph wasn’t especially pretty. Colorado turned
the ball over 17 times and shot below 50 percent from the free-throw line,
numbers that will undoubtedly give Lappe headaches on the way back from Salt
Lake.
But CU’s effort represents everything Lappe stands for. When
she was hired in the spring of 2010, Lappe explained that when the going got
tough, (and it always does, she added) good teams come together instead of
going their separate ways.
Things got tough in Salt Lake for CU. What was once a
nine-point CU lead evaporated and turned into a 10-point ledger for the Utes in
the second half.
Instead of continuing to head south, as some teams of recent
years past would have done, the Buffs came together in a major way.
As Utah’s Iwalani Rodrigues sunk two free throws to put the
Utes up by eight with only 8:33 to go, Lappe’s Buffs decided to display why
they are arguably the best defensive team in the Pac-12.
CU’s defensive grind began to frustrate Utah. Missed field
goals and turnovers took its toll, as Utah committed an intentional foul on
Chucky Jeffery out of frustration. Jeffery missed both free throws and went on to miss a jumper on the
ensuing possession to continue Colorado’s offensive woes.
Continuing to get defensive stops, the Buffs started to hit
shots on offense. Jeffery took over in the closing minutes, rattling off six
straight points to put the Buffs up by two. Seabrook hit a three to ice the
game for the Buffs, giving them their 12th straight victory and
their 19th in their last 22 tries.
Colorado will look for their 13th straight win on
Thursday, at Washington.
