A hot first half and an unstoppable defense were all the CU women’s basketball team needed to secure a win against the Texas State Bobcats.
The Buffs demolished the Bobcats 67-35. Their fifth straight win pushes CU’s record up to 6-1.
The Bobcats shot just 16.7 percent in the first half, with the Buffs holding them to just 12 points.
“It all started with our defense again tonight,” CU head coach Linda Lappe said. “I thought we came out and did some really nice things in the first half, defensively especially–holding them to 12 points. That really spurred our offense.”
CU sophomore guard Chucky Jeffery said the Buffs’ strong defense led to success in all the other aspects of the game.
“Defense is what sparks everything else on the floor,” Jeffery said. “If we have that intensity on the defense, then everything else comes after that. We put a lot of emphasis on energy and bringing defensive intensity to the floor.”
Fresh off Saturday’s triple-double against Loyola Chicago, Jeffery once again had an all-star night. Jeffery earned a double-double racking up 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Despite leading the team stat-wise, Jeffery says she is still a little hesitant to call herself the team’s leader.
“I feel like I’m the point guard and the younger players and even everybody else on the team listens to me when I talk–just like a verbal type of leadership, maybe not even just with my stats,” Jeffery said. “Just my presence is kind of like the leadership role for our team.”
CU started the game out on a 9-0 run. Junior Julie Seabrook stepped up as the team’s center, collecting 10 rebounds in the game. In the first half, after turning the ball over, the Buffs regained the ball and Seabrook played it in to bring CU up 17-3. Then late in the first half Seabrook snatched an offensive rebound and put it back to bring the Buffs to a 28-9 lead.
The Bobcats had 16 turnovers in the first half alone, and the Buffs turned those turnovers into 17 points of their own.
The Buffs did not look as tough in the second half, but a 34-12 lead at the break was enough to secure their dominance. Lappe said trying to keep intensity after gaining a huge early lead was a problem.
“When things are going right and you have big leads, sometimes it’s tough to stay focused and keep the same intensity as you have at the beginning of the game when the score is tied and those sorts of things,” Lappe said. “At that point it becomes more about us and doing what we need to do and what we need to get better at.”
CU freshman guard Brittany Wilson took a hard foul in the second half, tweaking her ankle after taking an elbow to the face. Wilson recovered and said she is slowly but surely improving from an injury she sustained her senior year of high school in which she tore the right side of her meniscus and fractured the top of her tibia.
“I think I’m making a lot of progress,” Wilson said. “My teammates are helping me out. Coach is helping me out. I’m doing a lot better.”
Jeffery said she is happy to see younger players improving and knows that when her team has a good night, she has a good night.
“As long as we get a win, I’m happy for everybody else on the team,” Jeffery said. “If I didn’t have my teammates, I wouldn’t have the stats that I had.”
The Buffs continue their home stand in a double header at 5 p.m. Saturday against Illinois.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
