For a brief shining moment, the CU women’s basketball team was just minutes away from beating Illinois.
The Buffs had been down and out the majority of the game, but came back with 3:24 remaining to take the lead at 57-55 following an 11-0 run.
The late spurt and a screaming crowd of 2082 Buffs fans wasn’t enough to give CU the win. Colorado (6-2) fell to Illinois (4-5) 63-59 in the Big 10/Big 12 Challenge.
“I loved our fight,” said CU head coach Linda Lappe. “I loved our determination when we were down 11 to come back. I thought we showed a lot in that stretch.”
It was those little things that built up and were too much for the Buffs to overcome in the loss. Coming out a little flat after halftime and missing box-outs and 3-pointers (the Buffs shot just 21.1 percent in the game) resulted in a tough loss, said CU sophomore guard Chucky Jeffery.
“We have to recognize it’s the little things that actually mean a lot,” Jeffery said. “You wouldn’t realize it during the game, but at the end of the game, it could be as little as a missed free throw or lazy pass.”
Jeffery had a team high of 17 points and junior forward Julie Seabrook had a career high 15 points of her own.
Senior forward Brittany Spears (who finished with 15 points as well) reached a milestone of her own in the game, beating Lisa Van Goor’s (1980-85) record by starting 101 consecutive games.
The Buffs got their biggest lead of the game, up by seven points, with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Neither team scored for two minutes, between 10:03 and 7:57 in the first half, and Illinois seemingly grabbed momentum, snatching up the last five points of the half.
CU was down 32-28 at the break, and could not seem to get their grounding for the majority of the second half. Five unanswered Illinois points put the Buffs 11 points behind, but an 11-0 run, including two free throws by Seabrook (who made 5-6 of her free throws in the game) gave them the lead at 57-55.
The lead was too good to be true, and the little things added up when Illinois finished the game on an 8-2 run to win the game 63-59.
Jeffery said this kind of comeback is something that would not have happened last season.
“We’re way closer,” Jeffery said. “We know how to push each other so when things go bad, we learn not to beat up on each other.”
Seabrook says she is glad to experience close games before conference games begin, and knows that the team’s spirit will take them far.
“We’re fighters. We don’t give up ever, no matter what,” Seabrook said.
The Buffs host Colorado State Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Freshman guard Ashley Wilson is out with a concussion and may not play.
Note: The CU volleyball team’s freshman middle blocker Nikki Lindow has joined the women’s basketball team.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
