The CU women’s basketball team had been waiting all season for a Big 12 road win, and they finally got it in the most dramatic way.
In the final 15 seconds, senior guard Britney Blythe banked a 3-pointer and senior forward Brittany Spears made two key free throws to send CU over Missouri 63-59 at the Mizzou Arena.
The Buffs (14-13, 5-9 Big 12) broke an eight-game, road losing streak against the (12-16, 4-10 Big 12) Tigers.
“It was good for us to be able to win like that,” said head coach Linda Lappe in a press release. “We didn’t play our best by any stretch of the imagination, but we gutted it out and got the win.”
Neither team lead more than five points during the game. The Tigers got a 59-55 lead with 2:32 remaining, but a 3-point play by sophomore forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck cut Mizzou’s lead to one in the final 1:43.
With 19 seconds remaining, Spears missed a 3-pointer that was recovered by junior forward Julie Seabrook, who passed it out to Blythe at the top of the key.
Blythe’s only trey of the game gave the Buffs a 61-59 lead.
“As soon as I saw Julie [Seabrook] get the ball I thought ‘I am wide open, I am just going to stay here and spot up,’” Blythe said. “I knew that a lot of people were going to be running at [Brittany] Spears and Chucky [Jeffery] because they are our go to players. It is second nature. I just shot the ball and it felt good.”
In the closing seconds, Spears’ two free throws sealed the deal. CU was 13-of-15 from the line in the second half.
Spears’ 26 points were a tie for a season-high and helped her surpass the 2,000 mark. At 2,011 points, she needs just 57 to surpass Lisa Van Goor (1980-85) for the all-time lead.
Colorado plays its last regular season road game at 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2 against Nebraska.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
