Sunday, January 11, 2009
Tribune-Herald staff report
BOULDER, Colo. — Sixth-ranked Baylor took Colorado’s best punch, but fortunately for the Lady Bears, it didn’t result in a black eye.
Baylor’s dirty work — rebounding and defense — gave the Lady Bears a clean getaway, as they survived an upset-minded Colorado team, 60-53, in the Big 12 opener before a crowd of 3,273 at the Coors Events/Conference Center.
Baylor (13-1 overall, 1-0 in conference) clamped down defensively down the stretch, holding Colorado (8-5, 0-1) to just one field goal the final eight minutes of the game.
“Our defense was especially good,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said in her postgame radio interview. “When you hold a team to 27 (actually 28) points in the first half and 22 in the second half, you’re guarding people. Colorado just hit some big shots.”
Indeed, the Buffs buried a few shots from the vicinity of Denver. After trailing 35-28 at halftime, Colorado opened the second half on a 14-2 run, taking a 42-37 lead on consecutive all-net 3-pointers from Britney Blythe and Bianca Smith.
Blythe had made just one 3-point basket all season heading into the game, yet drilled four of six attempts from behind the arc against Baylor for 12 points.
“Coach (Leon) Barmore said at halftime, ‘Golly, is this how the league always is?’ ” Mulkey said. “And I said, ‘It’s just how the league is.’ It’s tough to win in this league, especially on the road.”
But Baylor proved tough enough to do just that. After Colorado took the lead with its long-range bombs, Baylor darted back behind its fast-break game, with Danielle Wilson scoring on a layup and Jhasmin Player blowing past a Colorado defender with a crossover move.
BU’s stifling defense kept the Buffs at bay in the closing minutes. After Colorado’s Kara Richards scored on a putback with just over eight minutes to play, Baylor limited the Buffs to just one bucket the rest of the way, a deep shot clock-beating fling from Brittany Spears with 4:11 remaining.
Mulkey credited Jessica Morrow’s defense on Spears as a significant key to the win. Spears hit five of 14 attempts for 14 points, five below her average.
“I thought we did a good job of responding,” Morrow said. “In the Big 12, it’s a game of runs. You know teams are going to make their runs, and you have to be ready to respond.”
Despite struggling with foul trouble, Wilson led Baylor with 16 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Rachel Allison added 15 points and Morrow hit for 14. Kelli Griffin dished out four assists, including a couple of long lead passes on first-half fast breaks as Baylor shot 52.3 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Richards helped keep Colorado in it with her rebounding, pulling down a game-high 15 boards in her first Big 12 start. A fifth-year senior, Richards was a backup prior to this season.
But Baylor, No. 1 in the country in rebounding margin coming in, still managed to win the battle of the boards, 41-36, including grabbing several key offensive caroms in the last two minutes.
“I’m proud of the way Baylor played today,” Mulkey said. “We could have easily lost this game.”
The Lady Bears will return home for their next two Big 12 games — against Iowa State on Wednesday and Oklahoma State next Saturday.
Texas Tech 65, #8 Texas 62: In Lubbock, Dominic Seals hit a short jumper with 7.4 seconds remaining to seal a win over No. 8 Texas and extend the Longhorns road-loss streak to three games.
Jordan Murphree led the Lady Raiders (10-4, 1-0 Big 12), who won their fifth straight game, with 19 points.
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