Colorado Destroys Arizona, 79-36

Utilizing traditionally strong defense and a balanced attack with four players reaching double figures in points, Colorado women's basketball completed a home sweep of the Arizona schools in emphatic fashion, defeating the Arizona Wildcats by a count of 79-36.

"I thought our players came in ready to play both offensively and defensively," said CU head coach Linda Lappe. "Defense spurred our offense, it normally does that but I thought it did a little bit more tonight. We made very few mental and physical errors in that game, and that was fun to see."

Leading scorer Arielle Roberson celebrated her birthday by finishing with 12 points and six rebounds. Chucky Jeffery was solid after battling some first half foul trouble, as she totaled 11 points. Arizona natives Lexy Kresl and Jamee Swan had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Arizona's leading scorer Davellyn Whyte began the game looking like the all-Pac-12 first teamer she is, scoring nine of her team's initial 11 points. Lappe responded by putting Brittany Wilson on Whyte, who scored only two points the rest of the way.

"Davellyn Whyte is a very talented player," said Lappe. "She has some great offensive skills, and I thought Brittany (Wilson) stepped up to the challenge."

Wilson's defense proved to be the catalyst for a Arizona scoreless stretch that spanned almost six minutes. At the 14:30 mark, Whyte converted a layup to bring Arizona within four at 15-11. Nine missed field goals later Arizona's Carissa Crutchfield made a layup at the 8:30 mark, but by then Colorado was ahead 26-13, and the game was effectively decided.

Colorado entered halftime ahead by a stunning score of 43-15, the largest halftime margin since February of 2003 when CU led Kansas 42-14. Lappe scored ten points in that game, which Colorado would go on to win 73-42.

The lead allowed Lappe to secure some playing time for her freshmen in the second half. Swan and Kyleesha Weston both played the majority of the half, gaining valuable experience in conference play.

"I think it was really good for our freshmen," said Kresl. "We got Ky (Weston) a lot of point guard experience in that game, where she normally plays the wing, so that was good and Jamee (Swan) got to play some good defense."

Next week the Buffs will face their most difficult test of the season to date, as they visit No. 7 California on Friday and No. 6 Stanford on Sunday.

Notes

Jeffery became only the sixth CU player to record 800 career rebounds... Jeffery is the only player in Colorado history to total 1,400 points, 800 rebounds and 400 assists over the course of her career... This is the third consecutive opponent Colorado has held under 50 points, and the fifth straight game they held the opposition to under 40 percent from the field...