Colorado Overcomes Slow Start, Beats Southern Utah, 75-59

A 19-2 run late in the second half sparked No. 12 Colorado women's basketball to a 75-59 victory over Southern Utah, concluding the non-conference portion of the regular season schedule.

Coming off a short break for Christmas, it took the Buffs over 30 minutes to shake off the holiday rust. With Colorado struggling against the Southern Utah press, the Thunderbirds came within two points with two Carli Moreland free throws with just 6:59 remaining.

"Ashley (Wilson) said in the huddle ‘we just need to get stops and turn them into points,'" said Jasmine Sborov, who notched her first career double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. "And that's what we did."

Ashley Wilson and Arielle Roberson led the Buffs on a 19-2 run, finally putting the Thunderbirds to bed.

Head coach Linda Lappe said she thought the gritty nature of Sunday afternoon's game would serve her team well come Pac-12 play, which starts Friday.

"In terms of playing defense and being able to unleash some of our aggressiveness that we've been seeing in practice, I felt like we needed to do that against another opponent," said Lappe. "They did a nice job of getting their defense set and making it a half-court game. They really made us become stagnate at times, so that's something that we can learn from."

Roberson finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and got to the free throw line 10 times, where she made eight shots. Ashley Wilson had one of her best games as a Buff, recording career highs in points (14), field goals (5), and assists (5). Jen Reese added 11 points in just 14 minutes.

Colorado begins Pac-12 play on the road next weekend, with USC on Friday, and UCLA on Sunday.

Notes

Jen Reese played limited minutes due to illness... Lauren Huggins did not dress for Sunday afternoon's game (leg injury)...

Player of the Game

Ashley Wilson - the senior captain had to provide a huge spark off the bench - and she delivered with the best game of her career.