Balanced Attack Leads Colorado To 84-59 Rout Of Oregon

With the help of an extremely balanced and unselfish attack, Colorado women's basketball took care of business against last-place Oregon, 84-59.

"I'm proud of being able to win two games in one weekend," Colorado head coach Linda Lappe. "Protecting our home floor is really, really important, and we did that this weekend."

Colorado began the game slowly, allowing Oregon to take a quick 10-3 lead, forcing Lappe to call for time. Out of the timeout, the Buffs went on a 13-0 run, taking a 16-10 lead over the Ducks.

Despite their 3-21 record, Oregon proved to be resilient, especially in the first half. Paul Westhead's Ducks responded nicely to the Colorado run, punching back to take a 25-23 lead with a Janitah Iamaleava three-pointer at the 7:50 mark.

After Iamaleava's three, Colorado closed out the first half with authority, ending on a 20-6 run to take a 43-31 lead into the locker room.

For the third consecutive contest, the Buffs came out of halftime with something to prove. Lexy Kresl would spark a 10-2 run with a wide-open three-pointer to being the second half. Colorado would play much better defense in the second frame, holding the Ducks to 32.3 percent from the field, compared to 46.2 percent in the first half.

"I really liked our second half," said Lappe. "I thought we came out strong. We pushed the ball in transition extremely well in the second half. I liked the decisions that we made. I thought for the first time in a long time we took what the defense gave us."

Four Buffaloes finished with double figures, led by Brittany Wilson, who had 16 points. Chucky Jeffery notched her third straight double-double, with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Kresl scored 12 points, all coming off three-pointers, and Rachel Hargis tallied 10 points, nine of which came in the second half.

With the win the Buffs move to 7-5 in Pac-12 play. With Washington's win over USC, Colorado stays two games behind the Huskies for fourth place in the conference.

Next weekend the Buffs travel to Arizona and Arizona State. Colorado holds decisive home victories over both the Wildcats and the Sun Devils.