Buffaloes Beat Rams 87-81 In Double Overtime Thriller

With only three points in regulation, Lauren Huggins came up huge with nine points for Colorado in the two overtime periods, in CU's 87-81 victory over CSU.  In the first overtime, Colorado went down on two different occasions with under a minute left, but Huggins nailed two threes to take the game into double overtime.

Huggins biggest shot tied the game with only 2 seconds remaining in the first overtime. "They called the timeout, drew up that play. Coach looked me in the eye and said ‘this shot's for you; you're gonna nail it," said Huggins of her late-game heroics.

Colorado had to come back from behind on multiple occasions to overcome the Rams.

In the first five minutes of the second half CSU's Elin Gustavsson put up 15 points and the Rams took a commanding 43-29 lead.  CSU looked like they had all the momentum, but the Buffs clawed back and forced overtime. Gustavsson ended with a game-high 28 points after the Buffs were able to slow her down throughout the rest of the game.

"Jasmine Sborov really shut her (Gustavsson) down and slowed her down for the rest of the game," said Coach Linda Lappe about the defensive changes her team made to counteract Gustavsson.

Jen Reese led the Buffs in scoring with 26 points, and she also added 14 rebounds.

"Jen showed a lot of confidence ... She really kept us going offensively for quite a long time," said Lappe.

Lexy Kresl recorded the fourth triple-double in CU women's basketball history with 12 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.

"I'm pretty proud of that because it shows that I've expanded my game and my abilities from past seasons. It shows that I can help the team in ways other than just scoring," said Kresl.

Colorado pulled away in the second overtime after outlasting an impressive performance from Colorado State's offense.

"They are a great team; they have a chance to make it to the NCAA tournament... It makes for a really fun game," said Lappe on CSU.

The win improves CU to a 5-1 record in non-conference play, and marks a championship win in the Omni Classic.