Colorado Pulls Away from UMKC

For Immediate Release, Dec. 20, 2008 BOULDER – Bianca Smith scored 21 points, nailing six 3-pointers to lead Colorado to a 71-49 win over UMKC Saturday night at the Coors Events/Conference Center. Smith, who had been hitting just 24.5 percent from 3-point range through seven games (12-of-49) hit her first four attempts and finished the night 6-of-8 from long range, the most accurate night from downtown in her career. "That's hard work paying off," Smith said. "I've been in the gym shooting night in and night out." Colorado (4-4) sprinted out to a 22-6 lead thanks to Smith's four first half 3-pointers. On the defensive end, the Buffaloes forced 12 UMKC turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game accounting for 12 points. But after Smith's fourth 3-pointer at the 10:09 mark, the Buffaloes went cold for the rest of the half. CU missed its next nine shots, sinking only two free throws until Brittany Spears connected on a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining before halftime. Once Colorado's shots stopped falling, UMKC was able to climb back into the game. Chazny Morris and Heather Davis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 17-1 UMKC run during CU's shooting slump and a Davis layup with 42 seconds left tied the game at 24. Spears' 3-pointer allowed the Buffaloes to take a 27-26 lead at halftime, but UMKC came right back in the second and led 33-29 with 16:50 remaining. Needing a spark, Smith hit her fifth 3-pointer and after a Spears steal, Kara Richards connected on a layup as CU retook the lead at 34-33. After a Morris 3-point play briefly put UMKC back on top, the Buffaloes took over. Spears scored the next four points to give CU the lead for good as the Buffaloes outscored the Kangaroos 37-13 over the final 15:21 of the contest. With Smith providing the first half fireworks, Spears and Richards stepped up to put the game away in the second half. Richards, who had three fouls in the first eight minutes of the game, scored 10 of her 15 points and grabbed six of her eight rebounds in the second period. Spears scored 12 of her 19 points in the second 20 minutes. "It was a tale of two halves," CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. "The difference in the game was Kara being on the floor in the second half. We need to emphasize her being on the floor for us to be successful." Spears added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to her totals. Sophomore point guard Britney Blythe, making her first career start, added seven points and dished out a career-best five assists with no turnovers. Morris led UMKC with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Colorado will return to action on Monday, Dec. 22, by hosting Saint Louis University at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller General "UMKC came in here with a great gameplan. They thought they were going to win every possession. We came out better than we have in a long time. It was a tale of two halves. The difference in the game was Kara being on the floor in the second half. That's going to have to fall on Kara's shoulders; we need to emphasize her being on the floor for us to be successful. Also, when we upped the pressure going to a full court and got some easy buckets. This team prefers to score in transition as opposed to the half-court at this point. Last, our execution was the best it has been." On G Bianca Smith "I think her back was bothering her earlier in the season. When you've got confidence you're going to make your shot. I think it was all about her confidence, not anything technical." On Playing Monday Night "I think our team would much rather play than have practice with me. Tomorrow we'll have a light practice and prepare for St. Louis. I like the fact we have back-to-back games." On G Alyssa Fressle "Time is the best thing for her. Freshmen press and she's got that personality. She wants greatness right away and strives for that. She'll turn it around." Colorado Players Kara Richards, Sr., C ON HER ROLE-"Coach Miller has surrounded the post players with great guards. When the inside game is scoring, it opens it up for our outside game." ON AVOIDING FOUL TROUBLE–"I worked harder [in the second half]. When I get tired, fatigued, or just plain angry sometimes, I'll foul. I need to stop doing that." Bianca Smith, Jr., G ON HER SHOOTING-"That's hard work paying off. I've been in the gym shooting night-in and night-out." UMKC Head Coach Candace White-Whitaker General "From our perspective, we just turned the ball over way too much. I thought our team looked good at times, and then at times we looked like we have seven freshmen, which we do. But we'll try to learn and get better. I thought Colorado did a better job in the second half in getting the ball inside, and attacking. They went to the free throw quite a bit in the second half." On First-Half Rally "We switched up defenses. I think it helped us keep them off a little bit. And then on the offensive end we went with a couple different looks, we went with the four-guard look, and tried to attack, and had some success with that. You know, just hitting shots." On Future Impact of Playing Colorado "I think it's always good to play people that are bigger and better than you. It gives you a good look, what the big dogs look like. It exposes a lot of your weaknesses. And that's what we're trying to do at this point: get better." Colorado-UMKC Notes Colorado has won three straight and 10 of its last 12 in its first game back after finals. Colorado improves its series record to 3-0 against UMKC and 9-1 against teams currently in the Summit League. Colorado has won 10 of its last 13 games overall at the Coors Events Center and 15 of its last 18 against nonconference opponents. During player introductions, half of the lights in the Coors Events Center went dark. The coaches and officials decided to start the game after a three minute delay despite the lighting issues. The lights returned to full power at the 14:16 mark of the first half. Sophomore point guard Britney Blythe started her first career game and finished the evening with a career high five assists (her previous best was two). She also had seven points, two steals and two rebounds. Blythe, who scored just three points in the first six games has scored 14 in the last two. Junior guard Bianca Smith finished with a team-high 21 points, her third 20-point game, (the previous two came last season). Her six 3-pointers were one off her career high and her school record of seven which she shares with three other players. She made 6-of-8 from downtown (.750), her best career single-game percentage. Her previous best was a 5-for-9 performance (.556) against Kansas State on Feb. 23, 2008. Senior center Kara Richards had 15 points and eight rebounds. She now has 97 points through eight games, equaling her season output in 30 games in 2007-08. Sophomore guard Chelsea Dale made her first appearance of the season seeing action in the final two minutes of the game. Dale had missed the first seven games while recovering from a September surgery to stabilize ligaments in her right ankle. Freshman Alyssa Fressle had two steals giving the Big 12 leader in thefts has 15 steals in the last five games (3.0 spg).