Nov. 28, 2003
Stats
Boulder, CO--Four Idaho State Bengals scored in double figures, but the 16th-ranked University of Colorado Buffaloes pulled away late for a 95-65 victory over the Idaho State University Bengals in women's basketball action Friday night in the first round of the Coors Classic at the Coors Events Center.
After a slow start the Bengals cut the lead of the nationally ranked Buffaloes to just eight points late in the first half and settled for a 45-35 halftime score. The Bengals continued to use their long-range shooting and hard work down low to keep the score close until late.
Despite playing against a 6-5 senior All-American candidate at center (Tara Bjorklund) ISU freshman Molly Hays continued her strong start to her first season in college. The native of Missoula, MT, was 5-of-12 from the field, but pulled down 17 rebounds, giving her a second straight double-double. The 17 rebounds is season high for both Hays and the Bengals.
Also continuing her strong start to the season was senior forward Lindy Whitley, who hit on 7-of-14 shots from the field to lead the Bengals with 16 points. She had two three-pointers after setting the ISU record for treys in a game against Boise State on Tuesday with nine. Whitley has also led the Bengals in scoring in two of the three games this season.
Merrilee Udy, a senior from American Falls, and Monika Marekova, a junior from Stara Tura, Slovakia, each had 10 points off the bench. For Marekova, it was the second time this season she has reached double figures in scoring.
As a team the Bengals shot a season-low 36.4 percent from the field, including 28.6 percent from three-point range. But ISU pulled down as many rebounds as the much taller Buffaloes did, with each team grabbing 47. They also hit on eight three pointers in the game, five more than CU had.
"We came out extremely nervous against a top-25 team on the road," ISU Head Coach Jon Newlee said. "We got ourselves in a hole early with turnovers and fouls. But once we settled down we played well. We defended well, got our looks, got our shots. We cut it to 10 at the half and it could have been even closer."
"I thought Molly Hays played really well for a freshman on the road, against a 6-5 post. She really stuck it to them. I thought the way we battled against a much taller team on the glass. I think the way we battled back after a slow start was very positive. This was not a 30-point game, we made them earn this win."
With the loss the Bengals fell to 2-1 on the season, while Colorado improved to 4-1. ISU will take on Lehigh in the consolation game Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. The Mountain Hawks head into Saturday night's game at 0-3 after a 66-47 loss to California in the first game of the night. Colorado will face California in the championship game at 8:15 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Idaho State vs Colorado
11/28/03 8:15 p.m. at Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center)
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VISITORS: Idaho State 2-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Gifford, Heidi...... f 1-7 0-1 1-2 2 4 6 3 3 1 1 1 0 18
21 Hays, Molly......... c 5-12 0-0 0-0 9 8 17 3 10 1 2 1 0 34
11 Barron, Laraine..... g 4-9 1-4 0-2 0 2 2 3 9 1 4 0 0 30
20 Brossman, Christa... g 2-7 1-3 0-0 1 3 4 4 5 1 4 0 0 24
35 Whitley, Lindy...... g 7-14 2-8 0-0 0 4 4 2 16 2 3 0 2 38
12 Udy, Merrilee....... 4-8 2-4 0-1 0 0 0 5 10 0 2 0 0 10
14 Marekova, Monika.... 4-11 2-6 0-0 3 5 8 2 10 0 2 1 0 23
24 Christensen, Camile. 0-8 0-2 0-0 2 1 3 1 0 2 2 1 1 19
31 Ferguson, Amy....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 28-77 8-28 1-5 18 29 47 25 65 8 20 4 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-39 38.5% 2nd Half: 13-38 34.2% Game: 36.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 3-14 21.4% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 20.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: Colorado 4-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Johns-Richardson, Ve f 6-13 0-2 4-4 3 2 5 2 16 6 1 0 2 28
54 Wirt, Randie........ f 5-12 0-0 7-8 2 2 4 4 17 1 0 0 1 19
50 Bjorklund, Tera..... c 9-14 0-0 5-8 2 12 14 1 23 2 2 3 0 31
01 Fagan, Kate......... g 5-8 1-2 3-3 0 4 4 2 14 2 2 0 2 36
10 Billingsley, Maria.. g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 10
02 Metoyer, Amber...... 4-11 0-0 1-5 3 7 10 2 9 1 0 0 2 22
04 Waner, Emily........ 1-7 1-4 2-2 0 1 1 1 5 3 0 1 4 29
14 Howard, Leslie...... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4
22 Hobbs, Melissa...... 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 3 0 0 1 12
34 Lini, Sarah......... 3-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 0 6 0 1 2 0 9
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 35-73 3-10 22-30 14 33 47 14 95 19 8 6 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-35 48.6% 2nd Half: 18-38 47.4% Game: 47.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-11 81.8% 2nd Half: 13-19 68.4% Game: 73.3% 3
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Officials: Clarke Stevens, Michele Eglinger, Scott Twardoski
Technical fouls: Idaho State-None. Colorado-None.
Attendance: 2288
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Idaho State................... 35 30 - 65
Colorado...................... 45 50 - 95
Coors Classic Game #2.
ISU: Merrilee Udy fouled out at 5:34 of second half.
CU: Head coach Ceal Barry records 400th win at Colorado.
