Brittany Spears 20, San Jose State 13.
That was all you needed to know at halftime.
For the second consecutive game, Colorado ambushed a turnover-prone opponent early and cruised to a blowout victory at the Coors Events Center.
The Buffs built a 46-13 edge by the intermission and settled for an 86-50 win over the sloppy Spartans on Tuesday night.
A little over 72 hours earlier, CU jumped out to leads of 24-0, 40-2 and 53-11 (halftime score) en route to an 88-36 thrashing of Southern Utah.
“There are a couple things we`re doing differently,” CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said when asked about the more aggressive approach at the start of the last two games. “Throughout the week we`re throwing more concepts at them without them knowing, and the day of the game we`re resting them more.”
The Buffs are now 8-2 overall and 7-0 at home with the next four games to be played in the cozy confines of the Coors Events Center.
“They like being at home, they`ve got energy, and defensively they`ve been on the same page,” McConnell-Miller said.
Spears finished with a season-high 28 points in 26 minutes. Bianca Smith added 25 points, including 17 in the first half.
CU shot 47 percent from the field (31-for-66) and 88.9 percent (16-for-18) at the free-throw line with 10 different players scoring. The Buffs also scored 28 points off 26 San Jose State turnovers and had an 18-4 advantage in fast-break points and a 32-20 edge in bench scoring.
“I think my teammates are able to find me on the floor and are allowing me to get open shots,” said Smith, who came off the bench again after getting her first start of the season against Southern Utah. “I think it helps to come off the bench just to get a feel for the game and a feel for what`s going on with the defense and how they`re playing. It allows me to put myself in position to help the team.”
The 24 combined points allowed in the two first halves of the previous two games is the fewest in program history. CU allowed 18 first-half points to San Diego and then nine first-half points to Bowling Green in back-to-back games during the 2001-02 season.
CU shot 45.9 percent (17-for-37) in the first half and only allowed five field goals for San Jose State (5-for-24, 20.8 percent) while scoring 21 points off 19 turnovers by the Spartans.
Spears was 10-for-15 from the field with eight rebounds. Smith made six of CU`s eight 3-pointers. Freshmen Meagan Malcolm-Peck (10 rebounds) and Chucky Jeffery (eight points, seven rebounds) also chipped in.
“I thought we handled their sets, which concerned me very much coming into the game because they like to penetrate a lot and that wasn`t one of our strengths,” McConnell-Miller said. “We were able to use a lot of combinations on the floor and with the exception of Spears and Bianca, I thought it was fairly balanced.”
San Jose State (286) and Southern Utah (331) were buried deep in the RPI rankings as of Tuesday. CU will return to action on Dec. 30 against Grambling State, which had an RPI of 318, at the Coors Events Center.
“Having home games increases our confidence, builds momentum and builds are fan base,” said McConnell-Miller, who noted that most Big 12 teams play the bulk of their non-conference games at home.
Notable
Kelly Jo Mullaney was questionable with a sprained ankle, but the junior guard played 13 minutes and scored one point on and 0-for-3 night from the field. … Courtney Dunn returned to the starting lineup after being held out of the Southern Utah game for disciplinary reasons. The senior forward/center had eight points and three rebounds in 19 minutes. … Spears has 1,204 career points, the 17th player to eclipse 1,200. … The Buffs will take some time off before returning to practice on Dec. 27.
Colorado 86,
San Jose State 50
SAN JOSE ST. (36)
Player MIN FG FT Rb A PF PT
Hall 21 2-5 1-2 3 0 2 5
Ridge 37 2-7 0-0 8 2 0 4
Shavers 32 5-20 6-9 2 2 3 16
Sumler 36 2-8 1-2 10 2 3 5
Finnegan 17 0-1 0-0 5 0 2 0
Bradley 12 1-4 2-2 4 1 0 4
Brown 15 0-1 0-0 0 2 3 0
Atoe 8 1-2 0-0 1 0 2 2
Hamilton 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Marez 19 7-13 0-0 2 0 3 14
Totals 200 20-61 10-15 40 9 18 50
3-Point Goals: 0-2 (Shavers 0-7, Ridge 0-2, Marez 0-2, Atoe 0-1)..
Team Rebounds: 5.
Blocked Shots: 2 (Shavers, Finnegan).
Turnovers: 26 (Sumler 8, Ridge 4, Shavers 4, Bradley 2, Atoe 2, Marez 2, Hall, Finnegan, Brown, team).
Steals: 9 (Sumler 3, Shavers 2, Hall, Ridge, Atoe, Marez).
Technical Fouls: None.
COLORADO (86)
Player MIN FG FT Rb A PF PT
M. MlclmPck 24 2-5 0-0 10 3 1 4
Spears 26 10-15 6-7 8 2 1 28
Dunn 19 4-8 0-0 3 1 3 8
Fressle 21 3-6 0-0 1 4 2 6
Jeffrey 29 2-6 4-4 7 1 3 8
Smith 17 8-15 3-3 1 0 0 25
Houston 12 1-4 0-0 0 3 1 2
Blythe 5 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0
Seabrook 8 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0
Dale 8 0-2 2-2 2 0 0 2
B.MlclmPck 13 1-1 0-0 2 1 0 2
Mullaney 13 0-3 1-2 0 1 1 1
Bailey 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
MacFarlane 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 200 31-66 16-18 39 17 13 86
3-Point Goals: 8-24 (Smith 6-13, Spears 2-4, M. Malcolm-Peck 0-1, Fressle 0-1, Dale 0-1, Mullaney 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 2.
Blocked Shots: 5 (M. Malcolm-Peck 3, MacFarlane 2).
Turnovers: 17 (Jeffery 5, Spears 3, Fressle 2, M. Malcolm-Peck, Dunn, Smith, Seabrook, Dale, Bailey, team).
Steals: 13 (M. Malcolm-Peck 4, Spears 3, Smith 3, Jeffery, Houston, Mullaney).
Technical Fouls: None.
San Jose State 13 37 — 50
Colorado 46 40 — 86
Officials: Jones, Price, Larson.
Attendance: 2,783.
