Bears Clinch Win At Line

WACO, Texas - Baylor isn't known for its free-throw shooting prowess. Nevertheless, the No. 8 Bears did a good enough job against Colorado on Wednesday night.

During one 15-point stretch in the second half, the Bears made 13-of-14 from the line on the way to a 76-62 win over the Buffaloes.

Angela Tisdale, who has made 81 percent of her free-throw attempts this season, made 17 of 19 Wednesday and scored 30 points for No. 8 Baylor (24-3, 12-2). Rachel Allison scored 13 and Kelli Griffin had 11.

Jackie McFarland scored 20 and Brittany Spears had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado (15-12, 4-10).

``It was exciting to challenge and be in the game and be in the game when the game was on the line,'' Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. ``But if I could change one thing, we wouldn't have allowed as many free throws as they attempted. They shot 31 free throws. We shot 11. What they did on the free throw line made the difference tonight.''

Going into Wednesday's game against Colorado, Baylor was just the eighth-best free throw shooting team in the Big 12.

Baylor made 25 of its 31 attempts, and hit 19 of its 22 free-throw attempts in the second half. Colorado made five of its 11 free throws.

``Any time a team goes to the line three times as much as you do, it's frustrating because those are easy, given points,'' McFarland said. ``You have no control. It's all based on them.''

Baylor led 48-45 before a 10-0 run in which the Bears hit eight free throws. Tisdale made the final two with 9:20 remaining after McConnell-Miller picked up a technical foul.

After leading 30-24 at the half, Baylor built a 10-point lead early in the second period. Tisdale's floating jumper two minutes in put the Bears up 38-28, but after a 30-second timeout, Colorado answered with a basket by Jackie McFarland and a 3-pointer by Bianca Smith. The Buffaloes eventually cut the lead to three, 46-43, before Baylor put the game out of reach.

Baylor shot 31 percent from the field in the first half, making 11 of 35 shots. For the night, the Bears shot 41 percent (24-of-58). Colorado shot 46 percent (26-of-56) for the game.

``We missed a lot of shots and a lot of point-blank shots early,'' Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. ``It was like the more we tried, the more we seemed to miss shots.''

NOTES:

This win for Baylor evened the series with the Buffs at 8-8 and holds a 5-2 lead in Waco. Colorado has dropped 14 straight road games against the Big 12 Southern Divisio.

Freshman Brittany Spears notched her fifth double-double of the season and third in Big 12 play. She scored 16 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds. She has averaged 10.8 rebounds over the last four games.

Senior Jackie McFarland moved closer to the 1,800 point and 1,000 rebound marks by scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing seven boards. She needs just two more points for 1,800 and 14 more rebounds to become the third player in team history to reach 1,000 boards.

McFarland moved into fourth place on CU's all-time list for field goals made, sitting at 620 after going 9-of-13 against Baylor.

Senior Susie Powers had five assists to give her 102 on the season. She's the first player to reach 100 assists since Whitney Law had 102 for the 2004-05 campaign.

Junior center Kara Richards had nine points with 4-of-5 from the field. Her nine points are a high in the Big 12 this season for her along with her most since scoring 11 against Dartmouth. Richards also had a season-high four assists.

Sophomore Bianca Smith became the eighth player in team history to reach 100 career 3-pointers, sinking a long trey early in the second half. She ended the game 2-of-5 from downtown and now has 101. Smith's 69 3-pointers this year are fifth on the school's single-season list and just 10 shy of Kate Fagan's school record of 79 in 2003-04.

Tisdale made 17 of her 19 free-throw attempts and the Bears were 25-of-31 from the line. Colorado made five of its 11 free throws. Her 17 free throws are the most by a CU opponent in team history, breaking the previous mark of 15 by Sheryl Swoopes of Texas Tech in the 1993 NCAA Regional Final.

Colorado fell to 3-4 in the 2007-08 season against ranked teams.