Hot Shooting Sparks Kansas Over Colorado 81-53
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Freshman Brittany Wilson scored a career-high 22 points, but Colorado didn't have an answer for a hot shooting Kansas as the Jayhawks defeated the Buffaloes 81-53 in Big 12 Conference action Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Colorado drops its third straight (11-10, 2-6) while Kansas (15-7, 2-6) snaps a five-game skid.
"No one is happy; we aren't happy," said head coach Linda Lappe. "We've got to move forward and step up."
Kansas shot a blistering 62 percent, making 31-of-50 from the field. Much of the damage came from Jayhawk sophomore Carolyn Davis who made 8-of-10 en route to a team-high 20 points.
Kansas jumped out to a 17-5 lead and never looked back. Colorado hindered its own cause with 12 first-half turnovers, which the Jayhawks turned into 17 points.
"Kansas was definitely better tonight," Lappe said. "They shot ball lights out. They did a nice job. Our defense and rebounding let us down and those are the two things we have to have every game to compete."
Senior Brittany Spears added 18 points and six rebounds for the Buffaloes as she became the third player in team history to reach 1,900 career points (1,904).
CU did a better job of protecting the ball in the second half, committing just four turnovers, but the Buffaloes shot just 29 percent (10-of-35) in the final 20 minutes, 35 percent for the game.
Colorado returns home to host Nebraska on Sunday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.
NOTES:
Kansas' 46 points were the most allowed by the Buffaloes in a half this season and most since CU allowed 47 to the Jayhawks in the last meeting in Lawrence on Jan. 27, 2010.
Brittany Wilson becomes the third different CU player to score 20-plus points this season joining Brittany Spears and Chucky Jeffery. Her previous high was 19 points scored against Iowa State on Jan. 19.
Spears became the third player in team history to reach 1,900 career points with a pair of free throws with 9:40 left in the second half. She finished the game with 18, moving to 1,904 points.
Spears also moved into second place on CU's all-time list for field goals made with 696. Bjorklund had 893 in her CU Athletic Hall of Fame career from 2000-04. Spears also made three free throws to move past Erin Carson (1984-88) for 11th on CU's all-time list with 310.
Rachel Hargis tied a career-high with five points.