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Little went as planned for the Buffs on opening night of the 2009-10 season, but two big second-half rallies allowed them to escape with a 61-56 victory over a feisty UC-Irvine squad.
Point guard Whitney Houston scored five straight points in the final two minutes to give the Buffs their first lead of the game after they`d trailed by 14 as late as the 8:19-to-play mark.
But even Houston -- playing in her first game back after missing last season with a knee injury -- seemed subdued when talking about her late-game heroics.
"I guess I could say that we needed this," Houston said. "It was my responsibility as a point guard to get out there and start playing as a team and just hustling."
The victory was a bumpy start to what the Buffs (1-0) hope will be a breakthrough season.
CU committed 27 turnovers, shot just 39 percent and was beaten by the Anteaters on the fastbreak on numerous occasions. Irvine led 33-19 at halftime after a first 20 minutes that saw CU shoot just 8 of 28 from the floor.
Kathy McConnell-Miller credited the play of the Anteaters (0-2), who were 7-23 last season and picked to finish last in the Big West Conference this season. But she was clearly unhappy with the way her own team played.
"I think they came in with the mentality that they were going to win, that they were going to play every possession as if it was their last," the coach said of Irvine. "But we`ve got to look in the mirror right now. Was it jitters, was it opening night, was it the fact that we hadn`t played an exhibition game and thatwas our first one? There`s a lot of things to consider. But it was not the first half that we had anticipated."
Brittany Spears led the Buffs with 18 points and 14 rebounds, including 13 and eight in the second half as the Buffs fought back.
The Buffs looked as though they`d righted the ship to start the second half, using a 13-0 run to pull within 33-32 in the first five minutes. But the Anteaters, who were led by Jade Smith-Williams` 18 points, used a 12-0 run of their own to push their lead back to 50-36.
"I think in every huddle we kept telling ourselves that were we going to come back from this and keep our heads up and do it one possession at a time," said CU guard Bianca Smith, who had 11 points, including a big 3-pointer during the Buffs` final rally. "We told ourselves we weren`t going to lose this game on our home court."
Colorado did manage to improve its defense in the second half, and out-rebounded Irvine 50-32 for the game, one big factor in the rally.
After Spears tied the game at 52 with a layup, Houston drove baseline and put the Buffs up 54-52 with 1:38 to play. The Buffs held Irvine to a shot-clock violation, and Houston hit a 3 from the top of the key to make it 57-52.
The Buffs then hit their free throws down the stretch to ice it.
But for a team trying to climb the ranks in a loaded Big 12 Conference, the Buffs know they`ll need better than Sunday`s opening effort.
"Second half it was a better performance," McConnell-Miller said. "I`m proud of the way they came back and fought back. I don`t like that this team, in the past, has always had that personality of always fighting from behind. We want to be the type of team that gets off to a great start, that leads for the duration of the game, that finishes games and plays for 40 minutes."
Colorado 61, UC-Irvine 56 UC-IRVINE (56)
FG Rebounds
Player MIN M-A FT-A O-T A PF PTS
Barnes 27 4-8 2-4 2-6 2 5 10
Smth-Wlms 36 6-12 3-4 0-2 5 3 18
Maessen 36 5-14 1-2 2-4 4 2 11
Ka. Jhnsn 24 2-6 0-0 0-2 0 1 4
Ke. Jhnsn 33 2-7 0-3 1-6 3 2 4
Spinazze 25 2-4 1-2 0-1 0 2 6
White 19 1-4 1-4 0-5 0 3 3
Totals 200 22-55 8-19 10-32 14 18 56
Percentages: FG .400, FT .421.
3-Point Goals: 4-5, .800 (Smith-Williams 3-4, Spinazze 1-1).
Team Rebounds: 6.
Blocked Shots: 2 (Maessen, White).
Turnovers: 20 (Smith-Williams 6, Spinazze 5, Barnes 2, Ke. Johnson 2, Ka. Johnson, Team 4).
Steals: 12 (Smith-Williams 3, Maessen 3, Ka. Johnson 2, Ke. Johnson 2, Barnes, Spinazze).
Technical Fouls: None.
COLORADO (61)
FG Rebounds
Player MIN M-A FT-A O-T A PF PTS
M.Mclm-Pk 28 3-8 0-1 6-11 1 3 6
Seabrook 8 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Spears 37 7-21 4-6 6-14 1 2 18
Fressle 33 2-6 0-0 2-5 3 2 4
Houston 26 5-10 0-2 0-1 0 1 11
Smith 25 3-6 2-2 0-4 4 4 11
Jeffery 23 2-6 0-2 2-7 3 3 4
Mullaney 13 1-3 3-3 0-2 1 1 5
Dunn 7 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2
Totals 200 24-62 9-16 21-50 9 18 61
Percentages: FG .387, FT .563.
3-Point Goals: 4-20, .200 (Smith 3-5, Houston 1-1, Spears 0-7, M. Malcolm-Peck 0-3, Jeffery 0-2, Fressle 0-1, Dunn 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 4.
Blocked Shots: 8 (Spears 3, M. Malcolm-Peck 3, Fressle, Jeffery).
Turnovers: 27 (Fressle 6, Spears 4, Smith 4, Jeffery 4, Houston 3, Malcolm-Peck 2, Dunn 2, Seabrook, Mullaney).
Steals: 11 (M. Malcolm-Peck 3, Houston 2, Smith 2, Jeffery 2, Seabrook, Spears).
Technical Fouls: None.
UC-Irvine 33 23 -- 56
Colorado 19 42 -- 61
Officials -- Michael Price, Metta Roberts, Michol Murray.
Attendance -- 2,546.
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