Dina Piterniece. Courtney Dunn. Caley Dow.

Not exactly the names you would expect to see in the lineup for Colorado during the program's first postseason game since 2004.

Especially with the game on the line.

But third-year head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller felt so good about the way the Buffs practiced in the 13 days they had to get ready for the WNIT that she played 11 different players.

Eight of them scored, led by super freshman Brittany Spears (22 points) and steady senior Jackie McFarland (21), and all of them contributed in some way to CU's 82-68 second-round victory over Gonzaga on Monday at the Coors Events Center.

The Buffs (17-14) advanced to the third round and will host Villanova at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

"Tonight I saw maybe a refreshed team," said McConnell-Miller, whose Buffs looked nothing like the squad that lost 76-50 to Iowa State on March 11 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. "A team with a little bit more confidence and swagger. ...

"We felt like the Big 12 prepared us for tonight's game."

CU received the conference's automatic bid to the WNIT despite a ninth-place finish. But the fact that the eight Big 12 teams that received bids to the NCAA Tournament were among the 32 teams in the field to advance to the second round provided some extra confidence for the Buffs as they took the floor against the West Coast Conference regular-season champions.

"The Big 12 prepared us," said Spears, who was 9-for-15 from the field and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. "I was looking forward to playing a different team."

The Bulldogs (25-9) trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half before closing to within 72-64 on a field goal by Heather Bowman with 4:27 remaining.

CU put the game away with an unconventional four-point play that made the score 77-66 with 2:15 remaining. Bianca Smith splashed her fourth 3-pointer and McFarland converted one of two free throws after drawing a foul setting the screen.

"It was definitely a tough game," said McFarland, who played 36 minutes with several different supporting casts. "They're a scrappy, hard working team and I love that. They're fun to play against."

The Buffs used a different starting lineup with 6-foot-4 center Kara Richards (six points, nine rebounds) in the middle and talented sophomore forward Aija Putnina (seven points in 13 minutes) coming off the bench.

Spears set the tone for the game with 12 points in the first 8:11 on 5-for-6 shooting. Her second 3-pointer gave CU a 27-11 lead.

"It was real big," Spears said of the fast start. "Because we had two weeks off and we didn't want to come out flat."

The Buffs made 11 of their first 15 shots (73.3 percent) before cooling off with a 1-for-9 stretch that allowed the Zags to get back into the game with a 14-4 run.

A steal and layup by Courtney Vandersloot brought the visitors to within 35-31 with 2:52 remaining in the first half, prompting McConnell-Miller to call a timeout. The Zags had two chances to get within one possession but couldn't convert.

CU led 42-33 after a 3-pointer by Piterniece -- who only had only scored three points all season -- with 9.1 seconds remaining. Bowman answered with a basket at the buzzer to cut the Buffs' lead to seven points at the intermission.

"You never know how your team is going to respond after such a long layover," McConnell-Miller said. "We had really good practices. They all had a purpose. We wanted to be competitive in practice and be the best Colorado we can be."

Smith was 4-for-6 from behind the arc for 12 points and led the Buffs with six assists. Whitney Houston sang the national anthem and then went 4-for-6 from the field with nine points. And the Buffs, who never trailed in the game, advanced after shooting 50.8 percent collectively.

"I think, yes, they were rewarded for how they've done the last two weeks," McConnell-Miller said of her decision to empty the bench during a big game. "But those substitutions were to win."

Colorado 82, Gonzaga 68

Gonzaga (68)

min fg-fga ft-fta rb ast pf tp

Bowman 35 7-11 2-2 6 0 4 16

Frieson 32 5-17 0-0 11 1 1 10

Vandersloot 30 2-13 2-2 2 5 4 6

Elliott 26 2-8 1-1 4 0 1 6

Bjorklund 23 2-7 0-0 3 2 0 4

Lorenzo 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Bekkering 20 4-6 0-0 3 0 1 10

Hassett 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Renius 8 2-6 0-0 7 0 1 4

Shives 21 5-11 0-0 6 3 3 12

Raap 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals: 200 29-79 5-5 44 11 15 68

COLORADO (82)

min fg-fga ft-fta rb ast pf tp

Spears 34 9-15 0-1 10 2 1 22

McFarland 36 9-14 3-7 9 4 4 21

Richards 19 3-9 0-2 9 0 0 6

Smith 29 4-8 0-0 1 6 3 12

Powers 12 0-1 0-0 10 0 0 0

Houston 27 4-6 1-2 2 4 1 9

Skildum 12 1-5 0-1 2 0 2 2

Piterniece 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 3

Putnina 13 2-3 2-2 5 0 2 7

Dunn 7 0-3 0-0 2 0 0 0

Dow 7 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0

Totals: 200 10-21 6-15 43 17 13 82

Score by halves:

Gonzaga 35 33 -- 68

Colorado 42 40 -- 82

3-point field goals -- Gonzaga (5-18): Frieson 0-1, Vandersloot 0-5, Elliott 1-5, Bjorklund 0-1, Bekkering 2-2, Shives 2-4; Colorado (10-21): Spears 4-7, Smith 4-6, Powers 0-1, Houston 0-1, Skildum 0-3, Piterniece 1-1, Putnina 1-1, Dunn 0-1.

Officials --Larson, Foutz, Bacon.

Technical fouls -- None.

Attendance -- 1,666.

STEALS

Gonzaga (6):Frieson, Vandersloot 2, Bjorklund, Shives 2.

Colorado (3):Spears, McFarland, Houston.

BLOCKED SHOTS

Gonzaga (5):Bowman, Frieson 2, Renius 2.

Colorado (7):Spears 3, McFarland 2, Richards 2.

TURNOVERS

Gonzaga (15):Bowman, Vandersloot 5, Elliott 4, Bekkering 2, Shives 3.

Colorado (17):Spears 2, McFarland, Smith 3, Houston 4, Skildum 3, Putnina 2, Dow 2.