Coatney's Call: Colorado Preview

Nebraska at Colorado
Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, 3 p.m. (central)
Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center)
Television: FSN (national)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (25 stations, including 105.3 FM-Lincoln, 93.3 FM-Omaha, 880 AM-Lexington)
Internet: Free Live Audio on Huskers.com

Huskers Travel to Boulder to Face Buffaloes Super Bowl Sunday
What kind of snacks do you usually have at your Super Bowl party prior to the big game?  Shrimp Cocktail?  Egg Rolls?  This Sunday, the Nebraska Women's Basketball team will provide you with the best Super Bowl Sunday 'appetizer' of them all as they hit the road to face the Colorado Buffaloes for a 3 p.m. (central) nationally-televised game. 

The Huskers will look to get back on the winning track after dropping an exciting 76-69 decision at Missouri Wednesday night.  NU led 18-15 with 10:12 left in the first half when 6-2 freshman Jordan Hooper went to the bench for the remainder of the first half with two fouls. With 'J-Hoop' off the floor, Nebraska saw their three point lead evaporate as Mizzou went on a 24-2 run to take a 17-point halftime lead. 

Hooper returned for the second half and put on an unbelievable scoring display.  She scored 28 points in the period and hit six three-pointers after the intermission.  Hooper's 31 points were a career-high, a Husker 2010-11 season-high and were the most points by a Nebraska freshman since Kelsey Griffin's 31-point effort against Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2005.  The only Husker freshman who has ever scored more points in a game was Debra Powell, who had a 34-point game in 1982. 

Hooper's 47 triples also eclipses Anna DeForge's NU freshman season three-point record and her seven three-pointers against MU ties the Husker single-game record.
 
Like Missouri, Colorado has changed leadership and has turned to a former player to lead their program.  Linda Lappe is the youngest head coach at a BCS Conference school and is the first former Big 12 player to be a head coach at a Big 12 school.  As a player, she was a two-year team captain, two-time Honorable Mention All-Big 12 and a member of three NCAA Tournament teams, including the 2002 CU Elite Eight team.  Lappe  served as an assistant coach under former Husker player and assistant Amy Stephens at Drake before a three-year run as head coach at Division II Metro State. 
 
After Wednesday night's 81-53 loss at Kansas, Colorado is 11-10 overall on the season and 2-6 in Big 12 Conference action.  Both of their league wins were at home in Boulder, including a six-point win over Iowa State in overtime and a 10-point decision over Missouri.  CU has lost three straight and six of their last eight games.
 
6-1 senior forward Brittany Spears has her name etched all over the Colorado record books.  She now holds the CU record for consecutive starts with 114.  Spears  ranks among the school's top-five all time in points, rebounds, field goals, three-pointers and blocked shots.  An honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick last season, Spears leads this year's team in scoring (17.7 ppg), three-pointers (46), blocked shots and is second on the team in steals and rebounds (8.1 rpg). 

5-10 sophomore guard Chucky Jeffery  missed the Buffs' last game at Kansas for academic reasons according to local Boulder media outlets.  Jeffery also missed two games in mid-January due to a concussion.  She had the second triple-double in Colorado history with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against Loyola-Chicago earlier this season.  Jeffery leads the Big 12 in rebounding (8.6 rpg), leads the team in steals and assists, and is second on the in scoring (14.6 ppg).

Like Spears, 6-3 junior forward Julie Seabrook  has started every game this season.  She and Husker guard Kaitlyn Burke both hail from North Vancouver, British Columbia and were teammates on the Canadian National Elite Development Academy team. Seabrook averages 6.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg.  5-9 senior guard Britney Blythe  has started all but two games for Colorado this season.  She averages 3.3 ppg.  6-1 senior wing Chelsea Dale  has started the last five games for CU.  After missing the entire fall semester, Dale has played in every game since December 18 (13 games) and averages 5.0 ppg. 

If Jeffery does not start, look for 5-8 freshman guard Brittany Wilson to round out CU's probable starting lineup.  She has started eight games this season and had a career-high 22 points in a losing effort at Kansas Wednesday night.  Wilson, whose twin sister Ashley is also on the Colorado roster, averages 8.7 ppg.
 
Colorado leads the all-time series with Nebraska 39-28, but the Huskers have won three straight and 10 of the last 11 games.  NU has also won four of the last five games in Boulder, including an 80-64 decision last season.  In the last game between the two teams, the Huskers defeated the Buffaloes 89-73 in Lincoln on February 20, 2010.  CU launched 15 successful three-pointers, including six by Spears who finished with a game-high 26 points.
 
I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska Women's Basketball on the Husker Sports Network.  Our radio broadcast Sunday afternoon begins with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 2:45 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on KLNC 105.3 FM (WOW-FM) in Lincoln, KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 in Lexington, KWBE 1450 in Beatrice, KNEB 960 in Scottsbluff, KLIQ 94.5 FM in Hastings and available to our entire twenty-five network stations.  All Husker Women's Basketball broadcasts are also available for free worldwide on the internet at www.huskers.com.  I hope you can join us.  

Go Big Red! 

Matt