Sunday, February 2
2 p.m.
Colorado
vs
Texas Tech
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
WBB 50th Season Highlights: Texas Tech
February 01, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado defeats No. 13 Texas Tech in overtime
BOULDER – The 2024-25 season marks Colorado's return to the Big 12 Conference and a renewal of traditional and historic rivalries.
As part of the celebration of Colorado women's basketball's 50th anniversary season, CUBuffs.com will look back at historic matchups.
The Game: Colorado vs Texas Tech, Feb. 3, 2002
The No. 17 Buffaloes started the Big 12 season 0-3 but had ripped off six straight wins going into its meeting with No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Red Raiders, who started the season ranked No.7, entered the matchup 5-4 in Big 12 play and 14-6 overall but had only lost one game at home to No. 3 Oklahoma.
Buffs Work Overtime to Top No. 13 Raiders
Taken from the Feb. 4, 2002 edition of the Daily Camera
LUBBOCK, Texas – Sabrina Scott let a rebound slip out of her hands just before intermission Sunday, leading to a field goal by the home team with two seconds left.
As a result, instead of perhaps taking a lead to the locker room, No. 17 Colorado trailed No. 13 Texas Tech, 32-29.
It was supposed to be a bad omen. After all, the Red Raiders were 13-2 when leading at halftime this season, including a 7-0 record at United Spirit Arena. The Buffs were 0-5 when behind at intermission, all to ranked opponents on the road.
But instead of folding, CU rid itself of a lot of demons – including the 70-68 home loss to Texas that had been bothering Ceal Barry for a month – with a 74-69 overtime victory over Texas Tech.
It has been the theme of this team, which could have given up its championship dreams after an 0-3 start in the Big 12.
"Obviously, we're pretty excited about this," said Barry, whose team has now won seven consecutive games, including the program's first in Lubbock, moving from 11th to third in the Conference during the run. "I felt like we need to go on the road and get some wins to make up for that (Texas) game."
The Buffs (17-6, 7-3) used a height and skill advantage in the post to stay in the game before winning it with a couple clutch 3-pointers at the end.
Backup center Tera Bjorklund, who has a history of playing well in the Lone Star State, finished with 18 points in 19 minutes.
"They were playing me one-on-one," explained Bjorklund, a sophomore star in the making who was 7-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 at the line. "So I thought I'd take advantage of it. That was part of the game plan."
From the 11:42 mark, until there was 4:01 remaining in the first half, no CU player other than Bjorklund scored. Her 10 points during that span kept the Buffs within 26-24.
"We knew that was going to happen. I don't really think that was the problem," legendary Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said of CU's points in the paint. "We were going to defend the perimeter."
And the Red Raiders (13-7, 5-5) did a great job of blanketing Mandy Nightingale, Jenny Roulier and Kate Fagan throughout regulation. The Buffs made just one 3-pointer in the first 40 minutes.
"I thought they were willing to give up our post game," Barry said. "But they didn't let Mandy and Jenny breathe."
There was never any breathing room on the scoreboard. Texas Tech took its biggest lead, 42-37, on a three-point play by Casey Jackson with 15:31 left. "I thought, 'We're going to go one way or another here,'" Barry said of the critical moment when the Red Raiders were on the verge of seizing the game. "We're going to see what we're made of."
Bjorklund answered the challenge with eight more points during a 10-0 run that gave the Buffs a 47-42 cushion. Britt Harshorn, who added eight points and eight rebounds inside, gave CU its largest lead, 55-48, with 6:47 left.
"I felt good at that point," Barry said.
But Jia Perkins has a way of making visiting coaches sick. She scored eight of her 12 points (5.1 under her average) in a two-minute spurt, and the Red Raiders took a 58-57 lead with 3:39 remaining. CU Led 63-60 after a Hartshorn hoop with 1:48 left but did not score again in regulation. Jolee Ayers, the hero for the home team with 22 points, tied the score at 63 with 38 seconds on the clock.
Both teams squandered chances to win the game in the final moments before overtime.
Advantage CU.
"After the game ended and they didn't score, I knew we were going to win (in overtime)," Nightingale said. "Our team was playing well and we just had a lot of confidence."
Roulier calmly drained a 3-pointer on CU's first possession and then Nightingale made something (a 32-foot shot) out of nothing (as the shot clock went off) to make the score 69-65 with 2:55 remaining.
"We just gave up some threes that made it impossible in the end," Sharp said. "The Red Raiders had the ball trailing 72-69 and let the clock run down as they set up a double-screen for Natale Ritchie to attempt a trey instead of trying for a quick 2-point basket.
"If I had it to do over again, I guess I would do something different at this point," Sharp said.
Hartshorn stepped out and blocked the 3-point attempt. Nightingale, the Big 12's best free throw shooter, iced her team's most important win so far this season with two from the line.
"They have a lot of seniors that know what this is all about," Sharp said of Barry's Buffs. "Colorado just really acted like they wanted to win more than we did. It has been a long time since I've said that about our team."
In the end, the Buffs did not let this critical victory slip out of their hands. Now a Big 12 championship is still within reach.
Colorado (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) looks for its third consecutive win when the Red Raiders make their first visit to the CU Events Center since Feb. 12, 2011.
Sunday will be the 24th meeting between the two programs. Texas Tech has a grasp on the all-time series, leading 18-5. Colorado's last win over TTU was a 71-67 victory in the 2007 Big 12 Tournament.
Alex Loeb and Helen Williams will have Sunday's nationally televised call on ESPNU at 2 p.m. MT.
Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will have pregame coverage starting 30 minutes before tip-off on the Colorado Radio Network.
Sunday is Colorado's annual celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Doors will open at noon, and there will be different stations along the concourse featuring Colorado's women's sports.
Sunday will also mark the celebration of the 50th Anniversary season of Colorado women's basketball. Alums from the 50 storied seasons will be in attendance, and special recognition will be given to the 2002 Elite Eight team.
As part of the celebration of Colorado women's basketball's 50th anniversary season, CUBuffs.com will look back at historic matchups.
The Game: Colorado vs Texas Tech, Feb. 3, 2002
The No. 17 Buffaloes started the Big 12 season 0-3 but had ripped off six straight wins going into its meeting with No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Red Raiders, who started the season ranked No.7, entered the matchup 5-4 in Big 12 play and 14-6 overall but had only lost one game at home to No. 3 Oklahoma.
Buffs Work Overtime to Top No. 13 Raiders
Taken from the Feb. 4, 2002 edition of the Daily Camera
LUBBOCK, Texas – Sabrina Scott let a rebound slip out of her hands just before intermission Sunday, leading to a field goal by the home team with two seconds left.
As a result, instead of perhaps taking a lead to the locker room, No. 17 Colorado trailed No. 13 Texas Tech, 32-29.
It was supposed to be a bad omen. After all, the Red Raiders were 13-2 when leading at halftime this season, including a 7-0 record at United Spirit Arena. The Buffs were 0-5 when behind at intermission, all to ranked opponents on the road.
But instead of folding, CU rid itself of a lot of demons – including the 70-68 home loss to Texas that had been bothering Ceal Barry for a month – with a 74-69 overtime victory over Texas Tech.
It has been the theme of this team, which could have given up its championship dreams after an 0-3 start in the Big 12.
"Obviously, we're pretty excited about this," said Barry, whose team has now won seven consecutive games, including the program's first in Lubbock, moving from 11th to third in the Conference during the run. "I felt like we need to go on the road and get some wins to make up for that (Texas) game."
The Buffs (17-6, 7-3) used a height and skill advantage in the post to stay in the game before winning it with a couple clutch 3-pointers at the end.
Backup center Tera Bjorklund, who has a history of playing well in the Lone Star State, finished with 18 points in 19 minutes.
"They were playing me one-on-one," explained Bjorklund, a sophomore star in the making who was 7-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 at the line. "So I thought I'd take advantage of it. That was part of the game plan."
From the 11:42 mark, until there was 4:01 remaining in the first half, no CU player other than Bjorklund scored. Her 10 points during that span kept the Buffs within 26-24.
"We knew that was going to happen. I don't really think that was the problem," legendary Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said of CU's points in the paint. "We were going to defend the perimeter."
And the Red Raiders (13-7, 5-5) did a great job of blanketing Mandy Nightingale, Jenny Roulier and Kate Fagan throughout regulation. The Buffs made just one 3-pointer in the first 40 minutes.
"I thought they were willing to give up our post game," Barry said. "But they didn't let Mandy and Jenny breathe."
There was never any breathing room on the scoreboard. Texas Tech took its biggest lead, 42-37, on a three-point play by Casey Jackson with 15:31 left. "I thought, 'We're going to go one way or another here,'" Barry said of the critical moment when the Red Raiders were on the verge of seizing the game. "We're going to see what we're made of."
Bjorklund answered the challenge with eight more points during a 10-0 run that gave the Buffs a 47-42 cushion. Britt Harshorn, who added eight points and eight rebounds inside, gave CU its largest lead, 55-48, with 6:47 left.
"I felt good at that point," Barry said.
But Jia Perkins has a way of making visiting coaches sick. She scored eight of her 12 points (5.1 under her average) in a two-minute spurt, and the Red Raiders took a 58-57 lead with 3:39 remaining. CU Led 63-60 after a Hartshorn hoop with 1:48 left but did not score again in regulation. Jolee Ayers, the hero for the home team with 22 points, tied the score at 63 with 38 seconds on the clock.
Both teams squandered chances to win the game in the final moments before overtime.
Advantage CU.
"After the game ended and they didn't score, I knew we were going to win (in overtime)," Nightingale said. "Our team was playing well and we just had a lot of confidence."
Roulier calmly drained a 3-pointer on CU's first possession and then Nightingale made something (a 32-foot shot) out of nothing (as the shot clock went off) to make the score 69-65 with 2:55 remaining.
"We just gave up some threes that made it impossible in the end," Sharp said. "The Red Raiders had the ball trailing 72-69 and let the clock run down as they set up a double-screen for Natale Ritchie to attempt a trey instead of trying for a quick 2-point basket.
"If I had it to do over again, I guess I would do something different at this point," Sharp said.
Hartshorn stepped out and blocked the 3-point attempt. Nightingale, the Big 12's best free throw shooter, iced her team's most important win so far this season with two from the line.
"They have a lot of seniors that know what this is all about," Sharp said of Barry's Buffs. "Colorado just really acted like they wanted to win more than we did. It has been a long time since I've said that about our team."
In the end, the Buffs did not let this critical victory slip out of their hands. Now a Big 12 championship is still within reach.
Colorado (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) looks for its third consecutive win when the Red Raiders make their first visit to the CU Events Center since Feb. 12, 2011.
Sunday will be the 24th meeting between the two programs. Texas Tech has a grasp on the all-time series, leading 18-5. Colorado's last win over TTU was a 71-67 victory in the 2007 Big 12 Tournament.
Alex Loeb and Helen Williams will have Sunday's nationally televised call on ESPNU at 2 p.m. MT.
Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will have pregame coverage starting 30 minutes before tip-off on the Colorado Radio Network.
Sunday is Colorado's annual celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Doors will open at noon, and there will be different stations along the concourse featuring Colorado's women's sports.
Sunday will also mark the celebration of the 50th Anniversary season of Colorado women's basketball. Alums from the 50 storied seasons will be in attendance, and special recognition will be given to the 2002 Elite Eight team.
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