Women’s basketball earns ‘W’ at last home game of the season

No. 20 Colorado women’s basketball hosted the Washington Huskies on Sunday afternoon, senior day for the Buffs, as they honored senior guards Chucky Jeffery and Meagan and Brenna Malcolm-Peck.

They couldn’t have asked for a better final game after a thrilling comeback by the Huskies tested Colorado’s offense and defense. The Buffs managed to pull out a victory with a final score of 68-61.

Senior Chucky Jeffery looks toward the basket as she makes her way across the court during the Buffs’ game against Stanford. The team defeated University of Washington on Sunday 68-61. (Amy Leder/CU Independent)

By the end of her college career at home, Jeffery became the first CU women’s basketball player in history to reach over 1,500 points, 800 rebounds, and 300 assists. By the end of Sunday’s game, those statistics stood at 1,729 points, 1,123 rebounds and 357 assists.

Freshman forward Arielle Roberson helped the Buffs to an early lead Sunday when she sunk a 3-point basket in the first 27 seconds of play, but Washington quickly closed the gap with two free throws made by Jazmine Davis.

The Buffs’ offense slowed down and Aminah Williams of Washington grabbed two consecutive layups to increase the Huskies’ lead by four. After a pair of layups by Jeffery and sophomore forward Jen Reese, Colorado regained the lead with 15:18 left in the half.

The lead shifted back and forth mid-first half until a two-point jumper by freshman guard Kyleesha Weston gave the women the push they needed to finish the half with a 19-8 run in the final ten minutes. Colorado led 36-25 at the half.

Jeffery left the game with an ankle injury in the first minute of play in the second half. Washington took advantage of her absence by going on a 6-0 run until Roberson stepped up and scored three consecutive baskets to force Washington to take a timeout.

When the teams returned to the court, Washington’s Kristi Kingma responded to Roberson’s streak with a streak of her own, scoring eight points in under three minutes. Kingma’s contribution along with a three-point jumper by Mercedes Wetmore pushed the Huskies to within one point of the Buffs.

The women pulled ahead, though, when Jeffery returned and helped increase the lead by nine points.

Washington came back again and cut CU’s lead to two points with just under three minutes left in the game after a two-point jumper by Davis, bringing the score to 59-57.

Despite a big Washington comeback in the second half, Colorado was able to pull out a 68-61 victory after going on a 9-4 run to finish out the game.

“I’d have to give Washington a lot of credit, they kept fighting, they kept coming back at us in the second half,” Head Coach Linda Lappe said.  “We knew they would. They can score the basketball, and they can score in bunches.  At the same time, though, I liked how our team stepped up and never gave up the lead. Every time they made a run and got it close, I felt that we responded in a great way.”

Senior Kristi Kingma led Washington with 19 points with the help of senior Aminah Williams, junior Talia Walton and sophomore Mercedes Wetmore.  Roberson led Colorado with 16 points and was aided by Jen Reese’s 11 points and Brittany Wilson’s 13.

Jeffery finished her final home game with an outstanding 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists, earning her 29th career double-double and her 9th of the season.

Chucky Jeffery along with the Malcolm-Peck twins will definitely be missed by the team and by the fans.

“I’ve played behind [Chucky], she’s been a great leader,” junior guard Brittany Wilson said.

The Buffs head to Oregon next weekend to take on Oregon on Friday and Oregon State University on Sunday.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.