University of Oregon
Colorado
Nurse Heals Ducks in Colorado
12/30/05 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER, Colo. ? The Oregon women's basketball team overcame 26 personal fouls and 31 Colorado points from the free throw line to win, 72-64, Friday in front of 1,630 fans at the Coors Events Center.
Freshman guard Tamika Nurse had a breakout game, scoring a season-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting. A 50-percent shooter from the foul line coming in, she hit all seven of her attempts, including six in the second half to preserve the win.
Sophomore post Gabrielle Richards led the Ducks (9-3) with 16 points and junior guard Cicely Oaks had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
CU (5-7) was paced by 17 points from junior forward Jasmina Ilic, and 13 points and 15 rebounds by sophomore forward Jackie McFarland.
Oregon never trailed in the game and held the Buffaloes to 31.9 percent shooting, but they couldn't stop the CU free throw parade, which kept the game much closer than it should have been.
The Buffs were 31-of-36 from the charity stripe, while the Ducks were 21-of-23.
The Ducks led by 19 points early in the second half before the Buffaloes went on a 13-0 run in a span of 4:18, cutting the Oregon lead to six points at 53-47. A pair of Nurse free throws and fast break lay-up by Haring restored the Ducks' edge to double-figures with just under eight minutes to play.
Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season, Oregon returned to its early-season form, putting together a combination of suffocating defense and up-tempo transition offense.
Oregon went into the locker room with a 14-point cushion, leading 39-25 at the break.
The Ducks opened the game on a 10-0 run with a dominating display at both ends of the floor. CU broke the shutout 5:53 into the contest, when McFarland hit one of two free throws.
The Buffs closed to within 12-6, but a three-point play by Nurse quickly put UO back up by nine with more than 12 minutes to play.
CU came all the way back to tie the score at 19-apiece, despite shooting 4-of-19 from the field. UO's 10 fouls in the game's first 13 minutes led to 10 free-throw attempts, of which the Buffaloes made nine.
QUACK TRACKS: The Ducks used their fifth different starting lineup of the season ... UO improved to 5-0 when SR G/F Kedzie Gunderson starts ... Oregon was 9-4 during non-conference play last season ... SR G Chelsea Wagner was held out of the starting lineup after experiencing flu-like symptoms the past three days ... CU fans stand until the Buffaloes' first points of the game, which meant they could not sit down for nearly six minutes.
