LARAMIE — There’s another Colorado team making a run in the postseason.
Brittany Spears scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Colorado beat Wyoming 70-58 in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Thursday night.
Colorado (18-15) advances to host Southern Cal in Sunday’s quarterfinals (1 p.m.).
First-year Buffaloes coach Linda Lappe spoke proudly of how her team played on the road in front of a hostile crowd of 7,247 fans in Arena-Auditorium.
“This is a tough place to play,” Lappe said. “I told our team coming in that only tough teams can win in this place. You can see why, it got so loud in that second half.”
Spears, an All-Big 12 first- team selection as a senior, scored 19 of her points in the first half to help Colorado to a 39-28 halftime lead.
The Cowgirls closed to within 53-50 on a basket by Hillary Carlson at the 8:40 mark, but Spears answered with a basket to start a 10-1 run that killed the rally, and the Buffaloes hit 7-of-8 free throws in the last two minutes to seal the victory.
“We wasn’t worried at all because we had the lead the whole game,” Spears said.
COLORADO (18-15)
Malcolm-Peck 0-2 2-2 2, Seabrook 2-3 1-1 5, Spears 9-22 2-2 23, Blythe 2-2 2-2 7, B.Wilson 7-12 0-0 15, A.Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Dale 0-3 2-2 2, Jeffery 5-5 3-5 16, Hargis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 12-14 70.
WYOMING (24-9)
Kennedy 1-7 4-4 7, Sewell 3-6 1-1 7, Carlson 7-21 12-16 27, Richardson 1-2 0-0 2, Vandiver 5-16 4-6 15, Campigli 0-2 0-0 0, Sickles 0-0 0-0 0, Landry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-54 21-27 58.
Halftime — Colorado 39-28. 3-point goals —Colorado 8-16 (Jeffery 3-3, Spears 3-7, Blythe 1-1, B.Wilson 1-2, Dale 0-1, Malcolm-Peck 0-2), Wyoming 3-16 (Vandiver 1-4, Carlson 1-4, Kennedy 1-6, Richardson 0-1, Campigli 0-1). Fouled out —None. Rebounds — Colorado 32 (Spears 9), Wyoming 34 (Carlson 11) Assists — Colorado 6 (Jeffery 5), Wyoming 12 (Carlson 5). Total fouls —Colorado 19, Wyoming 14. A — 7,247.
