LOS ANGELES — Like the stock market, past results in college basketball do not guarantee future success. But based on the season-long statistics accrued by 10th-seeded Colorado and seventh-seeded Utah, their 6 p.m. matchup today could be highly competitive in the opening round of the Pac-12 women’s tournament at the Galen Center on the University of Southern California campus.
CU coach Linda Lappe “was telling us that our stats are almost identical,” senior center Julie Seabrook said.
That’s not an exaggeration. CU (17-12, 6-12 Pac-12) averages 61.2 points per game. Utah (15-14, 7-11) averages 59.3. The Utes are connecting on 40.6 percent from the field. CU hits 40.1 percent.
The teams are even in turnover margin (minus-1.9 per game), and they split the two regular-season meetings.
In fact, each won on the opponent’s home floor. CU opened its first Pac-12 schedule with a 58-52 victory in Salt Lake City on New Year’s Eve. The Utes won the rematch in Boulder, 61-56 in overtime on Feb. 18.
“It will be fun playing against them, kind of like a rubber match,” Seabrook said.
Utah is strong in the frontcourt, featuring two sophomores, 6-foot-3 Taryn Wicijowski (8.7 rebounds per game, fifth in the Pac-12) and 6-4 Michelle Plouffe (7.9, seventh).
Seabrook is 6-3, but Colorado’s top rebounder is guard Chucky Jeffery, who averages 7.3 per game.
CU’s most physical post player, 6-2 freshman Jen Reese, was lost for the rest of the season when she fractured an orbital bone below her left eye in a Feb. 23 loss to Stanford.
CU comes off a 67-57 home win over Oregon State that snapped a five-game losing streak.
Streaming of Pac-12 women’s tournament games are available at .
