by B.G. Brooks. CU associate editor

 BOULDER – What started as a struggle ended in a stroll Saturday night for the University of Colorado women’s basketball team.

The Buffaloes found their groove midway through the first half and stayed with it the rest of the way, overrunning San Diego State 67-53 to win the Omni Classic at the Coors Events Center.

Freshman Arielle Roberson was voted tournament MVP

CU has won 16 of its 26 in-season tournaments, which for 22 years was called the Coors Classic.

Three CU players reached double figures as the Buffs stayed unbeaten (4-0). Redshirt freshman Arielle Roberson scored 17 points, sophomore Jen Reese 14 and senior Chucky Jeffery 12. Reese also grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.

 

Roberson was named the tournament’s MVP, an award Jeffery had claimed the past two years. Joining both on the all-tournament team were Auburn’s Tyrese Tanner, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Janae Blount and San Diego State’s Courtney Clements.

The Buffs led 28-23 at halftime, but getting that five-point lead was difficult. When the Aztecs raced ahead 6-0, it doubled the largest deficit the Buffs had faced in their three previous games. And San Diego State (3-2) wasn’t content with that.

Over the next 5 minutes, the Aztecs built a 14-5 advantage and were limiting the Buffs’ looks at the basket. But at the 13:19 mark, CU began to click – mainly because it thumbed up its defensive intensity.

At about the 6 minute mark, the Aztecs were 5-of-17 from the field – and that made field goal number included San Diego State hitting its first two baskets of the game.

 

On the offensive end and from the free throw line, CU’s efficiency left much to be desired. Still, the Buffs began creeping back into it and fashioned a 13-2 run.

They finally caught the Aztecs at 16-16 on a Roberson follow of her own miss, then passed the visitors at 18-16 on a short Reese jumper.

In the half’s final 2:15, CU outscored San Diego State 7-1 to take its five-point lead to the locker room. During that span, CU got its only two treys of the first 20 minutes, courtesy of Roberson and Meagan Malcolm-Peck.

 

The Buffs hit only eight of 15 first-half free throw attempts and didn’t get their first offensive rebound until about 6 minutes in. But they finished with 17 boards, seven of them offensive, to match the Aztecs in that department. CU shot 42.9 percent from the field (12-of-28) to San Diego State’s 30.8 (8-of-26) before intermission.

 

A 5-0 run to open the second half gave the Buffs their largest lead of the game (33-23) – and they kept the pedal down. After the Aztecs closed to within six, a 7-2 CU run opened an 11-point advantage (42-31) with 13:02 to play. Reese was responsible for four of those points, with Jeffery converting a conventional three-point play for the others.

 

In the final 7 minutes, the Buffs led by as many as 15 – 67-52 with 25.8 to play – and the Aztecs never got closer than eight points.

CU hosts Wyoming Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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