Friday, February 4, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - Hitting the road for their longest trip of the season, the Colorado Chill got started on the right foot by defeating the Lubbock Hawks at the Rip Griffin Center by a final score of 82-81.

The game started similarly to the way it started on Sunday night in Colorado's 12-point victory over Lubbock, with the Hawks jumping out to an early lead.

Although Colorado out shot the Hawks in the first half, 46% to 38%, it was Lubbock that entered intermission with a three-point lead. In the first half, behind the defensive presence of Rochelle Luckett, Kelly Mazzante and Molly Creamer, Lubbock forced 15 first half turnovers by Chill. The Hawks turned the 15 turnovers into 20 points.

Lubbock took early control of the second half, going on a 13-0 run to take a 56-42 lead. This is when Becky Hammon and Ruth Riley took over for the Chill. In the next six-minutes, Colorado went on a 17-3 scoring run of their own to tie the game at 59. In the final nine minutes of the game, the action was back and forth with seven lead changes down the stretch.

Hammon's two free-throws with nine second remaining clinched the victory for the Chill, who improves to 8-1 on the season, while Lubbock falls to 4-4. Hammon led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the floor. Riley added 20 points of her own and also pulled-down 12 rebounds to notch her fifth double-double of the season, and first in the last five games.

Carrie Bacon and Katie Cronin were also in double-figures for Colorado, scoring 15 and 12 points respectively. Forward Erin Scholz was one point away from her third double-double of the season, scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The Hawks were led on the night by the 17 points of Jocelyn Penn, who finished the game 8-of-11 from the floor. She also tied for a team-high with five rebounds in the contest. Kelly Mazzante, 16 points, and Kesha Watson, 12, were the only other players to reach double-figures for Lubbock.

Colorado will now travel to Dallas to take on the Fury on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MST. The game with Dallas will be the second game of a three-game road trip for the Chill. The trip will see them play three games in three days in three different cities, concluding with an afternoon game in Chicago.

The Chill will not play at home again until Sunday, February 13, when the San Jose Spiders visit Colorado. Game time is set for 6 p.m. MST against the Spiders.

Group tickets for the remaining eight games can be purchased from the Budweiser Events Center by calling Tracie Fehringer at 970-619-4122. Group prices start at $5 per ticket for groups of 10 or more. Individual game tickets can be purchased online at www.comcasttix.com, by phone at 877-544-8499 or at the Budweiser Events Center Box Office.

The NWBL is a six-team league that features more than 25 active WNBA players. Other teams in the league include the Birmingham Power (Birmingham, Ala.); Dallas Fury (Dallas, Texas); Chicago Blaze (Naperville, Ill.); San Jose Spiders (San Jose, Calif.) and Lubbock Hawks (Lubbock, Texas). For more information on the NWBL, visit the league website at www.triplecrownsports.com.

Colorado Chill Women’s Basketball – (970) 223-6644
Aaron M. Moore, General Manager