Sunday, March 20, 2005
LOVELAND, Colo. – After Friday night’s one-point nail biter with the Dallas Fury, it was thought that a let down may be in store for Sunday, but Colorado came out with great energy to defeat the Birmingham Power 91-57 in front of an announced crowd of 2,106.

The 34-point margin of victory is the highest such margin in team history for Colorado, as they surpassed the 33-point spread they had earlier this season when San Jose visited the Budweiser Events Center.

Colorado’s Becky Hammon was again the star on the scoreboard for the Chill as she went off for 26 points in just 27 minutes of action. Hammon also finished with a game-best eight assists.

Only two other players, Erin Scholz and Ruth Riley, finished the game in double-figures for the Chill by scoring 11 and 13, respectively. Scholz also grabbed a team-high six rebounds in a reserve role for Colorado. Although the team only had three players in double-figures for the game, 11 of the 13 players that played scored for the Chill.

Nikki Rouillard was one of the two players that failed to score in the contest, but she did record three assists and four rebounds off of the bench.

The Power kept the game fairly close in the opening 20 minutes and they managed to narrow the halftime deficit to 10 points. Colorado came out smoking in the opening 90 seconds of the second half, as they quickly widened the gap to 17 points.

Colorado doubled the scoring output of Birmingham in the second half, 48-28, to take home the decisive victory. The Power connected on just one field goal attempt in the final seven minutes of the contest. Birmingham’s last nine points came at the charity stripe, where they finished 18-of-22 for the game.

The Chill shot .550 (33-60) from the field in the game and connected on 8-of-21 3-pointers. Probably the best stat of the night was from the free throw line where Colorado responded from a 70% shooting night against Dallas to shoot a perfect 17-of-17 against Birmingham. By comparison, Birmingham made just 17 field goals in the game and finished below 30% at .298.

Birmingham was led in scoring on the night by Shaquala Williams who scored 14 points, 12 in the first half, and Natasha Thomas who scored 13 points for the Power.

Colorado will wrap up the regular season by going on the road for the final two games. The Chill will first travel to Chicago to take on the Blaze on Friday, March 25 and then they will travel to San Jose to conclude the season on Sunday, March 27.

Win the victory tonight over the Power; Colorado has secured home court for the 2005 playoffs. The Chill will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, March 30 at 7:05 p.m. at the Budweiser Events Center. If Colorado were to win on March 30, the Chill will host the NWBL Pro Cup Championship Game on Friday, April 1.

Individual tickets will be available at the Budweiser Events Center and all Comcast ticket outlets beginning tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. General admission tickets will also be available for purchase at Triple Crown Sports (3930 Automation Way) tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Ticket prices begin at just $6 per ticket.

Group tickets for the 2005 playoffs can be purchased from the Budweiser Events Center by calling Tracie Fehringer at 970-619-4122. Group prices start at just $5 per ticket and range up to $11 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