CU WBB get’s out of California 1-1

LOS ANGELES – No. 12/14 Colorado erased a late nine-point second half deficit to edge UCLA, 61-59, Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Jen Reese scored 15 points and Jamee Swanhad nine points and nine rebounds giving the Buffaloes (11-1, 1-1 Pac-12) a conference opening-weekend road split of the Southern California schools.

Trailing 52-43 with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left, the Buffaloes clamped down on defense and held the Bruins scoreless for the next 4:06 as CU embarked on a 10-0 run.

Jenn Reese, who scored 15 points, has become a mainstay in CU’s offense

Reese started the run off with a made free throw. She missed the second but Swan corralled the layup and scored to cut the Bruins lead to six.

UCLA (7-8, 1-2) missed three straight shots and had a couple of turnovers as the Buffaloes whittled the lead down to 52-48 with 4:09 left on a pair of Ashley Wilson free throws.

After two more defensive stops, Arielle Roberson drilled a long two-pointer at the top of the key at the 2:53 mark.

Jamee Swan had nine points and nine rebounds. This photo was taken in high school

On the next possession, Brittany Wilson tied up Thea Lemberger with the arrow in the Buffs favor.

Brittany Wilson was fouled and hit one of two free throws to cut the UCLA lead to one at 52-51. She missed the second one, but the scramble for the ball fell out of bounds in CU’s favor. Wilson then drove the lane and scored on a layup in traffic as CU regained the lead at 53-52 with 2:32 left.

UCLA’s Luliana Livulo hit a couple of free throws at 2:14 as the Bruins briefly retook the lead. But Reese hit a jumper at the top of the key, in the exact same spot as Roberson’s earlier jumper, to give Colorado a 55-54 lead with 1:55 left. After a defensive stop for CU, and both teams swapping turnovers, Swan scored on a layup for a 57-54 lead.

The Buffaloes kept the Bruins out of reach at the free throw line. Lexy Kresl hit a pair to extend the lead to five. UCLA’s Nirra Fields, who led all players with 23 points, countered with a layup. She was fouled and hit the subsequent free-throw to cut the CU lead to 59-57 with 16 seconds left.

Brittany Wilson was fouled immediately and hit one of two from the line to up the CU lead to three. Lemberger attacked the rim and scored with eight ticks left to knock the lead back to one at 60-59.

Wilson again was sent to the line and again hit one of two. With no timeouts left, Lemberger hustled down the floor took a contested runner in the lane. Livulo grabbed the offensive rebound but her put back fell short at the buzzer.

Jasmine Sborov had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Buffaloes. Atonye Nyingifa had a double-double for the Bruins with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Colorado returns home to host the Bay Area schools next weekend. The Buffaloes will have their Pac-12 home opener on Friday, Jan. 10, by playing California at 8 p.m. Colorado will then face Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled for the Pac-12 Network.