Posts tagged MST
Buffs Withstand Cardinal Rally, Hold On For 59-56 Win
Mar 6th
By Anthony Lepine, CU Student Assistant
STANFORD, Calif. – After back-to-back losses, the Colorado men’s basketball team got the win it desperately needed, holding on to defeat Stanford 59-56 Wednesday night in a game that likely will prove to be critical as March Madness looms.
Colorado (21-9, 10-7 Pac-12) withstood a Stanford comeback at Maples Pavilion and made free throws down the stretch to pick up its 21st regular season victory, matching the 1996-97 team for the best in school history.
“Getting a victory like this on the road is huge for our team,” CU coach Tad Boyle said on KOA Radio 850. “This team has an opportunity to set itself apart from any other team in the University of Colorado basketball history.”
Josh Scott scored 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Buffs
Securing the win, Boyle continued, “wasn’t easy. Our defense played good enough to keep us in the game until our offense got back going.”
Leading 46-38 after a jumper by Askia Booker with 14:15 to play, the Buffaloes watched the Cardinal (18-11, 9-8) come back to tie the game at 46-46. CU didn’t score again until Xavier Johnson’s jump shot with 5:59 remaining produced a 48-46 lead.
A 13-2 run briefly gave Stanford a late lead, but CU refused to wilt. Although still trailing the Cardinal 9-6 in the series, the Buffaloes lead 3-2 in Pac-12 play with three consecutive wins. It is the longest winning streak in the series dating to 1932.
“This was a big win for us,” said Johnson, one of two Buffs in double figures with 14 points. “For us to go nine minutes without scoring and still come out with the victory means that we’ve made great progress as a team.”
Josh Scott led CU with 17 points and 11 rebounds, posting his 12th double-double of the season and the 14th of his career.
Chasson Randle dominated for Stanford, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field, while teammate Josh Huestis added nine points.
Colorado had a comfortable eight point lead in the second half until Randle single-handedly brought the Cardinal back. In its 13-2 run, Randle accounted for 10 points, including a 7-0 run of his own. Thanks in part to his heroics, Stanford managed to recapture its first lead since the 11:29 mark in the first half.
But the Buffs refused to crumble, answering with a 7-0 run capped by a Xavier Talton 3-pointer to take a 55-51 lead. However, Randle answered again with a conventional three-point play to bring Stanford within one (55-54) with 1:17 remaining.
With 45 seconds left, Colorado committed a shot-clock violation, giving Stanford possession. The Cardinal again looked to Randle for the lead but Askia Booker stripped him of the ball and then connected on 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled.
After a Stanford 3-point attempt rimmed out, Scott came away with the rebound, then gave the Buffs a four-point lead by hitting two free throws.
Talton was the last Buff to go to the free throw line, making one of two and putting CU up 59-56. Randle had one last chance to be Stanford’s hero, but his final trey attempt was off the mark.
CU, which led 33-28 at halftime, got some first-half production from Ben Mills and Eli Stalzer (seven points combined) to help the offense find its groove. The Buffs shot close to 50 percent from the field (11-of-24) while holding Stanford to merely 30 percent shooting (10-of-32) in the first 20 minutes.
Colorado benefited as forward Dwight Powell, Stanford’s second- leading scorer (14.6 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg), limited himself by picking up three personal fouls in the first half and then committing his fourth personal with 11:54 remaining in the game.
Powell would foul out with 2 minutes remaining in the contest, finishing with just eight points and two rebounds in 28 minutes.
Under Boyle, Colorado is now 39-2 when out-rebounding and holding its opponent to under 40 percent from the field. The Buffaloes edged Stanford 39-31 on the boards and held the Cardinal to 36 percent (21-of-57) on its field goal attempts.
Colorado concludes the regular season and its Bay-Area road trip with a game at California on Saturday (4:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Network). The Pac-12 Tournament begins on March 12 in Las Vegas.
Buffs come to play but no match for Stanford’s Ogwumike
Jan 12th
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes battled gallantly on Sunday afternoon to find the edge their coach said they lacked, but making it pay off against Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike and the No. 4 Cardinal was too big a task.
No. 17 CU cut a 19-point second-half deficit to seven in the final minute before finally succumbing 87-77 at the Coors Events Center. The Buffs (11-4, 1-3) dropped to 0-3 against ranked opponents this season and 7-2 at the CEC.
On Friday night, the Buffs were edged 57-55 by No. 19 California, and CU coach Linda Lappe challenged her team to play with more toughness. The Buffs did that on Sunday, but they struggled to find an answer for the Cardinal’s Ogwumike, who scored 34 points and collected 16 rebounds. The Stanford All-American scored 20 of her total in the first half, when the Cardinal (15-1, 4-0) rolled to a 55-38 lead.
Sophomore Jamee Swan had the best night in her Buff career, with 20 points and 13 rebounds
Lappe called Ogwumike “one of the best players in the nation,” and Ogwumike’s performance underscored that. Ogwumike’s 34 points were the most by a CU opponent since Iowa State’s Lindsey Wilson scored 41 – the record against the Buffs – on Feb. 26, 2003.
Despite Ogwumike’s dominance, CU showed second-half resiliency, a response Lappe liked. “I definitely liked the way we fought back,” she said. “Any time you lose a tough one like we lost on Friday, you can go in either one of two directions; you can feel sorry for yourself or you can show a lot of courage, character and resiliency, and I really liked seeing our fight and our toughness tonight.
“I thought we fixed a lot of things that we talked about during film on Saturday, but Stanford’s good. You have to give them a lot of credit. It’s fair to say that they are at least the second best team in the nation . . . I felt like we gave it our best shot, put our best foot forward. We didn’t back down and you have to like that from our team.”
Veteran Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said she “wasn’t impressed” by her team’s overall effort: “I just think we looked a little tired. We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be. We have a great player in Chiney, and she really battled in there tonight.”
Chiney Ogwumike had 32 points for Stanford
VanDerveer also credited CU, calling the Buffs “a top 20 team. They battled. Linda Lappe does a great job with her team. They are a very, very well coached team and she showed it tonight.”
Ogwumike got first-half help from freshman Karlie Samuelson, who scored 17 of her career-high 19 points in the opening half. Samuelson, who arrived in Boulder with a 3.8 point average, hitting five of her eight first-half 3-point attempts and both of her free throw tries.
Hitting four of its first five 3-point attempts, Stanford finished 10-of-21 from behind the arc and hit 21 of its 24 free throw attempts. CU had allowed just four 3-pointers in 29 attempts in its first three Pac-12 games and led the conference in 3-point defense (13.8 percent).
CU forward Arielle Roberson contended some of Samuelson’s long-range accuracy came from the Buffs’ “mental lapses” and wasn’t that surprising. “We knew she was a shooter, but we continued to let her get her shots off, so nothing is shocking about that because Stanford has great shooters,” Roberson said. “We weren’t in the correct matchup or helping off too much or not finding her in transitions. Miscommunications.”
CU was without junior guard Jasmine Sborov, who was on crutches after being diagnosed with a broken bone in her foot.
The Buffs got a career-best performance from sophomore forward Jamee Swan, who had team highs in points (20) and rebounds (13). Also scoring in double figures were Roberson (19), Brittany Wilson (15) and Lexy Kresl (10).
“I feel like I played pretty well,” Swan said. “I don’t think I could have done it without having my teammates helping me get to places I needed to get to and getting me the ball and all that kind of stuff. But it’s another game. It was a great game.”
Lappe called Swan’s performance “fantastic. We knew that we were going to need Jamee in games like this and she was going at a good pace today. She was aggressive; she’s a tough rebounder and physical player and at times, she gave Stanford a lot of problems.
“I liked her decision-making with the ball, I liked the way that she scored, and she played pretty good defense as well. It was tough to take her off the floor because we weren’t getting the rebounds we needed to get when she was not in there. I’m really proud of her stepping up and playing the best game she’s played all year.”
The Cardinal held a 19-point lead on two occasions early in the second half, but the Buffs refused to roll. They cut the deficit to 82-73 on a 3-pointer by Lauren Huggins, then to 82-75 on two free throws by Wilson with 1:02 to play.
But that was as close they got to the Cardinal, now 6-0 against the Buffs since CU joined the Pac-12 in 2011 and 11-4 all-time.
The Buffs stayed with the visitors for the game’s first 2:47, but after a 6-6 tie, Stanford began pulling away behind the 3-point shooting of Samuelson. After Ogwumike broke the tie with a trey, senior guard Sara James hit a three, giving the Cardinal a 12-6 lead.
And Stanford was off and bombing.
Less than 2 minutes later, Samuelson drained threes on consecutive possessions, pushing the Cardinal ahead 20-11 with 14:32 left before intermission. Stanford led by as many as 18 (46-28) before ending the half on – what else? – a Samuelson trey at the buzzer that gave her team a commanding 55-38 advantage.
Stanford, which normally shoots 47.9 percent from long range, was 8-of-15 (53 percent) from behind the arc, accounting for most of the damage as CU gave up its highest first-half total of the season and the most since 2006.
The Buffs entered the game allowing only 59 points a game and 57 in Pac-12 play. If CU was to have a chance at catching up, its defense would have to tighten dramatically.
An early second-half basket by Ogwumike gave the Cardinal its biggest lead – 59-40 – before the Buffs finally ratcheted up their ‘D.’ It helped when Ogwumike went to the bench briefly with three fouls at the 15-minute mark, and CU took advantage.
A 7-0 run on back-to-back baskets from Brittany Wilson and a three-point play by Swan pulled the Buffs to within 11 points (63-52) with 13:03 left. Stanford answered with an 8-0 run – six of the points by Ogwumike – and went back in front by 19 (71-52) with just under 9 minutes to play.
But CU wasn’t done. Runs of 5-0 and 6-0 pulled the Buffs back to within seven points before the Cardinal finally closed it out.
The Buffs play at Washington State on Friday (8 p.m. MST) and Washington on Sunday (5 p.m. MST)
CU women in the biggest comeback of the season, down Oregon State by 3 points in overtime
Mar 3rd
CORVALLIS, Ore. –
It was a wild ride: 18 points down in in the first half, three points up with seconds to play in the game, with Oregon State’s half court shot at the buzzer forcing the game into overtime. The Buffs got ahead and O-State caught up, again and again, but Colorado held on for the victory.
It was a wild ride: 18 points down in in the first half, three points up with seconds to play in the game, with Oregon State’s half court shot at the buzzer forcing the game into overtime. The Buffs got ahead and O-State caught up, again and again, but Colorado held on for the victory.
CU shot just 33.8 percent from the field but out rebounded the Beavers 49-36. Senior guard Chucky Jeffery scored a game-high 25 points, while redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson earned her second career double-double Sunday with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Eight of those were on the offensive end, a number just two off from the program record.
Chucky Jeffery scored 25 points to lead the BuffsThe victory brought the Buffs’ record to 24-5 overall, equaling the program record for number of regular-season wins.The victory brought the Buffs’ record to 24-5 overall, equaling the program record for number of regular-season wins
The victory brought the Buffs’ record to 24-5 overall, equaling the program record for number of regular-season wins.
“We knew how we wanted to end the regular season, but now it’s one-and-done from here on out,” said Jeffery, who also contributed seven rebounds. “We had a heck of a regular season, but now it’s Pac-12 tournament time, and anybody can win.”
With a win over Oregon on Friday, the Buffs secured a No. 4 seed and first-round bye at the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, set for March 7-10 at the Key Arena in Seattle.
But even with a first-round bye already locked down, the Buffs had no easy go of Sunday’s matchup against the Beavers.
“Coach said this was probably how the game was probably going to go,” Jeffery said of OSU’s aggressiveness. “They weren’t going to come out and give it to us, we were going to have to earn it, and that’s what they did. I think it was a good game for us to end our regular season on, it was very competitive.”
It was senior day for the Beavers at Gill Coliseum, and the strength of the OSU upperclassmen showed early. Four OSU seniors hit the court at some point in the first nine minutes of the game, helping the Beavers to a 22-9 lead with 11:05 left in the half.
OSU seniors Mollee Schwegler, Quortni Fambro and Patricia Bright put up a combined 15 points in the half, including two Schwegler three-pointers in the first four minutes. The Beavers built their largest lead, 18, at the 6:50 mark, but CU responded with a 14-2 run to head into the locker room trailing by just five (28-33).
“We don’t give up,” Jeffery said. “They were hitting shot after shot, and it was kind of draining us, but we just had to keep plugging . . . we started cutting the lead, and we started getting settled, getting stops on defense and making baskets.”
Jeffery opened the second half with a layup and made two free throws to bring the Buffs back within one (33-32), but a strong OSU defense held CU to just four points over the next six minutes.
But then it was OSU’s turn for a scoring drought, as CU turned up the energy on both ends of the court with a 15-4 run. Junior center Rachel Hargis gave the Buffs their first lead of the game with a jumper at the 7:09 mark, and while CU would build a five-point lead with 2:12 on the clock, the Beavers weren’t done yet. With nine seconds remaining, OSU freshman guard Jamie Weisner hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 56-56 send the game into overtime.
The Buffs went on a 7-1 run to gain a six-point overtime lead, but OSU would fight to the finish as Weisner hit another three with 30 seconds on the clock. Jeffery then hit one of two free throws, but OSU guard Ali Gibson responded with a deep, nearly half-court trey to close CU’s lead to one (64-63) with 6.3 seconds remaining.
Roberson was fouled on the next possession and made two crucial free throws, and OSU missed its buzzer-beater shot to give the Buffs the 66-63 win.
“You can’t ever think that it’s not your day,” CU head coach Linda Lappe said of the Buffs’ comeback. “You’ve just got to find different ways to get things done . . . you’ve got to make sure that little things don’t affect you. We could have even let that half-court shot affect us, but we didn’t, and I really liked our resolve.”
Lappe said OSU’s competitiveness down the stretch was critical for the Buffs to experience before postseason play.
“I think it was so great for us to get a win like this,” Lappe said. “Now every game is win and you move forward, lose and you go home. It’s a different kind of pressure, but it’s also a lot more fun . . . I feel like Oregon State prepared us to play at a high level game in and game out and possibly multiple days in a row.”
Postgame Notes:
Colorado improves to 24-5 overall, 13-5 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes finish the regular season in sole possession of fourth place in final league standings and will be the No. 4 seed and have a first round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament played in Seattle, March 7-10. CU will play the winner of No. 5 Oregon and No. 12 Washington on Friday, March. 8, at 9:30 p.m. MST.
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