Posts tagged women
Askia (Big Shot) Booker named Pac-12 P.of the W.
Dec 10th
BOULDER – University of Colorado junior guard Askia Booker was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Booker’s second career conference player of the week nomination comes on the heels of the Buffaloes making the Associated Press Top-25 poll for the first time this season as the No. 21 ranked team. The men also received 42 votes in the Coaches’ Poll and are slotted at the No. 27 team overall.
Booker helped CU upset then-No. 6/6 Kansas, 75-72 last Saturday, launching the game-winner with a 30-footer as time expired to keep the Buffaloes unbeaten at home (7-0). The victory also matched their longest winning streak since the 2005-06 season with nine wins in a row.
The junior guard from Los Angeles, tied for team-high honors against KU with 15 points, three rebounds and a steal. In addition to his game-winner, Booker also made pair of three-pointers to keep pace with the sixth ranked team in the country. With 3:39 remaining in the game, Booker gave the home team a six-point lead, then when the first half ended, hit his first trey of the game pushing CU to a 33-30 lead at the break. It’s the third time that Booker has made three treys in a game this season.
Earlier in the week, the Buffs won at Colorado State for the first time since 2007 with a 67-62 victory. Booker iced the game with 3 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws (12 points overall). It is Colorado’s fourth player of the week honor all-time since joining the Pac-12.
As team, it’s the first time the Buffaloes are ranked nationally since last season when they were the No. 19 ranked team in both polls on Nov. 26. They made their initial Top-25 breakthrough as the No. 23 ranked team on Nov. 19 when they started the season 6-0 en route to the Charleston Classic championship last November.
It’s also marks the first time since the end of the 1996-97 season that both CU men’s and women’s basketball programs are ranked at the same time. The men were ranked in the final AP Top-25 at No. 24, while the women ended that season No. 15 in the Coaches’ and No. 18 in the AP.
This season, the CU women are No. 11 in the latest AP poll for the second consecutive week.
“It’s nice for our University, the program and players that we are recognized as one of the elite teams in the country,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “But we aren’t going to get carried away with it. Just like we won’t be disappointed if we’re not in it. College basketball is different than college football in that polls don’t matter at the end of the day. I put more stock in RPI because the RPI doesn’t care who you are, it’s based on who you’ve played, strength of schedule, to me that’s more of a true indication, it’s less arbitrary.”
Ironically, it’s the second time in as many seasons the Buffaloes have entered the Top-25 when Booker was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week. Last season, Booker was named the MVP of the Charleston Classic after averaging 19.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 rebounds per game, helping the Buffs knock off Dayton, No. 16 Baylor and Murray State in four days.
Prior to last season, the CU men were last ranked in the Coaches’ Poll during the 2005-2006 campaign as the No. 25 team in back-to-back weeks (Jan. 30-Feb. 5; Feb. 6-12).
It’s only the second time the Buffs have been ranked before the start of conference play in 44 years, since a showing on the Dec. 30, 1969 poll, coming in at No. 20. Overall, it is the 34th time the Buffs have appeared in the AP rankings. CU’s highest ranking came on Dec. 18, 1963, coming in at No. 6.
Colorado (9-1) looks for its 10th straight win this Friday, Dec. 13 against Elon at the Coors Events Center beginning at 6:30 p.m. (MST). The Phoenix won 21 games last season and finished first in the Southern Conference Northern Division. This season, Elon (5-4) returns all five starters from a year ago and have won three-straight games.
Elon tickets start at $10. There’s also a Three-Game Holiday Plan available for Georgia (Dec. 28), Oregon State (Jan. 2) and Oregon (Jan. 5) starting at $30 for youth and seniors, $45 for adults.
CU All-Time in AP Polls
• CU has been ranked in 34 polls all-time.
• A top 10 ranking nine times.
• Highest ranking was No. 6, Dec. 18, 1963, the third poll of that season.
• Consecutive weeks ranked: 10 – last 7 polls of 1969, first three of 1970; in one season – 8; last 8 polls of the 1997 season.
• Most times ranked in one season – 8 in 1997; 7 in 1969; 6 in 1963.
• The AP poll was 20 teams from 1949-60, 10 teams from 1961-68 and back to 20 from 1969-1989, then 25 since 1990.
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It wasn’t pretty but #11 CU women stay undefeated
Dec 8th
And a strange afternoon of hoops in Boulder, but strange was good. The No. 11 Colorado women remained unbeaten with a 79-56 win over Illinois, but it was anything but business as usual in the Coors Events Center.
For starters, the Buffs (8-0) and Illini (5-5) had their pregame warm-up time shortened due to the aftermath of the CU’s men’s last-second upset of No. 6 Kansas. That game started at 1:20 p.m., with the women’s contest scheduled to begin just after 5 p.m. But it took longer than anticipated to clear the CEC court after it was stormed by CU students and fans following the electrifying 75-72 win.
Then, with 8:30 left in the first half of the women’s contest and the Buffs up 27-20, alarms sounded in the CEC. Play continued, but after a couple of possessions, the court and stands were cleared. A sprinkler head had burst in the loading dock area of the Events Center, triggering the alarms and stopping play for 20 minutes. Players went to their locker rooms, fans went to the building’s upper concourses.
Meanwhile, second-year Illinois coach Matt Bollant might not have known what he was missing. He was ill and remained at his Boulder hotel, which made associate head coach Mike Divilbiss the head man for the afternoon.
“There’s not much you can say in that situation,” Divilbiss said of the delay. “We’re a young team and it’s just one of those things – you just have to learn to get past the environment.”
Once back on the court, Illinois guard Amber Moore got a quick score but the Buffaloes quickly went up by double-digits for the first time on a three-pointer by Jen Reese (16 points) and a jumper byRachel Hargis (12) for a 32-22 lead.
Forward Jacqui Grant (game-high 20) helped keep Illinois close. When the Illini cooled off from the outside, they started going in and the 6-3 freshman scored four of her 15-first half points on a run that cut Colorado’s lead to 40-35.
But Lauren Huggins hit another 3-pointer and Hargis matched an Illinois score with a layup of her own to give the Buffaloes a 45-37 halftime advantage.
Reese hit her first three field goals of the second half as the Buffs built their lead to 20. A Jasmine Sborov trey and a soft Hargis layup pushed CU in front 62-42. But Illinois increased its press, contributing to the Buffs’ 20 turnovers, and crept to within 14 (62-48).
CU finally settled down as Sborov (10) hit a three-pointer at the 7:56 mark to push the lead back to 17 and the Illini were done.
“I thought it was a great win for our team,” CU coach Linda Lappe said, acknowledging Illinois’ athleticism, quickness and different defensive looks. “There were a lot of different obstacles and adversities through the game – not having the normal warm up time, having a fire alarm . . . I liked how we came out of being in the locker room for 15 minutes and got back into it. So, there were a lot of positives to take out of it.”
Once again, the Buffs’ balance was apparent. Four players, topped by Arielle Roberson’s 17, reached double figures and 10 of the players used by coach Linda Lappe scored. The Buffs outrebounded the Illini 51-30 and held the visitors to 30.8 percent shooting from the field (20-of-65).
In addition to her seven points, senior guard Brittany Wilson set career highs in assists (eight) and rebounds (13) and tied a career-best with three blocked shots.
“The ball just kept falling in my hands I guess and I just jumped up for rebounds and pushed the ball down the floor,” Wilson said. “I found open teammates – one being Jen Reese.”
CU committed 21 turnovers to Illinois’ 14, but Wilson said given the Illini’s average of forcing 26, the Buffs will take their 21 and move on. “You don’t want to have 21 turnovers a game,” she said, “but we won, so hey.”
Reese, who sat out the Wyoming game on Wednesday night with concussion symptoms a broken nose, said her fast start “was good to get the confidence up. Even if I did miss it, it’s short memory. But it was good to come back and it felt good.”
The Buffs are off until Thursday, when they host the University of Denver (7 p.m.).
CU women stay cool through big Iowa comeback, win 90-87
Nov 21st
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – The draw was clear, but it didn’t matter. Colorado students turned out by the hundreds for Wednesday night’s women’s basketball game matching No. 16 CU against previously unbeaten Iowa. Never mind that they came mostly for tickets to the men’s game on Dec. 7 against No. 2 Kansas.
All that mattered to CU coach Linda Lappe and her players was that the students showed up. Turns out, the Buffs needed them. They had a difficult time holding leads, but they held off the Hawkeyes nonetheless, winning 90-87 at the Coors Events Center.
At game’s end, students traded wrist bands given to them upon entering the CEC for the coveted KU tickets. The court was nearly stormed – not to celebrate a win – but in time the distribution of just under 2,000 tickets went smoothly. Another 500 will be made available to students.
“Whether they came for tickets or to watch us, it was their choice to come . . . I mean they were there, what more can you say?” said CU senior guard Brittany Wilson.
Wilson topped five Buffs in double figures. She started for the first time this season and scored a career-high 26 points – 17 in the first half. Arielle Roberson scored 17 points, contributed a game-best nine of CU’s 44 rebounds (Iowa had 35) and had a career-high six assists. Lexy Kresl scored 12, while Jasmine Sborov and Jen Reese added 10 points each for the Buffs.
Rounding back into form after a leg injury, Wilson hit seven of 10 free throws in the final 1:46 as the Buffs turned back their Big Ten visitors. For the foul-filled night (59 were called on both teams), CU hit 30-of-40 free throws to Iowa’s 21-of-32. The Hawkeyes lost three players to fouls, the Buffs two. But CU benefitted most at the line, getting 15 of its final 18 points at the free throw line in the last 4:54.
Lappe called the CU students “a huge help in a game like that . . . we enjoy having them and we hope they come back. Having students support you is important in women’s basketball. We knew the student section was going to be awesome.”
With the Twitter world abuzz Tuesday about the KU ticket distribution plan, Lappe had told her players to “keep a narrow focus” on Wednesday night.
The Buffs did, didn’t and finally did. A 20-point first-half lead was cut to two early in the second half. A 15-point second-half lead was cut to three in the final half minute. Yet the Buffs kept their cool, remained unbeaten (3-0) and eventually handed the Hawkeyes their first loss in five games.
“We knew they weren’t going to lay down and die,” Lappe said. “Their players play hard. But in the end I liked how we responded to every one of their runs. We could have folded; instead, we came down and hit shot, got key rebounds and got stops.”
The Buffs led by as many as 20 points (46-26) late in the first half, but a 9-2 run to close the half pulled the Hawkeyes to within 48-35 at intermission. The Buffs’ 48 first-half points were their most since the 2011 WNIT when they hit 50 against Cal, but they ended up allowing more than 70-plus points since the 2011-12 season.
CU forged its double-figure lead with a 17-0 surge that broke an 8-8 tie less than 5 minutes into the game. Wilson scored six points during the Buffs’ spurt but just as instrumental as her scoring in that run was CU’s defense. While the Buffs were going from that 8-8 tie to a 25-8 advantage, the Hawkeyes went without a field goal in six attempts. By the time Iowa found its range again, CU had opened its 20-point margin.
The Buffs shot 45.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, hitting 17 of their 37 attempts, while the Hawkeyes went to the locker room at 40.7 percent (11-of-27). Iowa finished the game at 46.9 percent, thanks to 51.4 percent second half shootinig.
If the Buffs believed they could open the second half in cruise control, the Hawkeyes quickly put an end to the notion. Less than 2 minutes into the final 20, CU’s 20-point first-half lead was a distant memory.
The Hawkeyes one-upped their 9-2 run that closed the first half, outscoring the Buffs 10-2 to pull to within five points (50-45) on a Theairra Taylor three-pointer with just over 17 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, CU saw its lead cut to three (54-51) on a pair of free throws by Iowa freshman guard Ally Disterhoft.
One of two free by freshman Alexa Kastanek shrunk the Hawkeyes’ deficit to 56-54 – and the Buffs were in dire need of a boost. They got it with a 15-2 run.
Field goals by Sborov and Roberson, coupled with two Roberson free throws and another pair by Reese, pushed CU back up by 10 (64-54) with 10:01 left. Kresl added a layup, aided by a sweet look-off of an Iowa defender, then freshman Lauren Huggins drained a three-pointer from the left corner.
Suddenly, the Buffs were back up by 15 points (71-56) and appeared to be out of danger. The Hawkeyes had something else in mind – and rolling over wasn’t it. They used a 12-1 run to get within four points again (72-68) until Huggins’ huge trey from the right wing opened a 79-72 CU lead with 3:28 remaining.
Again, Iowa wasn’t done. Four consecutive free throws by Melissa Dixon brought Iowa to within 79-75 with 2:02 to play, and a layup by Clair Till pulled the Hawkeyes to 84-80 with 41.4 seconds showing. They got to 85-82, then 87-84, then 90-87 at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Samantha Logic, who tied Wilson with a game-high 26 points.
Lappe called the win “huge” for her team “to gain confidence and for our young players to get some minutes and see what that looks like.”
And as for the CU students, added Kresl, “Maybe it opened their eyes to us.”
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