WBB: Reese and Huggins HUGE in Pac 12 win

January 24, 2014

By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor

BOULDER – Desperately needing a win and an accompanying dose of confidence, the Colorado Buffaloes grabbed both Friday night at the Coors Events Center.

Powered by the solid mid-range shooting of Jen Reese and reserve Lauren Huggins’ rediscovered long-ball accuracy, CU disposed of Arizona 68-47 to snap a four-game Pac-12 Conference losing streak.

“It’s great to be back on the winning track,” CU coach Linda Lappe said. “You take the game or be taken . . . tonight we took the game and we have to continue to do that.”

Sunday would be an opportune time to continue. The Buffs are back at the Events Center at 1 p.m. to play No. 14 Arizona State on State Farm Day. Also, CU will recognize the 40th season of the women’s basketball program with a reunion featuring former staff and players.

With Friday night’s win, the Buffs (12-6, 2-5) improved to 11-3 all-time against the Wildcats (4-14, 0-7) and remained unbeaten against them in five meetings since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. CU’s record against Arizona in Boulder is now 7-1.

Lauren Huggins regained her long range shooting tuch with 5-for9 3-pointers

Reese, a junior from Clackamas, Ore., tied her career high with 22 points, hitting a career-best eight field goals in 13 attempts. Huggins, a redshirt freshman from Littleton, tied her career high by hitting five of her nine 3-point attempts for 15 points – one below her season and career highs. Huggins had been 2-of-16 from beyond the arc in the previous six Pac-12 games.

For Huggins, regaining focus and her long-distance shooting touch started with early week meetings involving her teammates and Lappe. Huggins said her teammates expressing their belief in her got her back on track: “My teammates said, ‘Shoot the ball, kid, that’s what you need to do.’ Just hearing that from my teammates gave me confidence . . .”

Lappe said players – maybe more so with shooters – often “forget their roles” during the course of a season. Lappe told Huggins “to keep it simple . . . don’t put the ball on the floor, be ready to catch it, slow down your mind and be a shooter.”

Huggins, who scored a career-high 16 points in November against Alcorn State, obviously did what her coach wanted. But Lappe saw another facet of Huggins’ game that was equally locked in – her defense, which Lappe said usually ignites Huggins at the other end. “I thought her defense was solid – the best it’s been,” Lappe said.

“Solid” also has been Reese’s calling card. “She’s a really special player,” Lappe said, comparing her to former NBA star Larry Bird in that while both might be missing the “wow” factor in their jumping ability and overall athleticism, both can be quietly spectacular in their results.

Lappe liked Reese’s offensive aggression against Arizona: “Even when she missed a couple, she took the next (shot) without thinking . . . it was good to see her settle in and not stop when she hit four or five.”

Jen Reese’s short jumpers gave her a career high 22 points

Reese credited her teammates for finding her “with great passes . . . and my shot felt good.”

Reese and Huggins got scoring assistance from Brittany Wilson, who added 12 points and was the only other CU player to reach double figures. Arizona’s Candace Warthen led her team with 14 points.

CU’s guard position suffered another hit with the loss of junior Lexy Kresl. Joining junior Jasmine Sborov (fractured foot) on the injury list, Kresl has a stress fracture in her lower right leg and could be out for a month or more, as could Sborov.

That duo comprised CU’s starting backcourt for the season’s first 15 games. Now, said Lappe, the Buffs must get “creative” with backcourt personnel and have reserves rise to the occasion. “Any time you have a player go down who’s played significant minutes, it hurts,” Lappe said, specifying that the Wilson twins – Brittany and Ashley – will share more minutes at point guard.

After a 14-2 run, the Buffs led by as many as 12 points (20-8) in Friday night’s first half and were up 29-22 at intermission. The Wildcats’ last first-half lead was 6-4 – and it would be their last of the night.

Reese supplied most of CU’s early offense, scoring eight of the first 11 points on two field goals and four free throws. She finished the half with 12 points and was the only Buffs player in double figures. During its 14-2 run, CU got a pair of 3-pointers from Huggins – and more were coming.

The Buffs were outrebounded 23-17 in the first half, but capitalized on a dozen Wildcats turnovers while committing only four. CU ended the night with a 33-32 board edge and pressured Arizona into 20 turnovers. Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field in the opening half, but the Buffs finished the night at 50 percent (24-of-48) while keeping the Wildcats at 34.6 percent.

“I liked how we responded in the second half,” Lappe said. “We came in and were the aggressors. We got everybody involved (and) it was nice to hit shots and get stops. We finished well; we’ve been working on that.”

A fast second-half start would greatly benefit the Buffs – and they came close enough. After Arizona got the first four points of the half, CU scored the next seven and restored a double-digit lead (36-26) with just over 16 minutes remaining.

Reese factored in that run, too, hitting a pair of free throws. Then it was Huggins’ turn to supply the offense. After Arizona’s Kama Griffits hit a 3-pointer, Huggins answered with a pair to push the Buffs ahead 42-31 with 14:12 to play.

When CU pushed ahead by 23 (60-37) on back-to-back treys by Huggins and Brittany Wilson with 7:20 left, all that was undecided was the winning margin.

“It was very important to get the win so we could get back on track,” Reese said. She attributed the much-needed redirection to the Buffs’ rediscovering their “mental toughness” and making “hustle plays . . . us focusing and getting back to our toughness as a team. I felt like we did that tonight.”

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU