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Buff women host b’ball tournament this weekend
Nov 22nd
BENCH PRODUCTION: Colorado scored 42 bench points in the win over UMKC. The bulk of those came from freshman forward Arielle Roberson who scored 23 points in 19 minutes off the bench on 9-of-12 from the field. Her 23 bench points are tied for the second most in the past 10 years and her nine field goals are the most. Only Bianca Smith, with 25 points off the bench against San Jose State on Dec. 22, 1999, had a bigger bench game in the last 10 years.
ROBERSON EARNS FIRST HONOR: Forward Arielle Roberson was named the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week for the week of Nov. 5-12. The Pac-12 has added Freshman of the Week to its weekly honors for the first time this season, joining the standard Player of the Week honor which this week went to Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike. Roberson, a 6-1 forward from San Antonio, had a sparkling collegiate debut, scoring 16 points on 7-of-13 from the field as Colorado defeated Idaho 70-65 in its season opener on Nov. 11. She grabbed six rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end, while collecting five steals, two assists and two blocked shots. Her five steals were the most by a freshman in her CU debut since all-time leading scorer Brittany Spears had five in her initial game at San Francisco in 2007. Her final steal was critical as it came with under one minute left with the Buffaloes hanging on to a five-point lead. Roberson’s honor is CU’s second weekly award in the Pac-12 since the Buffaloes joined the conference in 2011.
Chucky Jeffery earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors last December, ironically following a stellar performance (30 points, 10 rebounds) against this same Idaho squad. Jeffery and fellow senior Meagan Malcolm-Peck both earned Freshman of the Week honors in the Big 12 Conference, during the 2009-10 season.
ARIELLE & ANDRE: The Roberson’s are the only brother/sister tandem on the 2012-13 basketball rosters from the same school in the Pac-12 Conference. They’re one of five brother/sister tandems on 2012-13 basketball rosters in Division I. The Big Ten has two tandems, followed by
one each in the ACC, Mountain West and the Pac-12 Conferences. CU has another brother/sister pair on the ski team with freshmen Maria and Gustav Nordstrom from Sweden. Colorado (Pac-12): Arielle (Fr.) and Andre Roberson (Jr.) Air Force (Mountain West): Alicia (Sr.) and Marshall Leipprandt (Fr.) Indiana (Big Ten): Kaila (Fr.) and Jordan Hulls (Sr.) Ohio State (Big Ten): Caite (Fr.) and Aaron Craft (Jr.) Virginia (ACC): Sarah Beth (So.) and Tayor Barnette (Fr.)
SEEING DOUBLE: Colorado is used to getting double takes from fans and opponents, as the Buffaloes once again sport two pairs of identical twins on its roster. Brenna and Meagan Malcolm-Peck are senior wing players while Ashley and Brittany Wilson are junior guards. Brenna is the older of the two Malcolm-Pecks by 27 minutes. Ashley is the older of the Wilson twins, by only five minutes.
BUFFS SIGN FOUR TO NLI’s: Zoe Beard-Fails, Desiree Harris, Haley Smith and Briana Watts have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball and continue their education at the University of Colorado in 2013-14 head coach Linda Lappe announced on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period. Beard-Fails is a 6-2 forward from Herndon, Va., and attends Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. She missed all but five games of her junior year with an ACL and meniscus tear, but is nearing full strength as her senior season commences. The 51st rated forward in the nation according to ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz, Beard-Fails averaged 27 points and nearly 18 rebounds as a sophomore for Georgetown Day in 2010-11, earning fourth team All-Met honors from the Washington Post.
Harris is a 5-8 guard from Oakland, Calif., who attends St. Joseph Notre Dame High school in Alameda. She averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.7 assists as a junior, helping the Pilots to the North Coast Section championship. Harris was a CIF All-State Division V second team selection as well as a Bay Shore Athletic League second team pick. Smith, a 6-0 wing from Sammamish, Wash., is getting ready for her senior season at Skyline High School. A do-it-all player for the Spartans, she averaged around seven points, five rebounds and just under two assists and steals per game as a junior. Smith is in her fourth varsity season with the Spartans and also has had a successful club career playing with the Tree of Hope program. ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz has her as the top prospect in the state of Washington and the 20th ranked wing in the nation. Watts, a 6-4 center from Fresno, Calif., will make her debut with Clovis West High School this winter after playing her first three years at rival Buchanan. She was the first commit of the 2013 class. Watts averaged nearly six points and just over six rebounds per game for Buchanan as a junior, contributing to the Bears’ 18-9 record and a spot in the CIF Central Section Division I semifinals. BUFFS IN
OPENERS: With its win over Idaho, Colorado improved to 34-5 (.872) all-time in season openers and 37-2 (.949) in all-time home openers. The Buffs opened the season with a home game for the 27th time in 39 seasons, and moved to a perfect 27-0 in those instances.
BUFFS IN EXHIBITION: Colorado improved to a perfect 23-0 in exhibition games with its 87-38 win over Western State University Colorado. The Buffaloes have outscored their exhibition opponents by just over 31 points per game (86.0 to 54.7). Colorado’s 38 points allowed against WSCU were its fewest in an exhibition since the Buffaloes beat Colorado Mines 58-31 in 2007. The 49-point margin was the most in an exhibition since the Buffaloes defeated Spartak Moscow 115-55 in 2002. The Buffaloes have played at least one exhibition game in all but one year (2009) since 1997. CU’s exhibition games have featured a mix of NCAA II schools, foreign teams and traveling all-star teams.
BUFFS PICKED NINTH: Coming off its first 20-win season in eight years, Colorado was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 in 2013, according to the league’s annual Preseason Coaches Poll and Media Poll. In the Coaches Poll, 2012 NCAA Women’s Final Four participant Stanford was picked to win the Pac-12, compiling the maximum amount of points (121) and first place votes (11) possible. 2012 Pac-12 runner-up and NCAA participant California claimed the other first place vote and was second in the poll (109). UCLA was third with 100 points followed by USC (91), Arizona State and Oregon State (67), Utah (56), Washington (54), Colorado (49), Washington State (40), Oregon (20) and Arizona (18). Colorado’s ninth place preseason rating is its highest in the last nine years since Buffaloes were picked to finish seventh in the 2004-05 Big 12 Coaches Poll. The Media Poll was nearly identical in order. Stanford was picked to win with 12 first place votes and 166 total. California was second with 155 points and two first place votes. UCLA was third (136) followed by USC (123), Oregon State (106), Arizona State (100), Washington (80), Utah (72), Colorado (57), Washington State (47), Oregon (25) and Arizona (22).
MEDIA TABS JEFFERY: Along with picking the order of Pac-12 finish, the media selected a preseason All-Pac-12 team. Senior guard Chucky Jeffery was one of six individuals selected, along with California’s Layshia Clarendon, Washington’s Jazmine Davis, Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike, UCLA’s Markel Walker and Arizona’s Davellyn Whyte. BUFFS EXPERIENCED
FROM DEEP: While Colorado looks to achieve balance on its 2012-13 squad, there is no questioning its experience from shooting from the perimeter. The Buffaloes have four players with at least 50 career 3-point field goals, and all four rank among CU’s career Top 20. Senior Meagan Malcolm-Peck tops current Buffs with 81 and ranks 12th on CU’s all-time list. Junior Brittany Wilson is 14th all-time with 73. Lexy Kresl, who set CU’s freshman record in 2011-12 is 15th with 66. Senior Chucky Jeffery rounds out the current Buffs at 18th with 53.
JEFFERY MOVING UP CAREER LADDERS: Junior guard Chucky Jeffery ranks among Colorado’s all-time leaders in several categories. She is sixth in assists (362), ninth in steals (217), 12th in rebounds (669), 16th in blocks (57), 17th in field-goals made (458), 18th in scoring (1,223), 3-point field goals made (53) and free-throws made (254). Colorado is 10-7 in its last 17 true road games, including postseason, dating back to the end of the 2010-11 season.
CU will make its first television appearance on Dec. 11 at Denver on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain. The Buffaloes make their Pac-12 Network debut on Friday, Jan. 4 against defending league champion Stanford; their first of four straight televised games on the network. Colorado will have fi ve straight road games televised beginning with Utah on Jan. 13, through a Super Bowl Sunday match-up at USC on Feb. 3. CU’s final regular season televised game will be Feb. 8 at home against Oregon State. Entering the 2012-13 season, CU has appeared on 99 regional or national telecasts over the previous 11 seasons.
CU Buffs Ranked #23, Booker Pac-12 Player of the Week
Nov 19th
By Curtis Snyder, Associate SID |
| BOULDER—The Colorado men’s basketball team appeared in the Associated Press poll for the first time in 15 years and sophomore guard Askia Booker was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week Monday on the heels of the Buffs winning the Charleston Classic and Booker being named tournament MVP.
Booker averaged 19.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 rebounds per game en route to MVP honors, helping the Buffs knock off Dayton, No. 16 Baylor and Murray State in four days in Charleston, S.C. Booker scored 16 points in the quarterfinal round and added four assists. He then scored a career high 19 points with three assists and three steals in the win over Baylor and bettered that performance with 23 points and four steals in the championship game against the Racers. Booker shot over 50 percent from the field, knocking down 24-of-47 shots, and made seven 3-pointers to help the Buffs to their first in-season tournament championship since 2003 Pepsi Classic, not far from Charleston in Charlotte, N.C. The Buffs came it at No. 23 in the AP poll, the first time the program has been ranked in a major poll since earning back-to-back No. 25 rankings in the Coaches Poll during the 2005-06 season. In the AP poll, it is the first ranking since appearing at No. 24 in the final poll of the 1996-97 season, when Chauncey Billups led the Buffs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It’s the first time the Buffs have been ranked before the start of conference play in 42 years, since a showing on the Dec. 30, 1969, poll, coming in at No. 20. Overall, it is the 32nd time the Buffs have appeared in the AP rankings. CU’s highest ranking came on Dec. 18, 1963, coming in at No. 6. The Buffs returned to Boulder Monday and have a few days off to recover from three games in four days, next hitting the court on Sunday against Air Force, a 6 p.m. tip off at the Coors Events Center. [includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″] |
Brooks: Young Buffs Bring Home Charleston Championship
Nov 19th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
CHARLESTON, S.C. – If some of the Colorado Buffaloes are still wet behind the ears, they are also gritty beyond their years. The young Buffs capped a rugged three-game run with an 81-74 win against Murray State here Sunday night to win the Charleston Classic, giving CU its first in-season tournament title since the 2002-03 team won the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte, N.C.
It was a good week for CU in the dank, drizzly Old South for a number of reasons, starting with:
Askia Booker was high scorer for the Buffs
- Sophomore Askia Booker compiled 58 points in three games – a 19.3 average and a career-high 23 in the championship game – and was named the tournament’s MVP. No other Buffs were chosen to the all-tournament team, more of a testament to the strong and individually talented field than a CU slight.
- After successfully defending three premier point guards – Dayton’s Kevin Dillard, Baylor’s Pierre Jackson, Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan – CU sophomore Spencer Dinwiddie might return to Boulder with a lock-down rep. He was into them like a virus. “He did a great job . . . he took on the responsibility of their guards,” Booker said. “I give all the praise to him. He took all the pressure off of me.” But Dinwiddie also found time to score: He finished the championship game with 13 points.
- Freshmen post Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson and freshmen guards Eli Stalzer and Xavier Talton did what was asked of them in their roles. Scott scored nine of his 13 points in Sunday night’s decisive second half, when CU wanted to take the battle to Murray State in the low block. He also snagged six rebounds. Stalzer and Talton spelled Booker and Dinwiddie. Johnson, said coach Tad Boyle, let a couple of fouls diminish his aggression.
- Junior Andre Roberson scored for the first time in double figures (16) this season and finished one rebound short (nine) of his first double-double this year. Even though it was waved off because of an alleged charge, he had a thunderous dunk in the second half that Boyle called an energy boost for his team.
- The Buffs discovered that, yes, they can shoot free throws when a game is on the line. After clanking and clunking them in the first two games – including missing 14 of 18 against Baylor – they sank 27 of 36 Sunday night. In the game’s final 7:58, CU hit 18 of 20. Dinwiddie stuck 11 of 12.
- And Boyle went to 4-0 for the first time in his three seasons as CU’s head coach and now must find room for the Charleston Classic trophy along the Pac-12 Conference tournament hardware his team claimed last March. Boyle also got a congratulatory handshake Sunday night from Bill Murray – no relation to Murray State – and promised he “didn’t throw any Caddy Shack lines at him. He probably gets that all the time. It was good to meet him and he said he liked our team.”
What wasn’t to like about the Buffs in their three games here, particularly Sunday night? CU advanced to the championship game with a 67-57 win against Dayton, then by edging No. 16 Baylor 60-58. Murray State started four seniors and a junior from a team that went 32-2 last season.
Booker called winning the tournament “a confidence booster for everybody. We played three good teams . . . we can play with anybody. There’s nobody in the country we can’t compete against and win. We play team ball and it comes down to defense and rebounding at the end of the day. Coach tells that to us every day.”
Shooting 45.2 percent from the field, the Racers are the only team this season the Buffs haven’t held below their goal of 40 percent. But CU outrebounded Murray State 35-30 and won the board battle in two of the three games here.
Boyle was particularly proud of his team’s ball screen defense against the high-profile three point guard the Buffs faced. “It was a team victory, offensively and defensively, and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and players,” he said.
But Boyle, of course, believes there can/will be improvement through November. The Buffs don’t play during Thanksgiving week, returning to the Coors Events Center on Sunday, Nov. 25 to face Air Force (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Boyle is looking at this week as quality practice time.
CU led 33-31 at halftime Sunday night, rallying from a pair of six-point deficits. Boyle had cautioned his team about Canaan’s long-range shooting, and it didn’t take long for the CU coach’s words to ring true. The 6-1 senior took six of Murray State’s 14 first-half three-point attempts and hit half of them – the last two appearing a couple of steps beyond NBA range.
Dinwiddie rolled his eyes in disbelief. “People just don’t do that,” he said. “Not that people can’t, but it’s just the coach never says please go and shoot a 35-footer. So I wasn’t expecting it. He’s a great player, very difficult to guard.”
Canaan finished with a team-best 21 points, but didn’t hit a trey in the second half.
The Buffs hurt themselves with a season-worst 11 first-half turnovers, exceeding their first two game totals here by two. But they continued to compensate with defense and rebounding, holding the Racers to 35.7 percent from the field (10-of-28) and outboarding them 19-14. And in the second half, CU cut its turnovers to six.
The Buffs opened the second half with a 6-2 run, getting baskets from Johnson, Sabatino Chen and Roberson to go up 39-33, with that six-point advantage CU’s largest of the game. But Boyle also had warned his players to keep 6-7 Ed Daniel off the glass, and the next two Racers possessions showed why. A put-back stuff cut the Buffs lead to 39-35 and a layup on the next trip made it 39-37.
Then Murray State’s three-point shooters switched on. Stacy Wilson hit one, giving the Racers a 40-39 lead, Dinwiddie banked in a trey to push the Buffs back in front 42-40, then Dexter Fields answered with a triple to give Murray State a 43-42 edge.
A back-and-forth half appeared to be underway until CU unleashed a 6-0 run highlighted by back-to-back stuffs by Scott on a baseline move and Booker on a breakaway. That surge opened a 48-45 Buffs lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Seconds later, after Murray State coach Steve Prohm was whistled for a technical, a pair of Dinwiddie free throws sent CU’s advantage to 50-45. Things were heating up. Roberson picked up his third foul when he was called for a charge on his he-man jam over Daniel.
At the 10 minute mark, a sweet baseline move by Scott resulted in a layup and capped a 10-0 run that had opened a 52-45 CU lead. Murray State was far from done, answering with a 7-0 run capped by another trey by Fields to tie the score at 52-52 with 8 minutes left.
The next 3 minutes were all Buffs; they went on an 11-1 run highlighted by free throws from Scott, Adams and Chen; another Scott field goal from the low post and a Booker trey from the left wing.
With 5:02 to play, CU led 63-53. Murray State closed to 63-58 on a conventional three-point play by Daniel – and Roberson also picked up his fourth foul on that play.
At 1:51, another trey by Fields brought the Racers to 68-65 and prompted a timeout by Prohm. CU answered with a free throw line jumper by Booker, two free throws by Chen. Wilson hit a long trey with a minute remaining (72-68), but Scott negated that with a layup and a free throw to restore CU’s seven-point lead (75-68).
Roberson fouled out with 13.4 seconds left, sending Daniel to the free throw line for a potential three-point play. But he missed and the Buffs’ lead was 77-72. Dinwiddie hit another four free throws in the final 10 seconds and this one was done.
Winning the tournament, he said, “means a lot; it gets our players used to winning. We don’t want our team ever to get used to losing. It kind of builds that pride and sense of urgency, that will to say we don’t lose. Period. That’s just what it is.”
Should the Buffs be included in this week’s Top 25? Booker said it “doesn’t matter,” Dinwiddie said, “Yes . . . keep it conservative and go like (No.) 17.”
The Buffs did their parts in Charleston, the polls are best left to others. It’s very early in a long season, but you can’t help but feel a buzz from how it’s started.
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