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CU women lose to #7Cal-Berkeley by 3 points
Jan 26th
BERKELEY, Calif.
Winning on the road hasn’t been a problem this season for the Colorado women’s basketball team – until Friday night at Haas Pavilion.
After squandering a 16-point first-half lead, the No. 20/23 Buffs fought back gamely in the second half but came up empty on their final possession and dropped a 59-56 Pac-12 Conference decision to No. 7 California. The loss ended a four-game CU winning streak.
B-Will was high scorer with 13 points
“I’m proud of the way we battled back, but we believed we deserved to win that one,” CU coach Linda Lappe said.
Losing for the first time in five road trips this season, the Buffs dropped to 4-3 in the Pac-12 and 15-3 overall. The Bears improved to 16-2, 6-1 and remained tied with No. 6 Stanford for first place in the Pac-12. CU visits Stanford on Sunday afternoon.
As was the case in their 53-49 win in Boulder earlier this month, the Bears were beasts on the boards Friday night, outrebounding the Buffs 47-39. Included in Cal’s total were 24 offensive boards, which proved to be decisive. CU also committed 19 turnovers, leading to 20 Cal points.
Brittany Wilson led CU with 11 points, while Chucky Jeffery added 10. Cal, which tied the series at five games apiece, was led by Gennifer Brandon and Layshia Clarendon with 13 each. Brandon also had 10 rebounds.
CU’s leading scorer, Arielle Roberson, didn’t score her first points until 11:25 remained in the game. She finished with seven points and two rebounds – all in the second half.
The Buffs took control early, going on a 15-2 run that opened a 14-point lead (24-10) with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. During that surge, CU hit four of six three attempts – two of them by Brittany Wilson.
The lead went to 16 as the Buffs outscored the Bears 23-8 over a 10-minute span and went up 32-16 with about 4 minutes left before intermission. And that’s where CU ran into trouble.
By dominating the offensive boards and getting to the free throw line, the Bears stayed within striking distance. They outscored the Buffs 8-0 to close the first half, with a late trey from the left corner by senior guard Eliza Pierre cutting CU’s lead in half and drawing Cal to within 32-24 at the break.
The Buffs were able to fashion their double-figure first half leads without a point from Roberson (13.6 ppg) and with No. 2 scorer Jeffery (13.4 ppg) accounting for only four.
Cal made only eight of its first 35 shots and shot 22.3 percent in the first half. The Bears finished shooting 33.8 from the field while the Buffs shot 38.9 – but only 30 percent in the second half.
CU needed its second-half start to duplicate its first, but that didn’t happen. On the Buffs’ first possession, center Rachel Hargis picked up her third foul on a hard screen that negated a three-pointer by Lexy Kresl.
Cal immediately took advantage, getting a basket by Reshanda Gray and cutting CU’s lead to 32-26. That extended the Bears’ run to 10-0, putting pressure on the Buffs to respond – and fast. Jeffery finally got CU’s first second-half points, but Cal answered with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 34-34 on a jumper by Clarendon with 14:43 to play.
Her basket capped an 18-2 Bears run that spanned the final 4 minutes of the first half and the opening 5 minutes of the second.
But the Buffs didn’t go belly up. A Jeffery turnaround in the lane, followed by a Jen Reese trey opened a five-point CU lead (39-34), but Cal rallied with an 8-2 run and took its first lead (42-41) since 3-2 on a basket by Brittany Boyd, who finished with 10 points and was huge for the Bears down the stretch.
Neither team was able to take more than a two-point advantage until Boyd and Clarendon hit back-to-back jumpers to put Cal up 53-50 with 5:35 left. But CU tied the score at 54-54 on two free throws by Roberson and a Jeffery jumper with 3:42 remaining.
A pair of Boyd layups sent the Bears ahead 58-54 with 2 minutes showing. A Reese jumper in the lane pulled the Buffs to 58-56, giving CU possession with 36 seconds remaining. Roberson’s drive to the basket and layup attempt was blocked by Brandon.
The Bears rebounded and Clarendon was fouled. She hit one of two free throws with 14.8 remaining, putting Cal up 59-56 and leaving CU 10.3 seconds to hit a trey and tie.
But the Buffs had trouble getting a clean shot away, and Brittany Wilson’s desperation attempt from the left corner missed.
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Balanced, Physical Men’s Basketball Team Pounds Cardinal By 21
Jan 25th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – After being manhandled twice by Stanford in their first Pac-12 Conference season, the Colorado Buffaloes struck back Thursday night – hard, early and often.
Leading from opening tip to final buzzer, the Buffs bashed the Cardinal 75-54 at the Coors Events Center before 11,212 – the fourth largest crowd in school history. It was CU’s first win against Stanford in six tries, with the Buffs’ last victory coming on Dec. 23, 1990 in Boulder.
Despite the five straight losses to Stanford – and particularly the pair last season – CU coach Tad Boyle downplayed any revenge factor that might have motivated his team. “It was sweet,” said Boyle, “because I respect Stanford and (coach) Johnny Dawkins . . . but relative to what happened last year – no.”
What happened last year actually occurred twice – once at Stanford, once in Boulder. The Cardinal won big in both places, 84-64 and 74-50, respectively. And the Buffs were brutalized both times, outrebounded by a combined 85-53 total and shredded defensively as the Cardinal shot a cumulative 50 percent from the field.
Thursday night’s story unfolded much differently, even if the physicality remained high. Said Boyle: “It was a bloodbath out there . . . it was one of those games where you had to put the ball in the basket. We told our guys at timeouts not to look for fouls.”
There were 36 called and what appeared to be an equal number uncalled. But the Buffs, improving to 8-1 this season in the Events Center and 40-5 at home in Boyle’s third season, followed their coach’s advice and didn’t depend on whistles.
Instead, they relied on balanced scoring – all five starters were in double figures – tenacious rebounding by junior Andre Roberson and steely defense. Roberson tied a career high with 20 of the Buffs’ 48 rebounds (the Cardinal collected 30) and added 11 points.
“We fed off Andre tonight . . . (he) was a beast and played like the Andre we know and love. He was after it from the get-go” Boyle said.
Roberson’s energy seemed unlimited and spilled over to the entire starting lineup. Sophomore Askia Booker scored a team-high 13, including eight consecutive points midway through the second half when Stanford closed to within eight. Freshman Josh Scott and sophomore Spencer Dinwiddie also scored 12 points each, while freshman Xavier – it’s OK to call him “Jam” – Johnson contributed 11.
Making his fifth start, “XJ” also was a power source for CU, getting eight of his points on dunks that left the big crowd delirious. “He gave us big-time energy,” said Boyle. “Those dunks got us going.”
If Boyle downplayed any revenge factor, Booker said one was present “without a doubt . . . the coaches were talking about how bad they beat us on the boards last year.”
Added Roberson: “I definitely feel like we had a lot to prove . . . we came out tonight and put it on them.”
Roberson controlled the glass but had help. Booker and Dinwiddie accounted for seven rebounds, and Sabatino Chen came off the bench to collect six to go with his seven points. CU’s bench outscored Stanford’s 15-13, and the Buffs prevailed in the paint 44-20.
The Cardinal guards – Aaron Bright and Chasson Randle – were held to a combined 7-for-29 from the field. Randle led Stanford with 15 points, but he hit only five of his 21 attempts. And as a team, Stanford shot 31.3 percent (20-for-64) from the field, giving Boyle the edge he craves nightly in defense and rebounding.
Dawkins said CU “played with terrific energy and they moved well. They just defended well. I thought a tone was set from the beginning.”
Wanting a good start, the Buffs couldn’t have had a better one. Scoring on their first nine possessions, they went up 16-5, with Johnson’s first jam of the night – a baseline drive from the left side – getting CU to 16.
After his first slam, “XJ” wasn’t through and his teammates weren’t either. Jam No. 2 came on a drive from the right baseline at the tail end of a 16-5 run that pushed CU ahead 42-25. Then he scored the final points of the half on a tip dunk after a Scott miss for a 44-29 halftime lead.
CU outrebounded Stanford 24-14 in the first half, with Roberson getting 11 of his board total in the first 20 minutes. The Buffs were careful with the ball, too, not committing the first of their four first-half turnovers until 3:26 remained before intermission. They went 27 possessions before turning it over, finishing with a dozen.
After never trailing in the first half, the Buffs’ pressing second-half question was whether they could maintain their intensity – knowing the Cardinal would ratchet up its own. The short answer for CU: Yes.
When Johnson threw down his fourth jam – this one on a breakaway at the 14-minute mark – the Buffs took their largest lead of the night, 54-36. But the Cardinal wasn’t done.
Stanford closed to within 11 points (54-43) on a three-point play by Rosco Allen, then cut CU’s advantage to single digits (54-46) on a three-pointer by Randle with 9:55 to play.
But the Cardinal never came closer than eight points. A pair of free throws by Dinwiddie with 8:53 to play restored the Buffs’ 10-point lead (56-46). And after Roberson swat and rebound, the irrepressible Booker scored eight consecutive points for a 64-48 CU advantage with just over 6 minutes remaining.
Booker had gone to the bench because of fouls (he finished with four), but was sent back in by Boyle. “I was in foul trouble, and coach told me when I got back in the game to make something happen,” Booker said. “Coach believes in me . . . I love those moments.”
When Chen buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 2:23 left, CU went up by 19 (70-51). The lead got larger when Boyle emptied his bench, with crowd favorite Ben Mills scoring his four points in the final minute.
The Buffs (13-6, 3-4) are back at the Events Center on Sunday (1:30 p.m., FSN) to face California. Stanford (11-8, 3-3) visits Utah Sunday.
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CU Women Bury Wildcats For Fourth Straight Pac-12 Win
Jan 20th
With Sunday’s performance, Jeffery became the greatest all-around player in CU’s history
Story by Caryn Maconi, CUBuffs.com
BOULDER – The Colorado women’s basketball team executed its game plan in every category Sunday afternoon to earn a decisive 79-36 win over Arizona at the Coors Events Center.
It was the Buffs’ fourth straight Pac-12 Conference win, with the 43-point margin of victory the eighth-largest in CU history in conference play.
“Obviously I’m really happy with how that game turned out,” said CU head coach Linda Lappe. “We had very few mental or physical errors, which was fun to see. It’s very rare that you see both of those things happen on the same night.”
Senior guard Chucky Jeffery’s performance (11 points, five rebounds and six assists) made her the first player in school history to earn 1,400 points, 800 rebounds and 400 assists in her career.
With Sunday’s game Jeffery became the best all-around player in CU history
The Buffs started strong over the Wildcats, going on a 7-0 run to start the game and building that lead for the rest of the half. CU shot 56.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and held Arizona to 23.3 from the field and 14.3 from three-point range.
By intermission, Colorado was up 43-15, its largest halftime lead in conference play since leading Kansas 42-14 in February 2003. Hitting a jumper with nine seconds remaining in the half, freshman guard Kyleesha Weston became the ninth player to score for CU in the first 20 minutes.
CU held onto that momentum for the rest of the game, going up by 46, the largest lead of the game, on a Weston basket with four minutes to go.
But even with such a decisive lead, the Buffs never lost energy or focus.
“When you’re on a roll, you just continue staying on a roll,” said redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson, who scored a game-high 12 points on her 20th birthday. “You’ve got to continue to stay focused. In the timeouts, coach would say, ‘Stay focused, stay solid,’ and I think that helped.”
By the final buzzer, CU had a 43-point lead over the Wildcats and had played nearly its entire bench, including walk-on guard Alexus Atchley in the final minutes. Weston, who was recruited to the team as a true point guard, gained a valuable 17 minutes of playing time at that position.
Four CU players – Roberson, Jeffery, sophomore guard Lexy Kresl and freshman forward Jamee Swan – scored in double figures, while five other CU players added at least six points.
“We have a lot of players that can score, and you could see that (Sunday),” Lappe said. “I thought our bench played great. From the very first second when the first one came in, we didn’t slow down at all. In fact, we pushed the tempo . . . I think everybody that came off the bench was ready, brought a lot of energy, and there was no disruption of flow, so you have to credit our players for that.”
All-conference guard Davellyn Whyte led the Wildcats in scoring with 11, nine of which were in the first half. Lappe said junior guard Brittany Wilson stepped up her defense on Whyte to shut her down in the second half.
“I thought Brittany did a really good job on her, staying down on her face,” Lappe said. “Davellyn Whyte is a very talented player, has some great offensive skills, and I thought Brittany stepped up to the challenge.”
Overall, CU shot 50 percent from the field and held Arizona to just 25 percent. The Buffs also out-rebounded the visitors 51-26, with Swan and junior guard Ashley Wilson recoding eight boards each.
Swan, who also added two blocks and two assists, said that while the margin of victory was unexpected, the level of play the Buffs showed was not.
“I don’t think it was a surprise,” Swan said. “I think we expect ourselves to do the best we can 100 percent of the time.”
And while the Buffs’ combined 51 rebounds, 21 assists and 79 points are something to be proud of, Kresl said Sunday afternoon wasn’t about the stats.
“We all played together,” Kresl said. “It was definitely a team effort and not one person was trying to get their points or steals or anything. It wasn’t about statistics, it was all about the win and trying to play together.”
Colorado improves to 15-2 overall and 4-2 in Pac-12 play, its best start since the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament team began its season 18-2. With the loss, Arizona falls to 11-6, 3-3.
Starting next week, the Buffs head to California for four straight away games. The first, at No. 7 California, is set for Friday at 9 p.m. MST.
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