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WBB: An epic comeback and finally a WIN
Feb 24th
Colorado erased a 20-point first half deficit to claim a 61-56 overtime Pac-12 Conference win over Arizona Sunday afternoon at the McKale Center.
Sophomore forward Jamee Swan banked in a short jumper just off the block with 0.9 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Senior guard Ashley Wilson then scored seven of her 11 points in the extra session to help Colorado (15-12, 5-11) overcome its largest deficit to win in program history from available records since 1982.
“We needed that one,” CU head coach Linda Lappe said. “We battled back in the second half after one of our worst halves of the season. We were able to get it turned around at halftime.”
Arizona (5-22, 1-15) was able to build its lead with an impressive first half performance from the field. The Wildcats hit 14 of their first 20 shots (70 percent) and built a 36-16 lead by the 4:14 mark.
Colorado came out in a zone defense to take away the paint, but Arizona caught fire quickly hitting five 3-pointers in the first 15 minutes including two each from Candice Warthen and Carissa Crutchfield.
The Buffaloes issues were compounded by their own cold shooting and turnovers. Colorado shot just 29 percent in the first half (7-of-24) and committed 12 turnovers. To make matters worse, Arizona took advantage to the tune of 16 points off those turnovers alone.
Colorado was able to whittle the lead down to 16, 39-23, at the break. Swan scored eight points in the final five minutes and had actually cut the Arizona lead to 14 on a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left, but Warthen was able to take the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast, finishing off with a runner in the late at the halftime buzzer.
With momentum starting to nudge towards Colorado, the Buffaloes put together an epic defensive effort to get to overtime.
Colorado outscored Arizona 26-10 in the second half, holding the Wildcats to just two field goals, and 10 percent shooting (2-of-20), both all-time CU opponent lows for one half. The 10 points allowed to Arizona was an all-time opponent low for a second half, and tied for the second-fewest in any half in team history.
“It was all about our mind set; we didn’t start off the game well and they were getting shots they don’t usually hit,” Lappe said. “We went back to our defense and made sure that we defended them the right way; changed our mind set to getting stops and keeping them from getting easy shots.”
The Buffaloes immediately cut the lead to 39-27 on layups by Swan and Arielle Roberson. After a LaBrittney Jones free throw, Colorado scored the next six, capped off by another Swan bucket as CU trailed 40-33 with 12:50 remaining.
Erica Barnes put in Arizona’s first bucket of the period on the next possession to put the lead back up to nine. But the Buffaloes kept coming. Haley Smith scored four points during another 6-0 CU run and her two free throws with 8:55 left made it a one possession game at 42-39.
Barnes made a free throw and Crutchfield made Arizona’s second and final field goal of the half with 7:14 left to kick the Wildcats’ lead back to six. Freshman guard Desiree Harris responded with her first career field goal on a nice layup in traffic. Swan followed with a jumper after a stop and Roberson completed the comeback with a pair of free throws that tied the game at 45-45 with 3:22 left in regulation. Roberson then gave CU its first lead of the game on a contested layup with 1:52 remaining.
“We were more aggressive and played together,” Lappe said. “We flipped a switch at halftime and it carried us from there on out.”
Jones kept Arizona going at the line. She hit four free throws sandwiched between a Swan missed shot that gave the Wildcats the lead back at 49-47 at the 1:07 mark. Arizona had a chance to increase its lead but turned the ball over on two straight possessions opening the door for the Buffaloes.
Following an Arizona shot clock violation, the Buffs had the ball with 15 seconds remaining. After a CU timeout with 6 seconds left, Roberson had the ball at the top of the key and found Swan posted up on the left block. Swan hesitated for a second, but turned around and banked in the equalizer off the top of the class from about eight feet out with :00.9 on the clock.
“I saw Arielle was blocked off (up top) and could hear someone yell for me to post up,” Swan said. “When she threw it in I thought about passing it, but the team told me to shoot it. My confidence (to take the shot) came from that.”
In overtime Roberson opened the scoring with a drive through the lane, but Jones answered at the other end. Wilson then hit Colorado’s first 3-pointer of the game for a 54-51 advantage. On the following possession, Wilson picked off a Crutchfield pass and took it the distance for a 56-51 CU lead.
The Buffaloes then held off Arizona at the free throw line. Lexy Kresl hit one and Jen Reese made two – her only points of the game – to give CU a six-point lead. Kama Griffitts pulled Arizona back to within 59-56 on the Wildcats’ first 3-pointer since the first half with 8 seconds left in overtime. Wilson then iced the game for the Buffaloes with a pair of free throws.
Swan finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six steals. Roberson recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Wilson added eight rebounds as the Buffaloes enjoyed a sizeable edge on the boards, 45-32.
Jones led Arizona with 13 points. Crutchfield and Griffitts both had 10.
Colorado returns to action on Friday, Feb. 28, by hosting UCLA at 6 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
Colorado Buffaloes Women’s Basketball
CU’s moment in the spotlight wasn’t very bright
Feb 23rd
Coach Boyle: “We deserved what we got.”
BOULDER – Arizona started fast and finished faster Saturday night at the Coors Events Center, spoiling Colorado’s Senior Night and a day of ESPN College GameDay hoopla with an 88-61 romp past the Buffaloes.
It was CU’s worst home loss of the four-year Tad Boyle era, surpassing a 74-50 defeat by Stanford in 2012, and only the second Buffs loss in 18 games this season at the CEC.
It also was a night of firsts for the No. 4 Wildcats, who won for the first time in Boulder since 1973 and swept CU for the first time since the Buffs became members of the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. Arizona (25-2, 12-2) now is 3-0 in its last three meetings with CU (20-8, 9-6).
“It was a disappointing performance by our team and I have to look square in the mirror on that,” Boyle said. “As their coach, I didn’t do a very good job tonight.”
The Buffs go on the road for their final three regular-season games, traveling to Utah on Saturday, then wrapping up at Stanford (Wednesday, March 5) and California (Saturday, March 8). The Pac-12 Tournament is March 12-15 in Las Vegas, and Boyle might need that long to digest this weekend’s letdown.
After crediting Arizona for its performance, he reflected on the magnitude of the night and the depth of the disappointment. The Wildcats, he said, “whipped us in every which way you can whip a team . . . our fans were so ready for this game, this win; we gave them nothing. That’s a sick feeling to go home and live with. I don’t know what to say.
“I haven’t been embarrassed many times as a coach, but I was embarrassed by the way my team played . . . we have to own it and accept it. The pit in my stomach has more to do with our fans and seniors. They deserve more (but) we deserve what we got tonight.”
CU has but two seniors – center Ben Mills and guard Beau Gamble. Mills made his first career start, played 7 minutes total and closed out the Buffs’ scoring with the first trey of his career. Gamble made his first appearance of the night in the final 3 minutes, entering the game with the Wildcats leading 78-53.
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, CU cut Arizona’s lead to 31-26 at the half and to 37-33 early in the second half. But the talented Wildcats answered with a 14-6 run that put them ahead 51-39 and effectively put the game away with just over 12 minutes remaining..
Arizona came to Boulder as the Pac-12’s top defensive team, allowing just 57.6 points a game. But the Wildcats put on an offensive clinic in Saturday night’s second half, shooting an uncanny 84.6 percent (22-for-26) to end any thought of a Buffs comeback on an eagerly awaited day and night for them and their fans.
“Colorado’s a good team,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “We knew we weren’t going to run away with it that early, our offense really kicked into another gear in the second half.”
But, said Boyle, the Wildcats “were struggling to score coming in here.” And when the Buffs cut the deficit to four early in the second half, “You have to have a mindset to dig in and get stops. We didn’t do that.”
The Buffs also had their offensive problems, but the nasty Wildcats’ defense was to blame for many of those. “I can’t emphasize how good they are defensively; there are 11 other teams in the Pac-12 and then there’s Arizona,” Boyle said. “It’s not even close (on the defensive end). Our frustrations on offense led to a dunk-fest.”
Boyle said his team lacked patience offensively, pointing to a manageable nine turnovers as evidence that the Buffs rushed their shots: “We shot the ball so darn quick that we didn’t have a chance to turn it over. We took such bad shots and quickly, that it was like a turnover and they were able to get out in transition.”
Josh Scott (18 points) and Askia Booker (10) were the only two CU players in double figures while three Arizona players – led by freshman Aaron Gordon’s 23 – reached double digits. Nick Johnson added 20 and Kaleb Tarczewski had 13.
The Pac-12’s top defensive and rebounding team held CU to a season-low 32 percent shooting from the field (17-of-52) and out-boarded the Buffs 38-30. The Wildcats, meanwhile, finished at 60 percent from the field (35-of-58), including their incredible four-miss second half.
After falling behind 18-4 in their 69-57 loss at Arizona last month, the Buffs wanted no part of a sluggish beginning Saturday night. It happened anyway. There weren’t many ways the Buffs’ start could have been any worse.
Missing its first 15 field goal attempts and four of its first seven free throw attempts, CU fell behind 22-5 before freshman Jaron Hopkins hit a 3-pointer with 9:49 left before intermission for the Buffs’ first field goal. It was CU second-longest field goal drought of the season, following a 14:36 span last month in – where else? – Tucson.
But Hopkins’ trey from the left wing launched a 13-4 run that brought CU to within five points (26-21) with 4:39 left in the half. The Wildcats responded with four straight points and went ahead 30-21 before Booker got his first points of the night on a 12-foot jumper 2 seconds before the break.
That brought CU to within 31-25 – and given the way most of the half unfolded, a six-point deficit might have been a blessing.
Booker, who had averaged 19.6 points in his last five games, said the Buffs “got ourselves back into the game – we were down six at half, and that’s not a bad spot to be . . . but we just gave it away in the second half.”
Booker finished the half 1-for-8, Xavier Johnson 0-for-4. The Buffs’ 22.2 percent first-half shooting was their second worst of the season. For the night, Booker was 4-for-14 and Johnson 1-for-10 with five points.
“I think we got a little jump shot happy but I think that’s a credit to (Arizona),” Scott said. “I think we turned over the ball a couple times at some key points in the game and it’s mainly because they pack the paint, so that you’re pretty much there to take those shots. We should have attacked that more.”
Obviously needing a more efficient second-half start, the Buffs got it on a baseline jumper by Scott to pull to 31-27 – the closest they’d been since trailing 5-1. CU and Arizona traded baskets until Gordon hit back-to-back baskets – one a 3-pointer – to push the Wildcats ahead 42-33.
When Gordon hit his trey from the left corner, “I said here we go,” noted Boyle. “That’s not his game.”
But Arizona was about to find its trey touch – and more. Consecutive long balls by Johnson and Gabe York push the Wildcats back to a double-digit lead – 49-39 – then to 51-39 on a shorter Johnson jumper half a minute later. The Wildcats were 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc in the second half and 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) for the game.
Getting stops was becoming a CU problem, and it was beginning to be compounded by the clock. If the Buffs had another rally in them, it needed to happen – and fast. It was nowhere to be found.
A 13-4 run, capped by a Tarczewski dunk, produced a 21-point Arizona lead (64-43) with 9:16 to play that went to 23 points (66-43) on a pair of Johnson free throws at the 7:50 mark. The Wildcats led by as many as 30 before the final buzzer, the Buffs never led.
Booker said the Buffs “didn’t have the most energy,” but didn’t blame that on any possible distraction from ESPN’s basketball GameDay crew being in Boulder for the first time.
“We’re used to all the cameras being here and all these people setting up their stuff,” he said. “It’s not like we’re doing interviews at half time or right before the game. We barely knew they were here, and yeah, we knew they were preparing but it has nothing to do once we step on the court and the ball goes up. It’s not an excuse.”
WBB: Buffs avoid a meltdown, still come up short
Feb 17th
http://www.cubuffs.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3200918
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Another chance at a close-game breakthrough eluded the Colorado women’s basketball team Sunday afternoon. Following what has become a painfully familiar script, CU faltered in the final 5 minutes and lost 80-77 to Washington State at the Coors Events Center.
“Well, it seems a little bit like déjà vu,” said Buffaloes coach Linda Lappe, whose team lost its fourth Pac-12 Conference game this season by three or fewer points.
Lappe credited the Buffs for competing throughout and staying close enough to win but again lamented their inability to “make key stops, free throws, passes and shots down the stretch that would have helped us have the outcome we wanted.”
After trailing by as many as nine points midway through the second half, CU (14-11, 4-10) rallied to tie the score at 71-71. But the Buffs clanked four of their next five free throws, not hitting one until Ashley Wilson converted a pair with 2:52 to play, then sank one of two to put CU up 75-73 with 2:17 remaining.
From there until the final buzzer, the Buffs got only a field goal by Jen Reese in the last 2 seconds that made it a two-point (79-77) game. After one of two foul shots by WSU’s Shalie Dheensaw with 1.1 seconds left put WSU (14-12, 8-6) up 80-77, Reese threw a three-quarter court length pass to Jamie Swan, who caught the ball then passed to Wilson instead of shooting.
Time expired before Wilson could attempt a shot.
Lappe said Reese’s long pass went a step or two too deep, forcing Swan inside the 3-point circle to catch it – thus Swan’s decision to kick it back to Wilson. Reese said the play was designed for Swan to catch-and-shoot, but added, “If there was more time, Ashley could have shot the ball. The pass was there; she had it.”
Swan, again coming off the bench, and Reese led the Buffs with 19 points each, while Ashley Wilson added 12. Arielle Roberson was a point away from a double-double in points and rebounds – nine in each category. Brittany Wilson left the game with 12:19 to play and did not return after suffering a possible concussion.
The Buffs had problems with Washington’s backcourt of Kelsey Plum (25 points) and Jazmine Davis (24) in an 87-80 loss on Thursday night. This was part of Lappe’s déjà vu: On Sunday, CU surrendered 42 combined points to WSU guards Tia Presley (32) and Lia Galdeira (10).
Presley got 22 of her total in the first half, then picked up eight more points in the first 4:55 of the second half. She didn’t get her 32nd point until hitting a layup with 1:27 to play, putting the Cougars up 77-75.
That nearly 14-minute span of keeping Presley in check, said Ashley Wilson, came from “focusing on keeping the ball out of her hands” in the second half. “We had a couple of different players on her (and) when she was driving, just have our bigger post players waiting for her at the basket. It turned out to work in our favor.”
Lappe also thought a different lineup might work in the Buffs’ favor; she used a bigger five of Swan, Reese, Roberson and Rachel Hargis, with Ashley Wilson at guard, in the first half and again to close the game.
But it didn’t matter in CU making enough late plays to win. “There’s no magic formula,” Lappe said. “You just have to do it. You have to figure out that enough’s enough and decide to be tough enough to do that. You have to understand that every team is going to get tougher down the stretch and that’s when the stars are really born. It’s where players step up.”
The Cougars swept the series with the Buffs, winning 70-60 last month in Corvallis, Wash. With their loss to the Huskies on Thursday, the Buffs gave up 80 points or more for the second consecutive game and the fourth time in Pac-12 play. And it marks the first time CU has allowed 80 or more points in back-to-back games since the 2008 WNIT.
The Buffs trailed 44-40 at halftime, surrendering a 25-22 lead taken on a 3-pointer by Roberson with 8:37 left before the break. But CU didn’t get another field goal for nearly 4 minutes, and during that time WSU was building its largest lead of the half – 34-25 – with Presley scoring eight of her 22 first-half points in that stretch.
“She played too many minutes tonight (36), but you really can’t take her out,” said WSU coach June Daugherty. “She’s such a fierce competitor.”
A defensive upgrade had to be among CU’s second-half goals, but that message – if delivered – apparently took a while to register. The Cougars outscored the Buffs 7-2 to open the half, with Presley scoring consecutive baskets to kick off that run. WSU again stretched its lead to nine – 51-42 – on a traditional three-point play by Shane Romberg (14 points, 12 rebounds).
By the 10-minute mark the Buffs still trailed by seven – 64-57 – but they were about to make their move. With Reese getting four points in a 6-0 run and freshman Zoe Beard-Fails scoring on a put-back, CU pulled within 64-63 with 9:07 remaining.
The Buffs finally tied the Cougars at 71-71 when Swan hit both ends of a one-and-one with 4:23 left. On the previous possession, With 5:51 to play, Swan scored what would be CU’s next-to-last field goal – the last being Reese’s jumper with 2 seconds left.
After Ashley Wilson hit one of two free throws to give CU its 75-73 lead with 2:17 left, WSU got four free throws from Galdeira, Presley’s layup and one of two foul shots from Dheensaw to account for its 80 points.
The Cougars were up 80-77 and the Buffs needed a nearly full-court pass and full-blown miracle to force overtime. They got the first but not the second.
“We have to forget about this game, but we have to learn from it as well and move on,” Reese said. “We just have to finish down the stretch . . . hopefully good things will come.”
CU is at Arizona State on Friday night (6:30 p.m.) and at Arizona next Sunday (3 p.m.). The Buffs close out the regular season at home against UCLA on Feb. 28 and USC on March 2.