Posts tagged Buffaloes
CU tennis: Ranked opponents go down; Buffs rise
Feb 25th
Coming off back-to-back victories over ranked opponents, the University of Colorado women’s tennis team finds itself as the No. 54 ranked squad in the nation, announced Monday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Of the 75 schools ranked in the weekly poll, only Ohio State made a bigger debut in the rankings as the Buckeyes went unranked a week ago to No. 52 Monday afternoon. OSU upset then-No. 27 Tennessee, 4-3 last week in Columbus.
The Buffaloes (6-3) winners of three-straight matches upset then-No. 54 Wichita State, 4-2 on Sunday, and last Friday, defeated in-state rival and then-No. 57 Denver, 4-3. The pair of wins over ranked opponents is the first time a head coach Nicole Kenneally-team has knocked off ranked foes consecutively since 2010. CU defeated No. 63 Utah in a match played at Berkeley, Calif., and No. 65 BYU, a week later at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center. Both scores were 4-3.
It’s also the first time the Buffaloes defeated ranked opponents at home since 2007 knocking off No. 12 William & Mary and No. 43 Oklahoma State, both by 4-3 tallies. Of the 11 schools in the Pac-12 that sponsor women’s tennis, only Oregon is not ranked this week. CU at No. 54, joins UCLA (No. 2), Stanford (No. 4), USC (No. 6), Cal (No. 14), Washington (No. 24), Arizona State (No. 29), Utah (No. 44), Washington State (No. 51), and Arizona (No. 60). Last April, CU spent two matches as the No. 75 ranked team after upsetting No. 59 Oregon at the South Campus Courts. Prior to last April, the Buffs were nationally ranked in April 2010 as No. 68 when they were a member of the Big 12 Conference.
That season, CU was ranked as high as No. 51. CU takes to the road for four consecutive matches traveling to New Mexico this Friday (Feb. 28), then taking on Ball State (Mar. 2) in a match played in Albuquerque. CU opens Pac-12 Conference play at Washington State (Mar. 7) and at Oregon (Mar. 9). The conference home opener is March 14 against USC and UCLA on March 16. Both home matches are to be played at the South Campus Courts, weather permitting. -COLORADO-
Andrew Green | Assistant Director Sports Information Department of Intercollegiate Athletics | University of Colorado Boulder | 357 UCB | Fieldhouse Annex 50
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
Buffs take USC, split in So Cal games
Feb 17th
LOS ANGELES – After playing a forgettable second half in a loss at UCLA on Thursday, Colorado responded with 40 solid minutes of basketball and an 83-74 victory over Southern California on Sunday night at the Galen Center. The Buffaloes (19-7, 8-5 Pac-12) finished with five players scoring in double-figures, led by Xavier Johnson with 20 points and Josh Scott with 17. CU is now 5-0 on the season when five players score 10 or more points in a game. USC (10-15, 1-11) was able to rally late and got as close as eight with 28.5 seconds remaining, but it would not be enough. The Buffs smothered the Trojans with defense, forcing 17 turnovers. USC was led by Byron Wesley, who finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Johnson got the Buffs going offensively with five of his team’s first seven points. But two quick fouls put him on the bench.
Freshman Jaron Hopkins provided a spark from the bench with career-high 10 first-half points, including a three-pointer and a layup in transition that gave the Buffs a 10-point lead on two separate occasions. CU led by as many as 11 in the first half after Xavier Talton capped a 9-2 run with a trey, making the score 36-25 with 3:28 remaining in the half. The half ended with USC’s 12th turnover and CU on top 40-32; it was the third straight game in which the Buffs had scored 40 in a half, with 13 of those points coming off Trojan turnovers. CU picked up its fourth win in four games against USC in Pac-12 play. The Buffs are also perfect against Washington State (4-0) since joining the league in 2011. Colorado returns home for its final two home games against Arizona State on Wednesday (9 p.m. MT, ESPNU) and then No. 2 Arizona on Saturday, February 22 (7 p.m. MT, ESPN) when College GameDay will be in town for CU’s Senior Day.