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Two ten-point leads evaporated by Cal’s full-court press

By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor Send Mail Print RSS

BOULDER – California never stopped grinding, Colorado couldn’t step up with a stop. It was the recipe for a gut-wrenching, frustrating Friday night at the Coors Events Center.

Outscoring CU 14-2 in the final 4:08, No. 19 Cal rallied from a 10-point deficit to edge No. 17 CU, 57-55. Since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011, the Bears are 6-0 against them, and their other Pac-12 nemesis – No. 4 Stanford, owning a 5-0 regular season/conference tournament record against CU – visits the CEC on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m.).

“We have to bounce back, we don’t have a choice,” CU coach Linda Lappe said. “We have to bring it for two games . . . we brought it for 37 minutes (against Cal) and Stanford is even tougher. If you feel sorry for yourself and are not ready to go, Stanford will take advantage of that.”

If the Buffs left their home court Friday night feeling they had been taken advantage of, it was justified. It was also mostly self-inflicted. CU (11-3, 1-2) held a 10-point halftime lead, led by 10 with just over 4 minutes to play and still couldn’t finish what was shaping up to be a milestone Pac-12 win. Cal (11-3, 3-0) wouldn’t allow it.

“We just didn’t play to win necessarily . . . they were the aggressors and we didn’t buck up to that challenge,” said Buffs forward Arielle Roberson, who rebounded from a subpar West Coast trip last weekend with a game-high 21 points on Friday night – including 11 during a 15-6 run that opened a 50-40 CU advantage with 5:55 to play.

Roberson’s 21 points weren’t enough

But after Jen Reese hit a jumper to put the Buffs up by 10 for a second time, they failed to hit a field goal in the final 4:08. Roberson’s two free throws were CU’s only points in that span.

The Bears, led by Reshanda Gray (15) and Brittany Boyd (13), never considered going away. After CU called a timeout with 25 seconds remaining – 22 on the shot clock – Roberson was fouled and went to the free throw line with 16.2 seconds showing. She hit both, putting the Buffs up 55-54, prompting a Cal timeout with 12.1 seconds to play.

Afure Jemerigbe drove the right baseline and scored to give Cal a 56-55 lead with 6 seconds left. Lappe called timeout to set up a play for Roberson, but Jamee Swan’s side-court inbounds pass was stolen by Courtney Range, who was fouled by Roberson and hit one of two free throws at the 2.9 second mark.

Lexy Kresl’s half-court fling at the buzzer bounded off the back iron and the Buffs’ night of late frustration was complete.

“Give Cal a lot of credit,” a disappointed Lappe said. “They kept playing and didn’t give up. They were tough and aggressive down the stretch . . . they’re well- coached, they executed their offense and they turned us over.”

Employing full-court pressure to begin the second half, the Bears forced the Buffs into nine turnovers in the final 20 minutes and converted CU’s 16 errors into 16 points. Cal also outscored CU 36-34 in the paint, outrebounded the Buffs 40-39 and limited them to 37.5 percent from the field. The Bears shot only 39.7 percent, but they were at 45.5 percent (15-of-33) in the second half when the Buffs needed to clamp down.

“Towards the end when we needed stops, we didn’t step up to that challenge,” said Kresl. “I’d say they beat us in the last three minutes.”

In the final 4:08, Lappe said the Buffs lacked “leadership on the floor . . . you need somebody to step and somebody to recognize that you need a stop and say, ‘Here’s how we’re going to do it.’ We didn’t have that on the floor.”

CU’s biggest lead of the first half – 28-18 – came courtesy of a 10-4 run and a nearly 8-minute lockdown of the Cal offense. With 7:44 left before intermission, Mikayla Lyles hit a 3-pointer to bring the Bears to within 18-17, but that would be Cal’s last field goal of the half. Cal’s 18 first-half points were its lowest of the season.

Roberson led all first-half scorers with eight points – one less than she scored in two West Coast games last weekend.

In the first 2 minutes of the second half, it was Cal’s turn to turn up the ‘D.’ Opening with full-court pressure, the Bears disrupted the Buffs offensive rhythm just enough to force three turnovers and outscored them 10-2 to pull to within 30-28 on a conventional three-point play by Gray with 17:08 to play.

Over the next 51/2 minutes, Cal cut CU’s lead to one on two occasions, but after the Bears had closed to 35-34 the Buffs answered with an 8-0 surge on three baskets by Roberson and one by Rachel Hargis to go up 43-34 with 9:40 to play.

And Roberson wasn’t finished. After scoring in the paint, she backed up for a trey that opened a 10-point CU lead (50-40) with just under 6 minutes to play. Roberson said she was “better mentally” this weekend than last. “That was the biggest difference. I just forgot about what happens in the past and I said, ‘This is a new game, this is a new day, so just leave it there.’”

But the Bears wouldn’t roll. They cut the deficit to five (53-48) on a three-point play by Gennifer Brandon with 3:33 left, got a fast break layup by Gray to pull to 53-50, then crept to 53-52 on a jumper by Boyd at the 2:07 mark.

A turnover caused by Cal’s full-court pressure followed a CU timeout, and Courtney Range sank two free throws to give Cal a 54-53 lead – its first since 12-11 – with 1:59 left. Roberson’s pair of free throws gave the Buffs a 55-54 lead and their fans hope, but a stop at the other end was needed – and it didn’t happen.

“We didn’t show up, we didn’t have a sense of urgency when we needed to and really, that was the difference in the game,” said Lappe, knowing the Buffs need to find it before Sunday.