Posts tagged Jamee Swan
Jeffery’s 28 Pushes Buffs To Pac-12 Win
Jan 9th
BOULDER – Linda Lappe’s third Colorado women’s basketball team is more balanced than her first two, but after a pair of Pac-12 Conference losses she wisely recognized that a stronger dose of Chucky Jeffery might be just as beneficial as balance.
After dropping consecutive home games to No. 4 Stanford and No. 7 California, Lappe and Jeffery talked – and on Tuesday night Jeffery responded. The senior point guard scored a season-high 28 points and collected 12 rebounds to lead No. 23 CU to its first Pac-12 win of the season, 67-57 over Utah at the Coors Events Center.
“Chucky came out a lot more aggressive,” Lappe said. “She was tentative against Cal and Stanford . . . we needed more from her.”
More is what Jeffery delivered, helping key a 20-3 second-half run as the Buffaloes (12-2, 1-2) finally pulled away from the uncooperative Utes (9-5, 0-3).
CU also was lights out from the free throw line, hitting 22 of 26 in the second half and 23 of 28 for the game. The Buffs’ final nine points came from the foul line, and they sealed the win by sinking five of six free throws in the final 33 seconds.
Lappe said Jeffery, whose 10 field goals tied a season high, “got in a great flow offensively . . . she took her time, but she was being aggressive and everything was in rhythm. She didn’t force too much.”
Registering her 23rd career double-double (third this season), it was the type of trademark performance expected of Jeffery in her first three CU seasons. “And we still need that from her,” Lappe said. “She knew when we needed to score . . . she understood her role and sometimes that’s taking the bull by the horns. There are times when we need her to step up; she understands big possessions.”
It wasn’t as if Jeffery was completely unproductive against Stanford (17 points) and Cal (13). But she agreed with her coach about playing tentative to open Pac-12 play: “After the past two games, I watched film with coach . . . and I was tentative and wasn’t looking to score. She just wanted me to be more aggressive. She told me when I’m more aggressive I make smarter and better decisions to create and help my teammates score as well.”
CU won’t have to put in extensive film study for its next game with Utah. The Buffs play the Utes in Salt Lake City on Sunday (3 p.m.). Last season, CU and Utah split their regular-season series, with each team winning on the road and CU breaking the tie with a win in the Pac-12 tournament.
The Buffs only led once in Tuesday’s first half, and it took them 19 minutes to finally catch the Utes. They did it by closing the half on a 10-1 run, with eight of the points scored by Jeffery as CU took a 32-31 lead at intermission.
Behind Plouffe’s 11 first-half points, Utah led by eight points on two occasions before CU shook itself awake. The Utes’ last eight-point advantage (30-22) came on a pair of Wicijowski free throws with 4:42 remaining before the break.
That’s when Jeffery went to work, getting eight of her 14 first-half points in the final 41/2 minutes. The Buffs’ other basket was scored by freshman Jamee Swan, who finished with a career-high 11 boards and eight points in 22 minutes and was a catalyst in CU catching up in the first half, said Lappe: “She kept us in the game for a lot of the first half.”
The Buffs’ 32 first-half points gave them a nice start toward finally reaching 50 in their third conference home game. They managed only 40 and 49 in the two previous losses, marking the first time since the 1974-75 season CU had been held under 50 points in consecutive home games.
But that wasn’t a second-half focal point for the Buffs; scoring 49 and getting a one-point win would have been fine. They opened the second half with a basket by Swan, taking their largest lead (34-31) of the night to that point.
Plouffe answered for Utah (34-33), then got a trey by Rachel Messer to go up 36-34. Meagan Malcolm-Peck’s layup tied the score at 36-36 before a 9-2 Utes run opened a 45-38 advantage for the visitors with just under 13 minutes to play.
It was the Buffs’ turn to respond, and they did with an 11-1 run, with seven of the points made at the free throw line. The final pair by Brittany Wilson put CU up 49-46 with 8:49 left.
Jeffery took it from there. After hitting a short jumper, she got a steal at the other end, was fouled and hit two free throws for a 55-48 Buffs lead. And when the Utes misfired on their next possession, Jeffery made them pay with a three-pointer from the top of the key that completed CU’s 20-3 surge and opened a 10-point lead (58-48) with 5:58 remaining.
The Utes pulled to within five points (62-57) when Plouffe made one of three free throws with 36.1 seconds to play. But the Buffs pulled away at the free throw line, hitting five of six free throws to pocket their first Pac-12 win.
“I’m happy . . . it’s nice to get that first one,” Lappe said. “You have to give Utah credit, though; they don’t beat themselves. You really have to work hard to beat Utah.”
A chance for a sweep comes again in five days, which Lappe calls “different (because) we play them again so soon . . . I think there will be some changes by both teams, but for the most part we know each other’s game.”
The Utes know Jeffery’s game, said Utah coach Anthony Levrets: “We played a really good team and obviously Chucky made a ton of plays to beat us. But I’m pleased with my team’s effort and we’ll keep working and try to get ourselves ready to go on Sunday.”
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CU Women Put Away Pioneers, Eye No. 8 Cardinals
Dec 12th
DENVER – The unbeaten University of Colorado women’s basketball team shook off a lethargic start, took control with an 8-0 run and never looked back in dispatching the University of Denver 83-63 here Tuesday night.
Now the Buffaloes (8-0) can look ahead. Finally, they can focus on their biggest non-conference game – a Friday night date with No. 8 Louisville at the Coors Events Center. The Cardinals are 9-1, with their lone loss by one point (48-47) to archrival Kentucky.
In winning for only the second time in Denver against the Pioneers, the Buffs got a season-high 19 points from Brittany Wilson and 14 points and 11 rebounds from Chucky Jeffery. Leading scorer Arielle Roberson, who entered the game with a 17.3-point average, added 11.
DU defeated CU 70-69 in their most recent Magness Arena matchup on Nov. 16, 2010. The Buffs lead the series 6-2 and won for the third time this season against a Front Range opponent. Before making the trip down I-25 South, CU had beaten Wyoming (68-59) and Colorado State (72-46) in Boulder.
Tuesday’s first half produced 11 lead changes, but they all occurred in the first 10 minutes. DU (4-5) took advantage of CU’s sluggish start to go ahead by as many as five points (13-8) before the visitors roused themselves.
Finally focused, the Buffs made an 18-17 deficit their last of the game. They went on an 8-0 run, getting baskets from Jamee Swan, Roberson (her first of the game), Jeffery and Brittany Wilson on a fast-break assist from Jeffery to go up 25-18 with 6:22 before intermission.
From there until the halftime buzzer, CU increased its lead to 10 on two occasions and led 37-27 at the break. The Buffs got 12 first-half points from Brittany Wilson and nine from Jeffery. Morgan Van Riper-Rose kept the Pioneers close with 13, while none of her teammates managed more than four first-half points. She finished with a career-high 28.
CU shot 41.7 percent (15-for-36) from the field in the opening half to DU’s 37.5 percent (9-for-24). The Buffs owned the boards (25-13) and forced 10 Pioneer turnovers that resulted in seven CU points.
CU outscored DU 9-1 to open the second half and surge ahead 46-28. The Buffs didn’t allow the Pioneers their first field goal of the last 20 minutes until the 14:07 mark. A minute later, CU went up by 23 and wouldn’t allow DU within 15 points the rest of the night.
With 7:55 remaining, Roberson was assessed CU’s first technical foul of the season. The reason: Roberson apparently touched the ball before a Pioneer player was about to throw it in bounds after a made Buffs basket. CU was up 67-44 at the time and led by as many as 26 points in the final 4 minutes.
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