Posts tagged Jen Reese
No. 20 Buffs Earn Critical Win Over the Washington Huskies
Feb 24th
Story by B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor, CUBuffs.com
BOULDER – The No. 20 Colorado Buffaloes outlasted Washington 68-61 on Sunday afternoon at the Coors Events Center and took a large step toward securing the No. 4 seed for next month’s Pac-12 Conference Tournament.
The Buffs, winning their seventh consecutive game, improved to 11-5 in the Pac-12 and moved into a fourth-place tie with the Huskies. But Sunday’s win gives CU the head-to-head tiebreaker, and the Buffs’ remaining schedule appears more favorable than the Huskies’ for securing the No. 4 seed.
CU (22-5) closes the regular season with games at Oregon (March 1) and Oregon State (March 3), while UW (19-8) finishes with home games against Pac-12 co-leaders Stanford and California. The conference tournament is March 7-10 in Seattle.
Freshman Arielle Roberson lead CU with 16 points
CU had four players in double figures against UW, topped by Arielle Roberson’s 16. Brittany Wilson added 13, with Chucky Jeffery and Jen Reese chipping in 11 each. Five of Reese’s points came in the final 2:55, with her critical pair of final field goals coming after the Huskies had closed to 59-57.
Jeffery, one of three seniors playing their final regular-season home game, added 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and 29th of her career. Jeffery left the game with 8.5 seconds to play, while seniors Meagan and Brenna Malcolm-Peck came onto the court about three seconds earlier.
Kristi Kingma led UW with 19 points. Aminah Williams added 12, Talia Walton 11 and Mercedes Wetmore 10. Guard Jazmine Davis, the Pac-12’s No. 2 scorer with a 19.7 average, was held to nine points on two of 13 shooting from the field.
CU never trailed by more than three points in the first half, and after Kingma hit a three-pointer to send the Huskies up 16-14, the Buffs launched a 16-3 run that produced a 30-19 advantage.
An acrobatic put-back by freshman Jamee Swan enabled CU to maintain that 11-point lead (36-25) at intermission. The Buffs got 11 first-half points from Brittany Wilson, who was the only player on either team in double figures.
Jen Reese’s two pull-up jumpers, like the one above, secured, in the final two minutes the winning margin for CU
UW opened the game hitting six of its first 11 shots, but made only three of its final 18 attempts to close the first half. CU hit 15 of its 32 first-half field goal attempts (47 percent) and outrebounded the visitors 25-15.
The Huskies scored the first six points of the second half, pulling to 36-31. The Buffs, meanwhile, had Jeffery leave the game with what appeared to be a left ankle injury at the 19:12 mark. But she was back about four minutes later, and her return might have given CU an emotional lift.
After UW crept to within five points, CU went on an 8-1 run and shot ahead 44-32 with 12:41 to play. Roberson scored six of the Buffs’ points during that surge.
But that 12-point CU lead disappeared quickly.
UW, the Pac-12 leader with 8.5 treys a game, put together an 11-0 run that featured treys by Wetmore and Kingma and another three free throws by Kingma. That pulled the Huskies to within one twice in the final 9:58, but an 8-0 CU that included four points by Jeffery opened a nine-point Buffs lead (56-47).
UW wouldn’t roll. The Huskies outscored the Buffs 8-2 over the next three minutes, closing to 58-55 with 3:38 to play, then pulling to 59-57.
But Reese got her pair of monstrous mid-range jumpers to give CU breathing room at 63-57, and the Buffs hit five of six free throws in the final 48.5 to tuck away the win.
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No. 20 CU Women Persevere, Beat Persistent WSU
Feb 23rd
Story by B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor, CUBuffs.com
BOULDER – Early style points were scarce for a Top 25 team, but the No. 20 Colorado Buffaloes stayed patient, regained their poise late and finally disposed of Washington State 59-45 on Friday night at the Coors Events Center.
Winning its sixth consecutive game, CU matched last season’s win total and set up a crucial home finale on Sunday. The Buffs (21-5) face Washington, one of two teams just ahead of them in the Pac-12 Conference standings, at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.
The Buffs are 10-5 in the Pac-12, with their 10 wins marking their first double-digit season in league play since 2004. The Huskies dropped to 11-4 after losing at Utah on Friday night.
Sunday’s game marks the final regular-season home appearance for CU seniors Chucky Jeffery, Meagan Malcolm-Peck and Brenna Malcolm-Peck, whose career has been interrupted by various injuries.
Three CU players – Arielle Roberson (17) and Jeffery and Jen Reese (10 each) – finished in double figures. Roberson also collected 13 rebounds, accounting for her first career double-double.
Roberson’s late game scores were key in gaining the win
Starting sophomore guard Lexy Kresl watched from the CU bench, still recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in last weekend’s win at Arizona State.
WSU (10-16, 6-9) was led by Lia Galdeira with 12 and Mariah Cooks with 10.
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Going ahead 21-8 on a conventional three-point play by Roberson, the Buffs appeared to have a comfortable first-half lead. Then they went frigid and forgetful, lapsing on the offensive and defensive ends and allowing the Cougars back into the game.
Over the next four minutes, WSU went on a 10-1 run and cut CU’s 13-point lead to four (22-18). The Buffs had opened by hitting six of their first 12 shots, but they closed the half hitting just three of their last 20 attempts – and their final field goal of the half was by Roberson just seven seconds before the buzzer.
Still, despite shooting 28.1 percent from the field, committing 11 turnovers (19 for the game) and getting just two points from Jeffery, CU led 26-19 at intermission. That was mainly because WSU had 14 turnovers (25 total) and was limited to 21.9 percent first-half shooting.
But Lappe can be forgiven if she was leaning toward destroying the first-half tape.
The Buffs matched their largest lead of the game – 13 points at 40-27 – on a Jeffery basket with 13:30 remaining. But the Cougars crept back to within six (48-42) in the final six minutes.
A Jeffery jumper with 4:48 to play pushed CU ahead 50-42, and a Roberson trey from the top of the key restored the Buffs’ double-digit lead (53-42) with 3:30 remaining. When Roberson followed with a basket in the paint, CU’s lead went to 15, and with two minutes to play WSU was finished.
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CU Women’s Second Half Comeback Pushes Buffs Past ASU Sun Devils
Feb 17th
Story by Caryn Maconi, CUBuffs.com
TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 21 Colorado women’s basketball team turned an eight-point first-half deficit into an eight-point victory here Sunday afternoon, earning a 71-63 win over Arizona State.
Having defeated Arizona 55-42 on Friday, the Buffs swept their Arizona road trip, marking the first sweep on conference road games for the Buffs in their Pac-12 Conference history.
Sophomore forward Jen Reese led the Buffs with a career-high 22 points, six more than her previous high.
Roberson scored all of her 16 points in the second half
The victory was CU’s fifth straight fand its 20th this season, improving the Buffs to 20-5 overall and 9-5 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils fall to 11-15, 3-11 and are now on a seven-game losing streak.
Both teams scored in surges in the first half, but the Sun Devils had momentum on their side. After ASU scored the first two baskets of the game, CU scored seven straight. But the Sun Devils responded with a 10-0 run of their own, building an eight-point lead with 13:26 left in the half.
Though the Buffs would add another 6-0 run to close the gap to three (23-20) with six minutes remaining, the Sun Devils’ offense surged from there. ASU would eventually gain its largest lead of the half – 12 – at the 2:05 mark and enter intermission up 35-27.
CU outrebounded ASU 26-16 in the first half but struggled from the field, shooting less than 30 percent while the Sun Devils shot close to 50.
The Sun Devils held onto that momentum for the start of the second half, but with 16:22 on the clock, the Buffs – led by Reese and redshirt freshman forward Arielle Roberson – turned up the energy.
Sophomore Jen Reese had team and career high 22 points
Roberson scored three treys in nine minutes as part of an 18-6 CU run, and the Buffs finally took the lead (54-49) on Roberson’s third three-pointer with seven minutes remaining. They held onto their advantage until the final buzzer.
Roberson, who had gone scoreless in the first half, surged to finish the game with 16 points and eight rebounds. Reese’s 22 points were a game and career-high; the sophomore also added eight rebounds and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Chucky Jeffery was the third CU player in double figures, earning her 28th career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Colorado head coach Linda Lappe said before the game that it would be difficult to prepare for ASU’s offense in the absence of one standout scorer, and that balance showed Sunday afternoon.
“They have a number of different players that are doing some good things for them,” Lappe said. “When they don’t have a go-to player, it’s about everybody stepping up on defense and understanding that at any point anybody on their team can get hot. Sometimes that’s more dangerous than maybe having one player.”
The Sun Devils had three players in double figures; forward Janae Fulcher, guard Promise Amukamara and guard Adrianne Thomas ended the game with 14 points apiece.
The Buffs outrebounded their opponents 50-35, with four CU players grabbing seven or more boards. CU also committed just 10 turnovers compared to ASU’s 13, an improvement from Friday’s matchup against Arizona in which the Buffs’ turnover total was 20.
Colorado returns home this week to take on Washington State on Friday (7 p.m.) and Washington on Sunday (2 p.m.) at the Coors Events Center.
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