Posts tagged Lauren Huggins
It wasn’t pretty but #11 CU women stay undefeated
Dec 8th
And a strange afternoon of hoops in Boulder, but strange was good. The No. 11 Colorado women remained unbeaten with a 79-56 win over Illinois, but it was anything but business as usual in the Coors Events Center.
For starters, the Buffs (8-0) and Illini (5-5) had their pregame warm-up time shortened due to the aftermath of the CU’s men’s last-second upset of No. 6 Kansas. That game started at 1:20 p.m., with the women’s contest scheduled to begin just after 5 p.m. But it took longer than anticipated to clear the CEC court after it was stormed by CU students and fans following the electrifying 75-72 win.
Then, with 8:30 left in the first half of the women’s contest and the Buffs up 27-20, alarms sounded in the CEC. Play continued, but after a couple of possessions, the court and stands were cleared. A sprinkler head had burst in the loading dock area of the Events Center, triggering the alarms and stopping play for 20 minutes. Players went to their locker rooms, fans went to the building’s upper concourses.
Meanwhile, second-year Illinois coach Matt Bollant might not have known what he was missing. He was ill and remained at his Boulder hotel, which made associate head coach Mike Divilbiss the head man for the afternoon.
“There’s not much you can say in that situation,” Divilbiss said of the delay. “We’re a young team and it’s just one of those things – you just have to learn to get past the environment.”
Once back on the court, Illinois guard Amber Moore got a quick score but the Buffaloes quickly went up by double-digits for the first time on a three-pointer by Jen Reese (16 points) and a jumper byRachel Hargis (12) for a 32-22 lead.
Forward Jacqui Grant (game-high 20) helped keep Illinois close. When the Illini cooled off from the outside, they started going in and the 6-3 freshman scored four of her 15-first half points on a run that cut Colorado’s lead to 40-35.
But Lauren Huggins hit another 3-pointer and Hargis matched an Illinois score with a layup of her own to give the Buffaloes a 45-37 halftime advantage.
Reese hit her first three field goals of the second half as the Buffs built their lead to 20. A Jasmine Sborov trey and a soft Hargis layup pushed CU in front 62-42. But Illinois increased its press, contributing to the Buffs’ 20 turnovers, and crept to within 14 (62-48).
CU finally settled down as Sborov (10) hit a three-pointer at the 7:56 mark to push the lead back to 17 and the Illini were done.
“I thought it was a great win for our team,” CU coach Linda Lappe said, acknowledging Illinois’ athleticism, quickness and different defensive looks. “There were a lot of different obstacles and adversities through the game – not having the normal warm up time, having a fire alarm . . . I liked how we came out of being in the locker room for 15 minutes and got back into it. So, there were a lot of positives to take out of it.”
Once again, the Buffs’ balance was apparent. Four players, topped by Arielle Roberson’s 17, reached double figures and 10 of the players used by coach Linda Lappe scored. The Buffs outrebounded the Illini 51-30 and held the visitors to 30.8 percent shooting from the field (20-of-65).
In addition to her seven points, senior guard Brittany Wilson set career highs in assists (eight) and rebounds (13) and tied a career-best with three blocked shots.
“The ball just kept falling in my hands I guess and I just jumped up for rebounds and pushed the ball down the floor,” Wilson said. “I found open teammates – one being Jen Reese.”
CU committed 21 turnovers to Illinois’ 14, but Wilson said given the Illini’s average of forcing 26, the Buffs will take their 21 and move on. “You don’t want to have 21 turnovers a game,” she said, “but we won, so hey.”
Reese, who sat out the Wyoming game on Wednesday night with concussion symptoms a broken nose, said her fast start “was good to get the confidence up. Even if I did miss it, it’s short memory. But it was good to come back and it felt good.”
The Buffs are off until Thursday, when they host the University of Denver (7 p.m.).
CU WBB: Sborov and Kresl finish off Rice to win OMNI tourney
Dec 1st
By: Troy Andre, Assistant SID
BOULDER – No. 14/19 ranked Colorado used a late 14-0 rally to pull away from Rice and claim the 2013 Omni Hotels Classic championship, 75-58, Saturday night at the Coors Events Center.
Junior guard Lexy Kresl scored 19 points and recorded five rebounds, four assists and three steals to earn Classic MVP honors. Classmate Jen Reese was also named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Rice guard Megan Shafer hit a 3-pointer with 12:06 remaining in the game to pull Rice within four at 49-45.
But Colorado, 6-0, reeled off the next 14 points. Kresl made a nice pass to Reese in traffic on a fast break to put Colorado back up by double-digits at 56-45. Lauren Huggins then put back a Reese miss the next time down the floor to add to the rally.
The Wilson twins capped off the run. Brittany Wilson hit her second 3-pointer of the game and her sister Ashley Wilson caught the Owls defense sleeping for an open drive to the basket and layup to give the Buffaloes a 63-45 advantage.
“I like the way that our team bared down and got a certain level of toughness at about the eleven-minute mark in the second half,” CU head coach Linda Lappe said. “That was really where the game changed. We started defending, we started rebounding and that allowed us to run and transition to score.”
Rice guard Jessica Kuster, scored eight of her game-high 30 points to close the Colorado lead to 64-56 with 3:56 left. But the Buffaloes held off the Owls by staying aggressive. Arielle Roberson scored on a layup and Kresl scored four straight points to put the game away.
“That was a really fun game for our team and for our staff,” Lappe said. “We did not play our best, and we still found a way to win.”
Kuster, who struggled from the field against Samford in Friday’s opener, hitting only 1-of-9, couldn’t miss early on Saturday. She scored Rice’s first seven points and a traditional 3-point play tied the game at 7-7.
Colorado responded with 10 straight including 3-pointers from Brittany Wilson and Huggins and took a 17-7 lead on a Kresl layup.
Turnovers hurt the Buffaloes early and Rice cashed in. Colorado gave it up 10 times in the first 20 minutes which accounted for 11 Rice points.
But the Buffaloes shot 45 percent in the first half, allowing them to stay just ahead of the Owls. Reese hit a layup with 4:57 remaining to give Colorado a 27-17 advantage.
Rice then closed the half on a flurry behind Kuster. The All-Conference USA guard led the Owls on a 12-6 run, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer off a mad scramble in the final minutes. Kresl missed a layup with eight seconds left which sent players sprawling for the rebound. Jasmine Goodwine eventually controlled it, shot it over to Christal Porter who got the ball to Kuster in time for her 3-pointer from the top of the key sent CU to the locker room with just a 33-29 lead.
“They were tough, and (Kuster) is a great player,” Lappe said. “We tried everybody on her in terms of guarding her, and she found a way to make things happen for them.”
Kuster scored her team’s first three points of the second half and cut CU’s lead to its smallest margin at 35-32 at the 19:02 mark. The Buffaloes countered with a 10-4 run capped off by four straight points by Kresl for a 47-36 lead.
Then all of a sudden Rice couldn’t miss from downtown. After making just 1-of-3 from deep in the first half, the Owls hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions for a 9-2 run that ended with Shafer’s 3-pointer and the four-point margin before Colorado’s big second half run.
Kuster, who set a tournament record for free-throws made and attempted over the two-games (23-of-29) joined South Alabama’s Jennifer Johnson and Samford’s Keke Fletcher on the all-tournament team. Samford defeated South Alabama 70-49 in Saturday’s consolation game.
Colorado returns to action by traveling to play Wyoming on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie.
2013 Omni Hotels Classic – Boulder, Colo.
Colorado WBB Team Sprints Past South Alabama 94-61
Nov 30th
Buffs face Rice in tournament championship Saturday
BOULDER – Colorado’s offense continued to click as the No. 14/19 ranked Buffaloes sprinted past South Alabama, 94-61 in the first round of the Omni Hotels Classic Friday evening at the Coors Events Center.
Colorado (5-0) will play Rice (4-4) in Saturday’s championship game, set for 7:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. Rice squeaked by Samford 57-52 in the opener. South Alabama (0-5) will play Samford (1-4) in Saturday’s consolation at 5 p.m.
Colorado had five players score in double-digits for the third straight game and hit at least 80 points for the fourth consecutive contest, and 90 for the second time this year.
Jen Reese and Jamee Swan tied for lead scoring honors with 16 points apiece. Lexy Kresl had 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six assists. Rachel Hargis had 11 and Lauren Huggins had 10.
“It was another night with really good balance,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “Offensively, we moved the ball well. We had a lot of different players contribute; we scored on the inside, we scored on the outside. I really like the flow of some of the things we’re doing offensively.”
Colorado’s balanced shined once again as all 10 players that played scored, in fact that was achieved less than 10 minutes into the contest. Kresl scored 11 of her 12 points in the first half and keyed the Buffaloes fast start, drilling a 3-pointer that gave Colorado an early 11-2 lead.
South Alabama stayed close early on the heels of Rachel Cumbo, who hit two early 3-pointers, the second pulling the Jaguars to within six at 22-16 at the 11:10 mark of the first half.
But Kresl countered with a 3-pointer which sparked a 10-0 run. Ashley Wilson scored on a put back of a Brittany Wilson miss to double-up the Jaguars at 32-16.
From there the Buffaloes continued to roll. Colorado hit 57 percent in the first half alone en route to a 53-27 lead at the break, its most halftime points since putting up 53 against Southern Utah in 2009.
The Buffaloes dominated in the paint outscoring the Jaguars 40-14. The trio of Reese, Hargis and Swan were a combined 15-of-24 from the field. They also got it done at the foul line, making 12-of-13 combined, including a career-best 7-of-8 from Hargis.
Swan’s 16 points were a career high and came in a variety of ways, she had put back on offensive rebounds, mid-range jumpers and even a steal and coast-to-coast lay-in. She finished 7-of-10 from the field and grabbed eight boards, leading the Buffaloes in rebounding for the second straight contest.
“It was pretty even, it just came down to who wanted it more,” Swan said. “They were good on the inside and strong, but again, it came down to who wanted it more.”
Colorado as a team was outstanding from the line sinking 83 percent (20-of-24).
”We keep working on that every day,” Hargis said. “It was nice to get some fouls and get to the line.”
Reese was 6-of-8 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. Ashley Wilson finished with six points, six rebounds and tied a personal best with four assists.
Colorado ended up at 52 percent for the game (34-of-65) and dished out 19 assists. The Buffaloes also enjoyed a 42-28 edge on the boards.
Cumbo had a game-high 19 points for South Alabama while Jennifer Johnson scored 18 off the bench.
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