Posts tagged Linda Lappe
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.).
WBB: Two top recruits sign letters of intent to CU
Dec 1st
BOULDER – Zoe Correal and Brecca Thomas have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball and continue their education at the University of Colorado in 2014-15 head coach Linda Lappe announced on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period.
“We are very excited about having Brecca and Zoe in the Buff family,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “They are great people first and foremost and will bring a lot of valuable skills to the University of Colorado both on and off the court. They have competed and won at a high level in their high school and club programs and have proven to be successful all around.”
Correal, a 6-foot, 4-inch center from El Cerrito, Calif., is gearing up for her senior season at Salesian High School a program where she has contributed to the last two NorCal Division IV titles.
“Zoe is a bona fide center who will get up and down the floor quickly and give us another big presence in the post,” Lappe said. “She has worked hard over her high school career and continues to get better each year.”
She averaged 9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as a junior, guiding the Pride to a 29-8 record, the NorCal title and runner-up finish at the 2013 CIF Division IV State Tournament.
“I’ll be ready to work,” Correal said. “I’ll give it all I have. I will bring my defense and will be working on my offensive game, getting ready for the bigs in the Pac-12 that can shoot. I’m excited to show everyone what I’ve got.”
Correal was named to the 2012-13 Cal-Hi Sports Division IV All-State Second Team. As a sophomore in 2011-12, she averaged 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds on a 31-5 squad which also advanced to the Division IV state finals. Rated as the No. 46 post player in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz, Correal also played for the CA Ballaz club program. She’s interested in pursuing psychology as a major.
“I’m really excited to get to Colorado,” Correal said. “(On my visit) I went to a psychology class with (current senior Rachel Hargis), it was an advanced class so I didn’t quite understand it, but knew I could do this. Everything is beautiful out there, the brick buildings on campus, and the mountains took me off guard, how pretty it was out there.”
Thomas, a 5-5 point guard from Houston, is entering her senior season at the Kinkaid School, a winning program in its own right. She has scored nearly 1,700 points and dished out over 400 assists in three years for the Falcons who have won back-to-back Southwest Preparatory Conference Division I titles.
“Brecca is going to be an exciting player as she plays with a lot of heart and energy,” Lappe said. “She will help us in the guard position as she has a tremendous skill set and is truly a triple threat player.”
A three-time All-SPC Division I selection, Thomas averaged 20.6 points, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals as a junior, leading the Falcons to a 28-5 record. She hit 47 percent from the field (247-of-528) and was even more accurate from 3-point range, shooting 51 percent (72-of-141).
“Brecca is such a student of the game,” Kinkaid head coach Stacey Marshall said. “Both off the court and with her practice habits, she has an incredible skill set…kind of a once in a lifetime player.”
Thomas averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 steals and 3.8 assists as a sophomore as the Falcons finished 31-3, setting a school record for wins and claiming their first of two straight SPC crowns. She hopes to bring leadership as a point guard and a fast pace to her new teammates next year, who she’s already connected with.
“Everyone is so friendly and (Colorado) is a nice atmosphere,” Thomas said on her visit this past October. “It’s a great group of girls and coaching staff. I feel safe with them. And in academics my planned major (marketing), Colorado is a good school, so I really liked that.”
Colorado, ranked No. 17 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll, will host Alcorn State in its home opener on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
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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