Posts tagged Texas
Kresl, Hargis Receive Academic Pac-12 Honors
Mar 27th
BOULDER – Colorado sophomore guard Lexy Kresl was named to the 2013 Pac-12 Conference Women’s Basketball All-Academic second team, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Junior center Rachel Hargis received honorable mention to the all-academic squad.
To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average and either be a starter or a significant contributor.
Kresl, a native of Paradise Valley, Ariz., was the only underclassman out of the 10 student-athletes that made one of the all-academic squads. She averaged 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season and led the Buffaloes in 3-point field goals with 34. Kresl owns a 3.52 GPA and is majoring in integrative physiology.
Hargis was Colorado’s top shot blocker with 34 while averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. A psychology major, the Robinson, Texas, native sports a 3.06 GPA.
PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC – WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
First Team
Chelsea Bridgewater, UTAH Sr. 3.81 Psychology/Political Science
Kristi Kingma, WASH Sr. 3.94 Communication
Rachel Messer, UTAH Sr. 3.83 Management
Taryn Wicijowski, UTAH Jr. 3.93 Biology/Psychology
Mariah Williams, UCLA Sr. 3.89 Political Science
Second Team
Layshia Clarendon, CAL Sr. 3.47 American Studies
Katie Grad, WSU Sr. 3.80 Sport Management
Lexy Kresl, COLO So. 3.52 Integrative Physiology
Eliza Normen, ASU Fr. 3.57 Biomedical Engineering
Carly Noyes, WSU Sr. 3.49 Elementary Education
Women’s Basketball Honorable Mention All-Academic
Ireti Amojo, Jr., WSU; Liz Brenner, So., ORE; Joy Burke, Jr., ASU; Talia Caldwell, Sr., CAL; Amanda Delgado, So.,
ORE; Ciera Dunbar, So. UTAH; Janae Fulcher, Sr., ASU; Cassie Harberts, Jr., USC; Rachel Hargis, Jr., COLO; Toni
Kokenis, Jr., STAN; Thea Lemberger, Jr., UCLA; Jordan Loera, So., ORE; Danielle Love, Jr., ORE; Mikayla Lyles, Jr., CAL; Christina Marinacci, Sr., USC; Alyssa Martin, Jr., OSU; Chiney Ogwumike, Jr., STAN; Kate Oliver, Jr., USC; Erica Payne, So., STAN; Eliza Pierre, Sr., CAL; Michelle Plouffe, Jr., UTAH; Mikaela Ruef, Sr., STAN; Bonnie Samuelson, So., STAN; Mercedes Wetmore, Jr., WASH; Aminah Williams, So., WASH.
CU men draw Illini In NCAA First Round
Mar 18th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Back in mid-November, coach Tad Boyle and his young Colorado Buffaloes worked up a significant reservoir of the stuff along the drizzly, dank South Carolina coast, unexpectedly winning the Charleston Classic.
When the Baby Buffs returned with it to the Rockies, Boyle found them – to quote the poet – “always in want.” And Sunday afternoon in their coach’s den, their want was rewarded.
Colorado will play Illinois in the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Austin, Texas. The Buffs are a No. 10 seed, the Illini a No. 7. It is CU’s 12th overall NCAA appearance, the second consecutive trip to the Big Dance, and the first time for back-to-back appearances by the Buffs on March’s majestic college dance card in 50 years (1961-62/1962-63).
Before their successful stint in Charleston, Boyle conceded if this was an NCAA Tournament team he couldn’t see it coming.
“I wasn’t sure,” he said after Sunday’s early, anxious moments had passed. “I’ll be honest with you, when I looked at our schedule before the season started, after Europe, I was thinking 15 to 17 wins – somewhere in that neighborhood. Less than that and I think we would have underachieved, over that I think maybe we overachieved, just because of our youth and our schedule early.
“What happens is, you win early like we did in Charleston, we beat some good teams and you start getting greedy. You want a little bit more and a little bit more. Once that happened, I think my expectations, our fans’ expectations, everybody’s expectations go up.”
Boyle is very careful, very crafty not to hitch his expectations to those circulating outside the Coors Events Center. But this time, he might have found it difficult not to. He saw what his third CU team might be if it improved month to month, and by the final week of the regular season – that would be before an ugly home loss to Oregon State – he had seen indications that if it didn’t repeat as Pac-12 tournament champions, it could be among the NCAA’s 37 at-large entries.
And that’s as much a tribute to his upgrade of CU hoops as was winning four games in four days last March in L.A.
“This is a hard tournament to get into,” Boyle said. “We can’t ever take this for granted. This is the first back-to-back NCAA Tournaments (for CU) since the early ‘60s – a long, long time ago . . . so in the modern era, the first back-to-back. We don’t want it to be the last. I think it’s a great step forward for our program to get an at-large bid. Obviously we’d rather win the Pac-12 Tournament, but the fact we didn’t and we got in shows some respect (by the Selection Committee).”
That respect didn’t show itself for what seemed a painfully long time Sunday afternoon. The CBS Selection Show went through a pair of 15-minute segments in announcing the Midwest and South brackets before “Colorado” flashed on the screen opposite Illinois in the East.
During their half-hour wait, Boyle and his upperclassmen were flashing back to two years ago in the same room, when a festive Selection Sunday watch party turned funereal when the Buffs were spurned. Angst built on this Sunday when Pac-12 champ Oregon, which had defeated Oregon less than 24 hours earlier, was relegated to a No. 12 seed in the Midwest.
“I was sitting next to Andre (Roberson, junior forward) and we were both getting nervous,” Boyle recalled. “All the guys who were here two years ago . . . the rest of the guys don’t have any idea, but those guys do.”
The younger guys, however, were not sitting at ease. “I don’t know if I can even describe it,” sophomore guard Askia Booker said. “Your ears get hot, sweat starts coming down your head . . . you’re looking at teammates and they’re trying to keep themselves composed. It’s hard, nerve-wracking. But once you’re in, it’s all joy.”
Boyle’s nerves had everything to do with Selection Sunday 2011, but he added, “The fortunate thing was this was a new year, new team . . . a whole new deal. Logically – and I’m a pretty logical person – it shouldn’t have had anything to do with it. But emotionally, it’s human nature. You know how it works. We’re all scarred and sometimes you’re afraid of reopening those old wounds.”
They stayed closed and when the Buffs were in, with their opponent, date and destination, the Boyle den erupted in cheers.
“I’m happy for Andre getting to go back to Texas (he’s from San Antonio),” Boyle said. “Austin is a great place to go this time of year, heck, anytime of year for that matter. We’re very fortunate, and we’re playing a team from one of the toughest conferences in the country.”
Roberson, the nation’s leading rebounder who showed few effects at the Pac-12 tournament from a viral illness that sidelined him for the previous two games, called returning to his home state “definitely great. It’s a double for me. This is a great feeling, especially after what happened two years ago. We’re going to go and show everybody why we’re one of the best.”
One of Roberson’s personal goals this season is to advance to at least the Sweet Sixteen, and he believes “we can do that this year with the team we’ve got and the talent we have . . . I won’t say we overachieved, but we had a lot of young guys. We started to rebuild and I definitely feel we did a great job this year.”
Being seeded 10th was in the neighborhood where Boyle believed the Buffs might land – and he likes that spot.
“Quite frankly, I was hoping for a ten or eleven more than an eight or a nine,” he said. “You face usually a No. 1 seed (if you win the first game) and sometimes that No. 1 seed, they try and keep them close to home. They really put a lot of stock in those No. 1 seeds and once it starts going down from there, the part of the country is less important.
“So I thought certainly with a ten or eleven seed, your first-round opponent is maybe a little bit better, but your second-round opponent – now, they’re still going to be good, Miami is a No. 2 seed and won the ACC and the ACC Tournament – but you never know what’s going to happen in this thing. That’s what makes this tournament so special – the upsets. If a ten seed like Colorado beats a seven seed like Illinois, it’s not really considered an upset. But if a fifteen (seed) beats a two, it’s a major upset. Those eight-nine games are flips of the coin. We’re just elated to be a part of it.”
CU (21-11) and Illinois (22-12) have only played four games, with the Illini winning three. Their last meeting was in 1987 in Champaign, where the home team won 69-65. If the Buffs advance to the second round, they catch either Miami (Fla.) or Pacific; they’ve faced Miami once (a 73-66 CU win in Miami in 1957), but have never faced Pacific.
Illinois finished 8-10 in the Big Ten Conference and was ousted from the league tournament by Indiana 80-64. But the Illini defeated the Hoosiers 74-72 during the Big Ten regular season, as well as winning at Gonzaga 85-74 during non-conference play. Both Indiana and Gonzaga wound up as No. 1 NCAA seeds.
“They’re a very good team from one of the best leagues in the country if not the best,” Boyle said of Illinois. “They beat Gonzaga at Gonzaga and I don’t think anybody else did that this year. They’re a quality basketball team and we’ve got our work cut out for us. Whoever you play in this tournament, you’re going to play somebody good.”
Before Sunday’s Selection Show, Boyle asked his coordinator of operations, Bill Cartun, to start compiling tape on eight or nine possible NCAA opponents. Illinois was on Cartun’s list, so Boyle and his staff are a step ahead in that area. CU’s Illini scouting report will fall to assistant Mike Rohn.
The Buffs’ NCAA experience last March started and ended in Albuquerque, where they defeated UNLV before being sent home by Baylor. Boyle said the biggest lesson learned from that trip was to focus on one game, one opponent: “Not looking ahead is the biggest thing; there are no tomorrows.”
Playing in the moment is paramount, just as living in it on Sunday in Boyle’s den was excruciating.
“Everything you do as coach, and our players do, day in and day out in practice, all the jump shots, all the wind sprints, all the defensive drills – everything that we do kind of points to this day,” Boyle said. “It’s probably more important than it should be, but that’s the world we live in. You can’t bury your head in the sand. When it comes down to one day, one decision and it’s out of your hands, it’s nerve-wracking.”
When the Buffs were officially in, their coach reminded them, “It’s a heck of a lot easier when we win the Pac-12 tournament; there’s a lot less drama in this room.”
But that’s next season’s goal. A more immediate one awaits in Austin.
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Andre Roberson is named PAC-12 defensive player of the year
Mar 11th
The standout from San Antonio, Texas, is CU’s first-ever defensive player of the year award recipient. Roberson was also named one of 10 players to the conference first team, in addition to being named one of the five players to the all-defensive team.
It’s the second year the conference coaches have named Roberson a first-team and all-defensive team selection.
Roberson (6’7”, 210-pound, San Antonio, Texas/Wagner HS) was a force on defense for CU this season, as the Buffs limited their opponents to a Pac-12 low 62.2 points per game in league play. He led the conference with 11.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, while also contributing 1.4 blocked shots per game (8th in the Pac-12). His 1,019 career rebounds are second all-time at Colorado.
Roberson leads the nation in rebounding and ranks among the top-25 in steals per game. Also on the national level, he has recorded 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 10 games this year, twice as many as any other Division I player. He’s the first CU player to average a double-double (10.8 ppg., 11.5 rpg.) in back-to-back years since Shaun Vandiver (1989-91).
Dinwiddie (6’6”, 190-pound, Woodland Hills, Calif./Taft HS) earned first-team honors for the first time in his collegiate career after leading the Buffs in scoring with a 15.4 points per game average (7th in Pac-12). His conference scoring per game (16 ppg.) ranks sixth, and he is fifth in free throw percentage (82.2) and 11th in assists (3.0).
He leads the Buffs with seven 20-point scoring games (four of those in the Pac-12), tops CU in assists (91, 3.0 apg.) and at the free throw line (82.2%). He has led the team in scoring 13 times. The conference honor is Dinwiddie’s second straight after bring named to the second team as a freshman.
Roberson and Dinwiddie are the first CU pair named to the conference first team since 1968-69 when Cliff Meely and Gordon Tope were named to the Big 8 Conference first team. In fact, Ken Charlton and Jim Davis (1962-63), and Charlton and Wilky Gilmore (1961-62) were the other tandems in the same year named conference first team.
Scott (6’10”, 215-pound, Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer HS) is CU’s second selection to the all-Pac-12 freshmen team in as many years (Dinwiddie). His initial season as a Buff has been a successful one; he ranked second in team field goal percentage (48.7), free throw percentage (75.3), and rebounding (5.4).
Scott has started 27 of 28 games in which he has played. He is also fourth in scoring (10.7 ppg) with 16 games in double figures and a pair of double-doubles.
The other major conference awards were as follows: California junior guard Allen Crabbe – Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year; Arizona State guard Jahii Carson and UCLA guard Shabazz Muhammad – Pac-12 Co-Freshman of the Year; Stanford junior forward Dwight Powell – Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year; and Dana Altman of Oregon –John Wooden Coach of the Year.
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