Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Expecting Stern Test From Pioneers
December 07, 2011 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
On Sunday afternoon against Idaho, the Buffaloes weren't exactly the bumbling partner with two left feet, but neither were they portraits of grace and efficiency.
Said second-year CU coach Linda Lappe: "We didn't play particularly well, we didn't shoot particularly well."
But here's what the Buffs did really well: They finished.
Trailing 59-58 with 3:15 to play, CU collected wits, grit and whatever else was necessary to close out the game with a 10-0 run and push to 7-0 for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
It was the Buffs' most difficult win to date - and undoubtedly the most revealing.
"Being down one with (under) four minutes to go . . . you have a different feeling in the pit of your stomach as a player, as a coach, on the bench," Lappe said. "So being able to understand what it takes to win close games, you have to execute your offense, your defense . . . you have to play together and have intensity.
"And I thought we really brought that at the end of the game. We understood what was at stake. We saw our team's competitiveness, which was great."
Lappe expects those traits will have to be evident again Thursday at the Coors Events Center (7 p.m., ROOT Sports) when the University of Denver visits. If Idaho proved difficult to dispatch, DU figures to be a not-quite-instant replay of Sunday.
The Pioneers edged the Buffs by a point (70-69) last November in Magness Arena and this season have worked their way through the state without a stumble. Their 6-2 record includes wins against Air Force (54-52), Colorado State (64-61) and Northern Colorado (66-57). Boulder is the last stop on DU's in-state itinerary.
"It's an in-state game, so you want to make sure you come ready, you're intense and fired up and focused," Lappe said. "We don't take any in-state games lightly. We didn't take Colorado State (a 72-53 win in Fort Collins) lightly and we're not going to take DU lightly.
"It's a game we've been looking forward to, but at the same time we know we have to make sure we're ready and use our emotion in a good way."
In Denver last season, CU's ball-handling was suspect (21 turnovers) and the Buffs were whistled for 23 fouls to the home team's 15. Guards Chucky Jeffery and Brittany Wilson fouled out, and four other players finished the game with three fouls each.
Still, the Buffs weren't put away until the Pioneers hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final 69 seconds.
Lappe called DU, whose coaching staff includes former Buffs star Shelley Sheetz, "a very good team. They execute their offense very well and are well-coached. They're going to play sound defense and switch it up." She expects CU to face some zone press defense, a 2-3 zone and other variations.
DU's leading scorer is Kaetlyn Murdoch, a 5-11 senior who scored 17 points in last year's meeting and is averaging that this season. The Pioneers' roster features only one Coloradoan - sophomore guard Quincey Noonan of Broomfield (Legacy). She's the only other DU player scoring in double figures (10.3 points). Murdoch is averaging 5.9 rebounds, second on the team to 5-11 forward Maiya Michel (7.4).
Lappe says the Pioneers' three-point shooting has improved this season - no doubt under the influence of Sheetz, who is in her fourth season on the DU staff. Noonan has hit eight treys in 25 attempts, fellow guard Emiko Smith nine in 22 tries.
DU's focus will be on slowing Jeffery, who in her two most recent games has produced career-highs in points - 26 against San Francisco, 30 against Idaho. Jeffery also has strung together three consecutive double-doubles (14 for her career) and is playing at perhaps the highest level of her career.
Offensively, Jeffery said she "didn't do anything special" against Idaho, but she agreed what the Buffs did defensively against the Vandals in the final four minutes was pretty special: "That was huge, especially for us being a young team and some of us not being in those situations before . . . . we were denying, we were pressuring and they didn't score. We created havoc that last four minutes and they didn't like it."
After Thursday night's game, Lappe's team takes an eight-day break, with semester finals scheduled next week. The hiatus from hoops, she said, will come at an appropriate time: "You really push up until finals. You know you're going to have a little bit of a break . . . we're going to take two days off in a row, which we haven't done since we started practice.
"So it'll be a little bit of a physical break, and a little bit of a mental break in terms of being on the court - even though their brains will be working (during finals)."
At least that's what Lappe hopes. An 8-0 record entering the finals break would be nice, too.
Tickets for Thursday night's game, as well as the Saturday, Dec. 17 contest (4 p.m.) against Weber State, start at $8 and can be purchased at CUBuffs.com/tickets or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
