Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
13-3, 2-3Pac-12
Stanford
15-1, 6-0Pac-12
Brooks: CU Stays Cold, Stanford Rolls To Easy Win
January 14, 2012 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - It was one of those days for the shooters on the Colorado women's basketball team. Problem was, it came less than 48 hours after one of those nights.
CU entered its Pac-12 Conference game Saturday against Stanford on a scoring drought and the Cardinal promptly extended it, cruising to an 80-54 win at the Coors Events Center against a team that suddenly is encountering extreme difficulty doing what basketball is all about.
After turning frigid in the second half of Thursday night's loss to California, the Buffaloes missed their first 12 shots Saturday and by halftime had made only six of 29 field goal attempts.
It was no way to start against the nation's fourth-ranked team, and the Buffs paid for it with their third loss of the season (13-3) and their third in Pac-12 play (2-3).
CU coach Linda Lappe paid proper credit to Stanford's defense before adding, "We were getting good shots . . . hopefully those things will fall. We've seen Brittany (Wilson) shoot the ball well, Chucky (Jeffery) getting to the rim and hitting her shots. It's tough when everybody is having an off-night at the same time. Everybody went dry at the same time."
In truth, the dry spell started on Thursday night. The Buffs finished their 13-point loss to Cal by going scoreless in that game's final 7:01 - and unfortunately there was a carryover. On Saturday afternoon, they didn't score until freshman Jasmine Sborov sank two free throws with 13:01 left before intermission.
And they didn't get their first field goal against Stanford until Sborov hit a short baseline jumper a couple of minutes later. The scoring timeline wasn't pretty; counting the Thursday night drought that stretched into Saturday, CU went 14:09 without any points and 15:25 between field goals.
By then, the Cardinal was in command, fashioning a 17-2 run after Buffs freshman Lexy Kresl had pulled her team within four points (13-9) with a three-pointer at the first half's 9:15 mark. But at that point, Stanford took off and raced to a 30-11 lead with just under 3 minutes before intermission.
The Buffs wound up shooting just 20.7 percent from the field in the first half and 32.8 percent for the game (19-of-58). Jeffery, CU's leading scorer (17.2 average), scored her only two points of the afternoon with 26.2 seconds left in the first half.
Lappe said Jeffery obviously was targeted by the Cardinal: "When another team has great players like Stanford does, they key on her. She had some decent looks in the first half but she was a little tentative. She stopped pushing the ball in transition, that's when she's been at her best. She's entitled to a bad game like anybody else.
"Hopefully she gets her swagger and her confidence back. I say she's entitled (to an off-game) because everybody has one, but we're not going to be very successful when she does. We just don't have players that are capable of doing the things that she does. She just needs to get back into the gym work on shooting, ball handling and other things."
Veteran Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said her players, particularly freshman guard Amber Orrange, "worked hard" against Jeffery. "We had a lot of people guarding her. We had about four or five different players guarding her throughout the game. Colorado isn't a one-dimensional team either. I think we had the inside strength and we were able to go inside to the net. We actually missed a lot of shots early, but we finished on them later."
The Cardinal lost All-America candidate Nnemkadi Ogwumike, a 6-3 senior, to a slight ankle sprain for a 7-minute stretch in the first half. In her absence, junior Joslyn Tinkle stepped up with 12 first half points (20 for the game) and Nnemkadi Ogwumike's presence was barely missed. Her younger sister, Chiney, a 6-3 sophomore, contributed 19 points and a game-best nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Toni Kokenis matched Chiney's point total. And when she returned with a re-taped ankle, Nnemkadi contributed 15 points, putting four of Stanford's starters in double figures.
Only two CU players could match that - sophomore Brittany Wilson and freshman Jen Reese with 10 each.
Jeffery's total was her lowest since scoring that many last season at Iowa State. "We know it's hard on Chucky," said CU sophomore Ashley Wilson, who finished with nine points. "She has a lot of weight on her so we know that when she is not having a good night there has to be somebody to . . . help pick her up."
Before Sborov's basket, the Buffs missed their first 12 shots. They went to their locker room trailing 32-15, with their 15 first-half points tied for the program's fifth fewest at home.
Lappe said her team "did a great job defensively in the first half, limiting them to 32 on a team that averages 80 (per game). They're going to score the ball, but you hope you can score more than 15 in a half. You just have to play for 40 minutes against Stanford but you also have to do that against every other team in this league."
It would have been nice if Stanford came out complacent in the second half, but that didn't happen. The Cardinal opened with an 11-3 run and steadily pulled away, going up by 25 (43-18) on a layup by Kokenis with 18:43 to play.
From there, CU's mission was one of trying to finish with respectability. In the final 15:16, the Buffs closed to within 21 (48-27) on a three-pointer by Brittany Wilson, but the Cardinal kept the pressure on and took its largest lead of the game - 29 points, 69-40 - with 6:18 remaining.
While the Buffs were mostly firing blanks, the Cardinal shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field. Stanford also scored 24 points off of CU's 15 turnovers and outscored the host team 34-18 in the paint.
The Cardinal obviously was not bothered by the short turnaround and hop over the Rockies after Thursday night's 62-43 win at Utah. Winning for the 63rd consecutive time against conference opposition, Stanford improved to 15-1 overall and remained unbeaten (6-0) and atop the Pac-12. The Cardinal's only loss this season was in November at then-No. 2 Connecticut (68-58).
"Stanford's a good team," Lappe said. "They're the number four team in the country for a reason. I thought they came out and played hard and were the aggressors."
Before the Buffs leave town on next week's Pac-12 trip (Thursday at Arizona State, Saturday at Arizona), Lappe's goal is clear. While Jeffery needs to bounce back, she also needs a consistent companion on the offensive end . . . but who?
"That's the million dollar question," Lappe said. "We've talked about it with our staff and with our team it. We want Julie Seabrook (senior forward) to take a few more shots. She's only taken 10 shots in the last two games (3-of-6 Saturday, 8 points). When we are successful, she is taking 10 shots a game. When she recognized she was wide open, she shot it. She's a good enough shooter and scorer to recognize [the opportunities]. We need a couple more to step up game in and game out."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
