Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
15-5, 4-5Pac-12
UCLA
10-10,5-4Pac-12
Brooks: Bumbling Buffs Bounced By Bruins In OT
January 29, 2012 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - The Colorado women's basketball team went cold early, late and played haphazardly in between, ultimately paying with a 62-54 overtime loss to UCLA on Sunday afternoon at the Coors Events Center.
"We came out flat, we missed a lot of easy shots, we missed a lot of free throws," a disappointed CU coach Linda Lappe said. "We didn't make defensive stops down the stretch like we did in other parts of the game."
The Buffaloes opened by missing their first 13 shots. They closed regulation play and OT by making only two field goals in the final 10:25. And their 25 turnovers were only slightly below their season-worst total - 27 at Arizona State.
Lappe wants the Buffs to believe they are better than average then consistently play like it. She didn't see that Sunday, crediting UCLA for being "aggressive down the stretch and executing" - two areas in which her team was lacking as it attempted to win its third consecutive game. Any chance of that evaporated in the wake of a 25-to-5 turnover-to-assist ratio, 10 missed free throws and overall field goal shooting of 31 percent (18-of-58, including 2-of-7 in OT). The Bruins weren't much better in any of those stats, committing 14 turnovers, missing eight free throws and finishing with a field goal percentage of 34.3 (23-of-67).
Combined, the teams made 41 of their 125 field goal attempts - much more of a lights-are-off than a lights-out shooting performance. But after regulation play ended in a 46-46 tie, UCLA took quick control in overtime by outscoring CU 9-2 - the Bruins hit four-of-five from the field in OT - and making seven of eight free throws in the extra period's final 50 seconds.
"They scored first (in OT) and they kept going from there," CU freshman Lexy Kresl said. "We didn't really fight back as early as we should have (and) it kind of looked like it on defense. We weren't as much of a presence as we were in the beginning of the game. We didn't apply as much pressure or box out like we were supposed to."
The Buffs committed 11 more turnovers than their visitors, but the points-off-turnovers stat was only 19-18 in the Bruins' favor. CU's bench outscored UCLA's 20-0 - mainly because Kresl had 15 points and the Bruins traveled just eight players, three of whom didn't score.
But when all the numbers were crunched and juggled at afternoon's end, the Buffs had slipped to 15-5 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12 Conference, while the Bruins evened their overall record at 10-10 and at 5-4 in the league. And UCLA moved into a tie with Southern California for fourth place.
Kresl's 15 points led the Buffs, while junior Chucky Jeffery added 14. UCLA's Markel Walker, an athletic 6-1 junior who caused continual matchup problems, led all scorers with 24 points, including six in overtime. She also grabbed 10 rebounds.
"She's a nightmare for anyone to guard," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "In reality, she can hit the perimeter jumper (and) when she's hitting those, she's very hard for anyone to match up with."
Ravaged by injuries, Close's bench was ridiculously short, and Lappe believed the Buffs could exploit it by going up-tempo. But CU didn't get into a running groove until late in the first half. The Buffs didn't get their first basket until Jeffery hit a short jumper in the lane at the 13:26 mark.
Jeffery's "J" brought the Buffs to 9-4 and was followed by a Kresl three-pointer that narrowed the gap to 9-7. But just as quickly, CU fell behind by six (13-7) and didn't pull even until Brittany Wilson's layup made it 19-19 with 2:06 before halftime.
Lappe believed the Bruins "were tired by halftime; they were short on all their shots . . . they were gassed but we didn't take advantage and didn't push the ball in transition." The Buffs led only once in the first half, and that one-point advantage (24-23) came courtesy of Jeffery's buzzer beater before intermission. Otherwise, the home team's largest crowd -Â 5,885 on State Farm Insurance day - of the season and the second-largest audience to see a Pac-12 game this season was given few reasons to cheer.
When CU opened the second half with a 6-1 run and went ahead by six points (30-24), the crowd finally showed pulse and voice. But with their shots falling at least early in the final 20 minutes, the Buffs squandered an opportunity to pull away.
"We had so many opportunities to get ahead by 10 to 15 points and we didn't take (them)," Lappe said. "When UCLA wasn't playing well we didn't go in for the kill. And anytime you let a team hang around and hang around, they gain confidence. They have good players."
The Buffs led by six points on two occasions early in the final 20 minutes before the Bruins caught them. Rebekah Gardner scored seven of her 17 points in an 11-3 UCLA run that resulted in a 39-37 Bruins lead.
The Buffs forged a 39-39 tie on a Jen Reese jumper, went ahead 41-39 on Jeffery's layup and didn't surrender the lead for the final 5:25. Fouled while attempting a three-pointer from the left wing with 2:07 left, Kresl hit all three free throws to put CU up 46-42.
But UCLA crept back to 46-44 on Thea Lemberger's runner from the right side. With a chance to tie, the Bruins lost the ball on a traveling call with 57 seconds to play. CU called a timeout, but promptly turned it over, allowing Gardner to work the baseline for a layup that tied the score at 46-46 with 7.5 seconds left.
After another timeout, the Buffs committed yet another turnover - their 23rd in regulation - and CU's sloppy afternoon was headed for overtime. And defeat.
Pressed for a positive, Lappe found this: "We didn't play well and we had a great shot to win at the end of the game. But we didn't play Colorado basketball, we didn't rebound, we didn't get transition offense at all except when we got it through our defense. And I still think we had a great shot to win . . . that should be a positive for our team that we can compete with anybody and it's just the matter of taking that next step."
The Buffs play at Oregon State on Thursday night and at Oregon on Saturday afternoon. Their next pair of home game comes on Thursday, Feb. 9 against Arizona and on Saturday, Feb. 11 against Arizona State, with both tip times at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at CUBuffs.com/tickets or by calling 303-49BUFFS.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
