University of Colorado Athletics
Brooks: Lappe?s Buffs Set To Begin Pac-12 Play In LA
January 02, 2014
BOULDER Gรรด WomenGรรs basketball teams in the Pac-10/12 have been chasing Stanford for so long there doesnGรรt seem to be any other way to approach a season. So let the chase begin . . . again.
Under Tara VanDerveer, the Cardinal has won 21 Pac-10/12 championships in her 26 seasons, made 24 NCAA Tournament trips, 10 Final Four appearances and won everything there was to win in 1990 and 1992.
This season, Stanford is ranked fourth nationally, 11-1 (the lone loss was to No. 1 UConn, 76-57) and is favored once again to win the Pac-12. So what else is new? Well, not much apparently.
Yet the way fourth-year Colorado coach Linda Lappe sees it, a Pac-12 coach doesnGรรt approach a conference season with one team in the crosshairs or believing thereGรรs a huge gap between the Cardinal and the rest of the league.
GรยฃThat remains to be seen,Gรยฅ said Lappe. GรยฃYou canGรรt go into the conference thinking, GรรฟHey, weGรรre chasing one team.Gรร YouGรรve got to beat everybody to get to where you want to go. But obviously they (Stanford) have been at the top for a long time, so until someone knocks them off they can say that.Gรยฅ
Pac-12 play begins in full this weekend and Lappe is optimistic about her Buffs being the team that closes that real or perceived gap and catches the Cardinal. But letGรรs not get ahead of ourselves; Lappe's blueprint is about tucking away one win at a time rather than the pursuit of one team.
Stanford visits Boulder on the second weekend of Pac-12 play Gรรด Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. to be precise Gรรด but three games precede that one. The Buffs open their conference schedule at Southern California on Friday, play at UCLA on Sunday, then return to the Coors Events Center to face California on Friday, Jan. 10. USC (8-5) already has a conference win after defeating UCLA (6-7) by two points on Monday night.
Cal, ranked No. 23 (AP) this week, and CU, ranked No. 12, were the mediaGรรs preseason choices to finish behind Stanford in conference, with Cal viewed as the most likely challenger. But Arizona State (10-1) is ranked No. 24 and making noise as a team not to be overlooked. What's more, Lappe believes the league is stocked with more parity this season than in the past several.
But like their coach, LappeGรรs players arenGรรt rushing things; if the Buffs donGรรt open strong in LA on the first weekend of conference play, the second weekend and the visits by Cal and Stanford loses some of its sheen. Lappe is hopeful for the return of redshirt freshman forward Lauren Huggins, who sat out the win against Southern Utah with a lower leg ailment not associated with the stress fracture that sidelined her last season. Huggins leads the team in 3-pointers made (22-of-54, 40.7 percent) and is averaging 7.3 points.
Junior forward Jen Reese believes the Buffs enter Pac-12 play wearing a bulls-eye, and given last seasonGรรs fourth-place finish (13-5) and third-place forecast this season sheGรรs probably right.
GรยฃEveryone is going to play their best against us, no matter who they are,Gรยฅ Reese said. GรยฃThatGรรs just whatGรรs going to happen with us being ranked. WeGรรve got to accept who we play and know that. WeGรรve just got to go in and play like weGรรve been doing. ThatGรรs the main thing.Gรยฅ
CU finished its non-conference schedule 10-1, with Reese second on the team in both scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). But the first few days of 2014 find Reese trying to work her way back into condition after a pre-Christmas bout with stomach flu that became an unwanted gift to her parents when she returned home to Clackamas, Ore.
GรยฃI felt like I was going to die,Gรยฅ said Reese, who is slowly getting her weight and strength back. GรยฃShe was really sick for five or six days,Gรยฅ Lappe said, Gรยฃbut she seems to be feeling better. It was good to get her game time (vs. Southern Utah last week) and get her back in the flow.Gรยฅ
Maybe joking, maybe not, Lappe added: GรยฃI told her sheGรรs really good when sheGรรs sick because she doesnGรรt have to think and she plays at a good pace.Gรยฅ
LappeGรรs pre-conference goals for Reese and all of her teammates are improvement in rebounding (particularly boxing out), overall defense (focusing on stopping one-on-one penetration) and setting better screens. Reese believes the BuffsGรร overall effort Gรยฃhas gotten 100 percent betterGรยฅ and that offensive balance has never been more apparent.
GรยฃWe can move the ball, see the open gaps . . . itGรรs all gotten so much better,Gรยฅ she said. GรยฃWeGรรve got a lot of people who can get in double-digits (scoring), which is great. If we play our defense our offense will come if we have a bad start.Gรยฅ
Reese is one of four Buffs averaging in double figures, with three others averaging over six, seven and eight points each. CU ranks second in the league in scoring (77.5) and scoring defense (59.5), trailing Oregon (105.3) and Stanford (58.2), in those respective categories.
Reese, who has shed the protective mask sheGรรs been wearing after suffering a broken nose last month, said defensive improvement has been a personal focal point since her arrival in Boulder: GรยฃCoach has been on me about it for most of my time here. I want to be a good defender and not be picked on. I know IGรรll be picked on in some games; itGรรs going to happen.
GรยฃEveryone knows it, I know it. Whatever. My freshman year I couldnGรรt guard that well and I think teams said, GรรฟLetGรรs just go at Reese.Gรร IGรรve gotten ready for it; itGรรs a challenge to me. I try to step up and do it for my teammates and the coaching staff.Gรยฅ
The top three teams in the conference record-wise are Stanford, CU and Arizona State Gรรด each with one loss. Cal is 8-3, with two of its losses to No. 1 UConn and No. 3 Duke. The Sun DevilsGรร non-conference schedule wasnGรรt all fluff either; they defeated No. 10 North Carolina and most recently No. 20 Syracuse, with their one loss to San Diego, which is among others receiving votes in this week's AP poll.
GรยฃArizona State is playing really good basketball . . . they play hard and together,Gรยฅ Lappe said. GรยฃI never like to go by any sort of preseason rankings. Oregon State had a chance to beat Notre Dame at home. There are a lot of good teams, then obviously Stanford and Cal. UCLA and USC at times will be very good as well. ThereGรรs a lot of talent and very good coaching. I think the parity is better this year from top to bottom. I think itGรรs a much tougher than a year ago.
GรยฃBut weGรรre excited for conference. I feel like weGรรre ready; we need to be tested and the conference is really going to test us in a great way. ThatGรรs how you get better as a team, playing against good competition. Starting on the road is always tough, particularly going to the LA schools. But I think weGรรre ready.Gรยฅ
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
