Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-2, 1-1
UCLA
7-8, 1-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 30 | 31 | 61 |
| UCLA | 22 | 37 | 59 |
Colorado Erases Late Deficit, Edges UCLA 61-59
January 06, 2014 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – No. 12/14 Colorado erased a late nine-point second half deficit to edge UCLA, 61-59, Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Jen Reese scored 15 points and Jamee Swan had nine points and nine rebounds giving the Buffaloes (11-1, 1-1 Pac-12) a conference opening-weekend road split of the Southern California schools.
Trailing 52-43 with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left, the Buffaloes clamped down on defense and held the Bruins scoreless for the next 4:06 as CU embarked on a 10-0 run.
Reese started the run off with a made free throw. She missed the second but Swan corralled the layup and scored to cut the Bruins lead to six.
UCLA (7-8, 1-2) missed three straight shots and had a couple of turnovers as the Buffaloes whittled the lead down to 52-48 with 4:09 left on a pair of Ashley Wilson free throws.
After two more defensive stops, Arielle Roberson drilled a long two-pointer at the top of the key at the 2:53 mark. On the next possession, Brittany Wilson tied up Thea Lemberger with the arrow in the Buffs favor.
Brittany Wilson was fouled and hit one of two free throws to cut the UCLA lead to one at 52-51. She missed the second one, but the scramble for the ball fell out of bounds in CU's favor. Wilson then drove the lane and scored on a layup in traffic as CU regained the lead at 53-52 with 2:32 left.
UCLA's Luliana Livulo hit a couple of free throws at 2:14 as the Bruins briefly retook the lead. But Reese hit a jumper at the top of the key, in the exact same spot as Roberson's earlier jumper, to give Colorado a 55-54 lead with 1:55 left. After a defensive stop for CU, and both teams swapping turnovers, Swan scored on a layup for a 57-54 lead.
The Buffaloes kept the Bruins out of reach at the free throw line. Lexy Kresl hit a pair to extend the lead to five. UCLA's Nirra Fields, who led all players with 23 points, countered with a layup. She was fouled and hit the subsequent free-throw to cut the CU lead to 59-57 with 16 seconds left.
Brittany Wilson was fouled immediately and hit one of two from the line to up the CU lead to three. Lemberger attacked the rim and scored with eight ticks left to knock the lead back to one at 60-59.
Wilson again was sent to the line and again hit one of two. With no timeouts left, Lemberger hustled down the floor took a contested runner in the lane. Livulo grabbed the offensive rebound but her put back fell short at the buzzer.
Jasmine Sborov had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Buffaloes. Atonye Nyingifa had a double-double for the Bruins with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Colorado returns home to host the Bay Area schools next weekend. The Buffaloes will have their Pac-12 home opener on Friday, Jan. 10, by playing California at 8 p.m. Colorado will then face Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled for the Pac-12 Network.
Late in the first half it looked as if Colorado's comeback heroics weren't going to be needed. The Buffaloes shook off some early turnovers and offensive rebounds by UCLA and went into the lockerroom with all the momentum.
Colorado had an early 8-4 lead, hitting two of its first four shots, but went scoreless for four minutes. A UCLA 9-0 run capped off by a Madeline Brooks jumper with 6:55 left in the half gave the Bruins a 17-13 lead.
After missing her first four 3-point attempts, Kresl finally found the nylon to end UCLA's run with a 3-pointer. The Buffs then got a stop and Kresl found Sborov with a long pass that resulted in a transition layup and a conventional 3-point lead returning the lead to the Buffaloes at 19-17.
UCLA briefly retook the lead at 20-19 on a Corinne Costa jumper in the paint. Reese then went on a nice spurt to allow the Buffaloes to end the half in style. She answered Costa and then hit a pair of free-throws as CU retook the lead. Colorado's ball movement continued to shine as Reese scored her sixth straight point on the left elbow in motion off a nice pass from Kresl.
Kresl then drained her second straight 3-pointer to put the Buffaloes up 28-20. Livulo ended the Colorado run with a pair of free throws, but then Wilson drained a 12-foot jumper at the halftime buzzer to cap off a 9-2 run and give the Buffaloes a 30-22 lead at the break.
Roberson scored to open the second half, but then the energy shifted. UCLA picked up its press which resulted in five turnovers in the first seven minutes of the half.
Fields and Nyingifa led a 10-0 run that erased CU's lead. Fields scored four straight and then Nyingifa scored consecutive baskets the last coming on a circus layup that tied the game at 32 with 14:33 left.
Sborov ended the run with her second 3-pointer of the contest and the Buffaloes were able to stay even until the decisive run.
Colorado returns home to host the Bay Area schools next weekend. The Buffaloes will have their Pac-12 home opener on Friday, Jan. 10, by playing California at 8 p.m. Colorado will then face Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled for the Pac-12 Network.
