Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
14-12,4-11
Arizona State
21-6, 10-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 19 | 32 | 51 |
| Arizona State | 22 | 33 | 55 |
Colorado Falls Just Short At No. 20 Arizona State
February 21, 2014 | Women's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. – The close games have not been kind to Colorado.
The Buffaloes had their opportunities late to knock off No. 20 Arizona State Friday night, but like too many times this season, CU fell just short.
Colorado couldn't cash in on late possessions and Arizona State's Deja Mann hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to clinch a 55-51 win for the Sun Devils Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.
Jen Reese led Colorado (14-12, 4-11 Pac-12) with 18 points. Lexy Kresl added 11. Eleven of Colorado's 12 losses have come by 10 points or less.
CU played well defensively for most of the game with a zone meant to keep Arizona State out of the lane. The Buffaloes succeeded in doing that, but lapses down the stretch allowed Arizona State to find some open shots from long range instead.
"Our defense was solid for the most part, we should have held them under 50 points," head coach Linda Lappe said. "We had a few too many mental breakdowns (defending) against players when we knew what they were trying to do."
One of those players was Katie Hempen who led Arizona State with 13 points. Hempen was 3-of-4 from long range, including two key buckets late in the second half.
It was a defensive night from the start. Arizona State made Colorado's offense work for everything early. The Buffaloes missed their first 10 shots, and other than a pair of early Reese free throws, the Buffs were scoreless until Haley Smith broke the drought on a reverse layup at the 12:48 mark.
Despite the scoreless streak, Colorado kept Arizona State in check by playing a solid zone defense. ASU had only put up five points on the board to that point and when Smith took an ASU miss coast-to-coast it gave CU a 6-5 lead.
The Buffaloes found some success attacking the basket and after missing 10 straight from the field made their next seven attempts.
"That's how we got going offensively tonight, attacking the basket after stops," Lappe said. "Our defense led to our offense at the start of the game."
Following suit, Kresl scored on a reverse layup and jumpers by Reese and Wilson helped Colorado take a 19-16 lead. But the Buffaloes didn't score again, the Sun Devils finished off the half on a 6-0 run to take a 22-19 lead into the lockerroom.
Offensively for Colorado, Reese hit 8-of-12 from the field and had 12 of her points in the second half when Colorado's offense found some rhythm.
"Jen played well offensively," Lappe said. "She had a smaller guard on her and she was able to shoot over the top. We did a nice job finding her in the second half."
Reese scored the first four points out of halftime but ASU answered with back-to-back scores from Kelsey Moos and Sophie Brunner.
Arizona State increased its lead to six at 34-28 when the Buffaloes went on a 7-0 run capped off by an Arielle Roberson 3-pointer. ASU recaptured the lead thanks to 3-pointers by Arnecia Hawkins and Brunner, giving ASU a 42-38 lead.
A Reese layup and a 3-pointer by Ashley Wilson returned the lead to Colorado, 43-42 with just 6:56 remaining. Arizona State started to find the open spot from deep. With the Buffaloes up 45-43 after a Kresl layup, Hempen put ASU back up by one on a long 3-pointer.
Reese hit another short range shot, but ASU once again answered from deep as Elisha Davis gave ASU a 49-47 lead at the 3:06 mark.
Reese hit a short jumper that tied the game at 49-49 with just under two minutes left. The Buffaloes got a stop on the other end, but Wilson missed a contested layup with 1:13 remaining.
The miss allowed Arizona State to run in transition. Moos was able to get behind the Colorado defense and put the Sun Devils (21-6, 10-5) up for good on a layup.
Colorado had a turnover on its next possession and was forced to foul. Hempen hit both free throws for a 53-49 lead with 33 seconds remaining.
Roberson's basket cut the lead to 53-51 with 23 seconds left, and the Buffaloes caught a break when Moos missed the front end of a one-on-one with 21 seconds left, giving the Buffaloes one last shot.
The ASU defense tightened though and forced Roberson into a tough shot in the lane in traffic. It fell short leading to Mann's clinching free throws.
Colorado will take on Arizona on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. in Tucson in the Buffaloes final regular season road game of the season. The game will air live nationally on the Pac-12 Network.
