Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
9-11, 2-7Pac-12
Arizona State
19-2, 8-1Pac-12
Buffs Late Rally Not Enough, Fall To Sun Devils
January 30, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Despite another late push and rally from a second half deficit, the University of Colorado women's basketball lost 68-60 Friday night to No. 11 Arizona State.
It was the third straight close loss for the Buffs (9-11, 2-7), the third straight heartbreaker that just slipped away.
"We keep playing better and better," Colorado head coach Linda Lappe said. "I liked how hard we played tonight. It was the hardest that we played all season long. We had a shot to win it. They made a few more plays down the stretch."
Lappe and her players were visibly frustrated after the game — they lost despite 18 points from Lexy Kresl, despite another double-double from Jamee Swan, despite committing only 12 turnovers.
"We did a fantastic job on the glass and a fantastic job taking care of the basketball," Lappe said. "Those were the two things we talked about a lot this week."
Still, the Buffs struggled to find good looks against Arizona State's defense, and 15 points each from the Sun Devils' Sophie Brunner and Katie Hempen were enough to push them over the top.
The Buffs could not do much of anything in the first half against the Sun Devils' Pac-12-leading defense, shooting just 28 percent. Arizona State (19-2, 8-1) pressed after makes and Colorado had to work hard to advance the ball against the Sun Devils' athletic guards.
Arizona State stifled the Buffs' half-court sets, too — the Sun Devils' bigs snuffed out Colorado's pick-and-rolls with solid hedges and timely double teams. Arizona State consistently denied the Buffs the middle of the floor.
Swan was the only Buff who shot efficiently in the first half. She continued her hot streak from last weekend; she made 2-of-2 and pulled down eight boards while the rest of the team shot 5-for-23.
Colorado stayed close because Arizona State was nearly as sloppy — the Sun Devils hit just 36 percent of their shots and committed seven turnovers.
The Buffs went to the locker room trailing by only seven points (30-23) and they started the second half hot. Swan continued to get easy looks off of offensive rebounds and Kresl heated up after scoring only five points in the first half.
"She's someone you don't want to guard one-on-one and we guarded her one-on-one too much in the beginning of the second half," Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said of Swan.
But Hempen got hot after a quiet first half, too — the Sun Devils' leading scorer is a streaky shooter, and she turned up only briefly, but she nailed two deep, contested threes that each dampened Colorado's burgeoning rally.
The Buffs also struggled to contain Promise Amukamara, who repeatedly foiled her defenders with quick drives and a nasty crossover. Arizona State's lead grew to as large as 13 points, and the Sun Devils were up by 10 when Colorado lost Swan for the rest of the game with an ankle injury.
Swan skied for another offensive rebound with a little more than eight minutes remaining and rolled her left ankle when she landed. She lay in pain on the court for more than a minute and could put little weight on the ankle when she was helped off the court; she is listed as day-to-day.Â
"Anytime someone gets hurt you pick it up for them and play in honor of them," Kresl said. "She was in pain and we felt we needed to come together for her."
Come together they did — the Buffs went on an 18-11 run after Swan's injury and cut the Arizona State lead to three points at 61-58 with 2:35 left in the game. Colorado got a three from Brecca Thomas, an and-one from Jen Reese (who shot just 2-of-7 and scored only nine points in an otherwise quiet night), and Kresl started aggressively driving and finishing at the rim.
Just when the Buffs were in striking distance, though, the Sun Devils pulled away. Brunner hit a layup and then forward Kelsey Moos hit a rare three to put the game out of reach.
"It makes me want to play harder every day, and to play to the best of our abilities as a team," Reese said. "We have to keep pushing."
Lappe echoed that message: "I think we're right there. I really like our team. I like how hard we play. I like how we came together."
Colorado is due for a breakthrough after this tough three-game stretch. Their next opportunity comes Sunday (Feb. 1) at 11 a.m. against the Arizona Wildcats.
