Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
3-1
Massachusetts
1-3
Swan, Buffs Dispatch Minutewomen, Face Gators For Omni Title
November 27, 2015 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – Senior Jamee Swan's shooting was near-perfect and her Colorado teammates came close in most other areas, pushing the Buffaloes past Massachusetts 90-63 on Friday night and into Saturday night's championship game of the Omni Classic.
The Buffs' championship game opponent is Florida, which defeated Ball State 85-79 in Friday night's first game at the Coors Events Center. Saturday night's tipoff at the CEC is at 7:30 p.m.
CU (3-1) has won 18 of 27 Omni Classic titles, is 47-10 all-time in the Thanksgiving holiday tournament, and has played in every championship game but three. Florida (4-1) is making its first appearance in the tournament and is 1-1 against CU.
 "I thought it was a really good win as one unit," coach Linda Lappe said after CU had dealt UMass its worst defeat of the season. "We talked about playing solid together, getting rid of individual play, playing as one team."
Lappe said the Buffs' offense "was clicking and fast-paced" and while the defense didn't meet its scoring goal, that was a credit to the Minutewomen. "We have to make (defense) more consistent, have more active hands and we could have moved our feet better . . . but the mentality was there."
Hitting seven of her eight field goal attempts and 9 of 11 free throws, Swan led all scorers with 23 points. She got scoring help from freshman guard Alexis Robinson (21) and junior Haley Smith (15). Robinson's total was a career high.
Bria Stallworth (14), Alyssa Lawrence (13) and Rashida Tambilla (11) were UMass' top scorers.
Swan didn't miss a shot until the final 10 seconds, then missed two free throws with 8.8 seconds to play. Her nine free throws were a career high, and she added eight rebounds, three blocked shots, a steal and an assist to her stat line.
She was aware that she was close to a perfect shooting night when she went to the bench and Smith asked her if she had missed.
When Swan replied, "No," Smith said, "Who are you?"
Said Swan: "I thought it was funny."
To Lappe, Swan's night reflected what she can be on a regular basis. "She was dynamic coming out of high school," Lappe said. "You could see all that potential (but) with Jamee it's about bringing it every day in practice."
Lappe said Swan and her teammates were disappointed in their performance last weekend at No. 13 Kentucky – a 86-61 loss – and that redemption was on their minds. Also, said Lappe, Swan "understands this is our tournament . . . that's what seniors do. I'm proud of how she stepped up."
But Swan wasn't a one-woman show. Robinson – one half of CU's smooth freshman guard tandem – hit her first two shots and was on her way to a stellar night. She finished 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, made three steals, grabbed three rebounds and had one assist.
Robinson said she believes she is settling in with classmate Kennedy Leonard at guard and credits her teammates for the smooth transition. "My teammates get me ready (and) give me a lot of confidence," Robinson said. "They're helping me every day."
Leonard scored only five points but had a game-best six assists – CU had 20 – and made three steals, tied with Robinson for the game high.
The Buffs were without junior forward Zoe Beard-Fails, who suffered a cut near her eye in last Sunday's loss at No. 13 Kentucky. Lappe said Beard-Fails also is adhering to concussion protocol and will not be available Saturday night.
UMass stayed competitive for a quarter, and had a 3-pointer by Stallworth at the buzzer not been removed after the officials took a second look at the tape, the Minutewomen would have been up by a point after the first 10 minutes.
But that proved to be the visitor's last chance at the lead. In the second quarter the Buffs turned it on at both ends of the court. A 22-9 CU run saw UMass go 9:39 between baskets, and the Minutewomen finished the quarter 1-for-13 from the field.
The Buffs were comfortably ahead 47-29 at intermission, which Smith described as "nice momentum going into the half." She knew what to expect from UMass when the second half started: "The team that's down tries to throw the first punch (but) we wanted to be the aggressors, step on their throats and not let up."
The Buffs didn't, but a little time was required to hit the ignition. CU didn't score its first third-quarter points until Smith converted a three-point play at the 6:47 mark to push the Buffs up by 20 (50-30). More points were coming. Fast.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Lauren Huggins and Brecca Thomas boosted the lead to 24 (58-34) with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter. And thereafter, the Minutewomen were merely playing to avoid their worst loss of the season. They couldn't; the Buffs increased their lead to 29 in the game's final minute.
In Friday night's first game, Florida (4-1) had five players in double figures, topped by Haley Lorenzen's 20 points. The Gators pulled away in the final 2 minutes at the free throw line. Florida finished the game at 88.5 percent (23-of-26) from the foul line, including 90 percent (9-of-10) in the second half.
Ball State and UMass meet in Saturday night's Omni Classic consolation game at 5 p.m.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
