Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Welcome Missouri To Boulder On Saturday
December 11, 2015 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado plays it second of three straight games at home on Saturday, Dec. 12, hosting the Missouri Tigers at the Coors Events Center. Tip off is set for 1:30 p.m. MST.
BROADCAST: Saturday's game is scheduled to air live on the Pac-12 Network Mountain channel. Anne Marie Anderson has the call alongside Tammy Blackburn. The game will also be available on KKZN 760 AM with Cory Lopez and Carol Callan of USA Basketball.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 4-4 overall on the season. They moved back to a .500 record and ended a three-game skid on Wednesday, defeating Northern Arizona 90-66 at home.
Collectively on offense, the Buffaloes are averaging 70.2 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field. Colorado is a stellar 78 percent at the free throw line, fifth best in the nation and second in the Pac-12 Conference. The team has also found success shooting from long distance as CU ranks 22nd in the country and fifth among Pac-12 teams in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38 percent of its shots from behind the arc.
Defensively, the Buffs are holding their opponents to 37 percent shooting and CU records an average of 30.1 defensive rebounds per game where Colorado ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 24th nationally. Colorado also ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with 5.1 blocked shots per game.
Freshman Kennedy Leonard has made quite the impact for the Buffaloes in her debut season. She enters the game as Colorado's second leading scorer, averaging 12.3 points per game and has also dished out a team-leading 42 assists, averaging 5.3 in each contest.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is fourth in assists, sixth in free throw percentage (.833), 15th in assist/turnover radio (1.5) and 25th in scoring.
In her final year playing in a Buffs' uniform, senior Jamee Swan has emerged as Colorado's top scorer and rebounder. Swan is averaging 12.9 points and 6.9 rebounds while hitting 42 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. Swan has also recorded a team-leading 14 blocks on the season.
Swan ranks 20th in the Pac-12 in scoring, seventh in free throw percentage, 15th in overall rebounding, 11th in defensive rebounding (5.3) and is sixth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
Junior Haley Smith has remained a constant in the Buffs' starting line-up, while averaging a 10.9 points per game, 28th in the Pac-12 and 5.5 rebounds. She has been one of Colorado's most accurate shooters from the field with a .507 field goal percentage and has gone 13-of-15 (.867) from the free-throw line.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is averaging nine points per game and is third on the team in 3-point shooting and 14th in the conference, connecting on 18-of-48 from long range (38 percent). Huggins hit four of her five 3-pointers against Loyola Marymount and tied a career-high with 16 points in the Buffs' win. She ranks eighth in the Pac-12 for most 3-pointers made this season as she averages 2.3 per game.
Freshman Alexis Robinson has provided a nice spark off the bench, however she has earned two straight starts as the Ashland, Ky. native is averaging 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in about 25 minutes per game. She has posted the team's most accurate shooting percentage from behind the arc at 53 percent (8-of-15) and has connected on 40 percent of her shots from the field. Robinson had one of her best offensive performances of her young career against UMass when she scored a personal-best 21 points.
ABOUT MISSOURI: The Missouri Tigers arrive in Boulder undefeated on the year, posting a 9-0 record and are 3-0 in road games. They have a trio players averaging double-digits in scoring, led by freshman guard Sophie Cunningham with 16 points per contest. She also is second on the team in rebounds (5.6 rbg).
Junior forward Jordan Frericks and junior guard Lindsey Cunningham (older sister to Sophie) are the other two Tigers averaging double figures, scoring 12.1 and 10.4 points, respectively while Frericks leads Missouri with nearly eight rebounds in each game (7.8).
As a team, Missouri is averaging 77.8 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and outscoring its opponents by more than 25 points as its defense is holding teams to 52 points and 33 percent shooting.
THE SERIES: This will be the 71st meeting between Colorado and Missouri, the most played in program history. Colorado is 42-28 all-time against Missouri with the 42 wins the most against any one team.
The two programs met at least twice a year from the formation of Big Eight Conference women's basketball in 1982-83 through Colorado's final year in the Big 12 Conference in 2010-11. Colorado has won seven of the last 10 and own a 22-8 record at home versus the Tigers.
Colorado's Linda Lappe is 2-1 against Missouri as a head coach (8-4 as a player). Robin Pingeton is 1-2 against Colorado as a head coach.
This will be Colorado's second regular season game against Missouri and first time the Tigers will play in Boulder since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011-12. Missouri joined the Southeastern Conference on year later. Last season, the Tigers edged the Buffs 53-50 in Columbia.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes conclude their three-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 19 when they host Presbyterian College at 3:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. It will be the Buffs' first meeting with the Blue Hose.
