Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Kresl, Buffs Hope To Make Most Of Home Stand
February 12, 2015 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Lexy Kresl's time in a Colorado women's basketball uniform is limited. The end has not crept up on her but neither has it slowed in its approach. February finds Kresl leaving it all on the court because all she wants to leave behind is a legacy done right.
It is unfolding exactly that way because final-season urgency has kicked in. She is playing the most consistent, the most productive basketball of her CU career.
Scoring isn't everything on a stat sheet but 'W's still go to the team with the most points, and Kresl has done her part in that column. CU's last nine games have found her in double figures; her 14.5 average in Pac-12 play is the team's best.
She also leads the Buffs in assists (95), steals (27), made 3-pointers (46, fourth in the Pac-12) and 3-point field goal percentage (42). Her turnovers (83) also top the team, but she handles the ball probably more than any other player and CU's turnover total continues to be a shared dilemma.
Kresl didn't set out to be an individual stat leader in her last CU season, but the recent realization of that finality has been a better than adequate motivator.
"Yeah, I've got seven games left - at least minimum," she said the other day before practice. "It's definitely something I don't want to let slip by. I want to make sure I'm making the most of it. Part of that is not just the personal performance but also what you can teach to your teammates that is going to stay here when you leave, growing those friendships and making sure you're leaving a legacy."
Topping her legacy list is her returning teammates acknowledging her work ethic, determination and mental toughness. "I hope those are the things I can pass on," she said.
Check, said Buffs coach Linda Lappe, who right away this season noticed Kresl playing with a keener focus and more aggressiveness.
"She's playing so hard and she's been able to push at a high level for a lot of minutes," Lappe said. "She's got an understanding of what we need offensively and defensively, but she's really stepped up when we needed a scorer."
But that's not all she's been. Despite battling through an ankle sprain, Kresl has developed into maybe Lappe's best on-ball defender in the backcourt.
"(Overall) defense has been our weak point this season," Lappe noted, "but a lot of the time we're asking her to guard the other team's best player or point guard. I'm just seeing a different competitive level out of her, a sense of urgency and focus - all the things you expect out of seniors."
THE BUFFS ARE THREE games below .500 (10-13) and have won three Pac-12 games (3-9, 10th place). Thus far, it hasn't been the happy ending that Kresl or fellow seniors Jasmine Sborov or Jen Reese envisioned. But there is time for a turnaround, which Kresl believes is realistic.
"We've recognized what our weaknesses have been and are working on them and are determined to fix those issues that have been kind of plaguing us this season," she said. "We want to make a change going forward."
For starters, she says the Buffs need to "start faster, coming out stronger and being focused and be mentally prepared for the game." Losing leads and playing catchup has been a common and unwelcome theme, with derailing that rollercoaster virtually a game-by-game task.
"If you know (how to fix it), let me know," said Kresl, who in all games has averaged 12.9 points and 4.5 rebounds and in last Sunday's loss at USC surpassed 1,000 career points (1,008). "Yeah, we need to be more consistent, and I think that can come from team leadership, setting the tone, showing confidence. Then I think everybody will come around."
Much of that leadership and confidence-rebuild falls first to upperclassmen Kresl and Sborov, with Kresl acknowledging a need for personal improvement in both areas. She believes Sborov is capable of a more vocal role while hers "is kind of picking people up and bringing them with me physically . . . just setting the tone and making sure everybody latches on."
For Kresl, the leadership role requires being conscientious in "the kind of vibe you're giving others," she said. "In order to be in that position you have to be the hardest worker on the team. And that's something I'm trying to do - push others."
The younger Buffs, Kresl said, have been affected by lapses in or losses of confidence, resulting in them "being uncertain of that they can achieve." But she detects improvement through harder work in practice and more understanding that comes with more experience.
"I think that was one of the issues," she said. "Sometimes it takes a while for them to get it and click with the rest of the team. But I think they're getting it now. They want to have a bigger impact on the team."
In concert with confidence issues, there also has been a problem with moving past mistakes and allowing that to undermine subsequent possessions. The Buffs, said Kresl, also have been addressing that issue.
But a more tangible snag has been turnovers. After committing a staggering 50 in its last two games combined, CU is last in the Pac-12 in turnover margin (minus 5.83 in all games, 5.67 in league play) and, as an indirect result, also is last in scoring defense (70.3 average points allowed).
LAPPE ISN'T AT A LOSS to explain it. That disconcerting roller coaster ride is as evident in ball-handling as any place else. She says inconsistency leads to errors which lead to wasted possessions and a pile of points going the other way. Some of the blame goes to the passer, some to the receiver. Shaky decisions lead to shoddy execution.
"We have to be able to play with an understanding of the value of the basketball," Lappe said. "Think of it as gold: you have to have it. We're just too lackadaisical - catching with one hand, not using pass fakes, becoming too easy to read, not making the defense guess. Our eyes and body language are too easy to read . . . it's not just one issue, it's multiple things. And it's a mindset as much as anything else. If we're in the right mindset we become harder to defend."
The Buffs have lost five of their last six games but if ever a get-well stretch of the schedule presented itself for the Buffs, it is right here right now. They have six regular-season games remaining, with four of those at the Coors Events Center. They play Washington State Friday (7 p.m. Live Stream) and Washington Sunday (5:30 p.m., Live Stream) as the second game in a men's/women's doubleheader. Oregon State and Oregon visit the CEC next weekend.
WSU (13-10, 4-8) is tied with Oregon for eighth place in the Pac-12. UW (18-6, 7-5) is several steps up the ladder in fourth place, but Lappe says her players understand what "taking care of business at home" can do for the Buffs in the conference climb.
"Where we're at in this league, four at home gives us the ability to regroup," she said. "We don't need to worry about who we're playing, but narrow our focus, get a laser-like focus on the next game and make sure we're in the right mindset. It's all about us; it's nothing about what the opponent is going to do."
To take full advantage of the four-game home set, Kresl believes the Buffs must elevate almost every facet of their games - but one facet's importance rises above the others.
"It'll definitely take more effort than we've given - from everyone," she said. "We need more of a collective group effort. No one on our team is capable of winning any games by themselves. So we definitely have to have all five people on the floor committed to winning if it's going to happen."
And for Lexy Kresl, it's got to happen soon. To paraphrase Bonnie Raitt, "The season gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
