Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
15-17, 6-12
California
23-8, 13-5
Brooks: Buffs' Pac-12 Run Ends In 68-55 Loss To Bears
March 07, 2015 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
SEATTLE – A night after disrupting the Pac-12 Conference Women's Tournament, the Colorado Buffaloes needed a monstrous encore to advance to the conference championship game. The Buffs never stopped battling to achieve it, but California's Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray and an attacking defense stopped CU short.
Cal's pair of stars and its demonic 'D' carried the No. 4 seed Bears past the Buffs 68-55 in Saturday's second semifinal and into Sunday's Pac-12 title game (7:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN). Cal (23-8) faces No. 3 seed Stanford, which advanced with a 59-56 win over No. 2 seed Arizona State in the first semifinal game, and once again finds itself playing for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm really, really proud of our effort," CU coach Linda Lappe said. "We talked about leaving everything on the court, coming out and playing hard. I really feel like we were able to do that and when that happens you're not disappointed with the outcome."
But the No. 9 seed Buffs were disappointed in their season ending and their record (15-17) not qualifying them to at least be considered by the WNIT. CU, which ousted No. 1 seed Oregon State 68-65 in Thursday night's quarterfinals in the biggest win of Lappe's career, led early but fell behind Cal 29-23 at halftime and never got closer than five points in the second half. The Bears' pressure defense forced most of CU's 16 turnovers, costing the Buffs 20 points.
"Got to give them a lot of credit for how much pressure their defense puts on our offense," Lappe said. "We had a tough time knocking down some shots, but in the end we had a chance with about three minutes to go and that's where we wanted to be. We just couldn't quite do it."
Added guard Lexy Kresl: "They do a really good job of playing the passing lane. They force you to kind of break them down one-on-one and then you can distribute. But you really have to attack their defense because they leave the gaps open and there's not that many passing options . . . that kind of disrupted the flow of our offense."
And then there were Boyd and Gray. Each had double-doubles – Boyd finishing with a game-high 18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, while Gray added 17 points and 10 boards.
With Boyd driving, dishing, hitting clutch jump shots and rebounding, and with Gray cleaning up inside, the Bears defeated the Buffs for the second time this season. The first was 75-59 on Jan. 5 in Berkeley, but it didn't carry the finality of Saturday night's loss for the Buffs and their three seniors – Jen Reese, Jasmine Sborov and Kresl.
Lappe said that threesome gave "really good efforts . . . I'm really obviously sad that their careers are coming to an end. They're three really special young ladies that have bright futures in whatever they decide to do. We were all playing and coaching for them, and it was just not meant to be today."
Reese led CU (15-17) with 16 points, with Kresl contributing 11. The Buffs outshot the Bears from the field 41.4 percent to 38.7, but Cal outscored CU 34-24 in the paint, courtesy of Boyd getting to the rim and Gray working efficiently there, and held a 13-4 edge in fast-break points.
The Buffs started as efficiently as they did in Thursday night's stunning upset of the Beavers, hitting five of their first nine shots and racing to a 12-3 lead. The Bears, meanwhile, appeared temporarily out-of-sync offensively and missed nine of their first 10 field goal attempts.
But that didn't last. Cal began trapping just across half-court and it disrupted CU's offensive flow, causing most of the Buffs' eight first-half turnovers. That pressure also rejuvenated the Bears' offense; hitting six of their next eight shots, they went on a 12-0 run, caught the Buffs, kept on pushing the pace and kept on defending.
"I think what Cal does well is keep you uncomfortable all the time," Lappe said. "It's really hard to get in a flow offensively. Some shots that we normally knock down, you don't knock down when you're not sure what 6-2 hand is going to come at you next. They're super long."
They're not super deep, but they're still effective. Although Cal played only seven players while CU used 10, the Bears' bench was more productive, outscoring the Buffs 10-3 in the first 20 minutes. But that figure increased to only 10-6 for the game.
By halftime, CU's finish had matched Cal's cold start. The Buffs hit only one of their last 10 field goal attempts, scoring only four points in the half's final 6:06, and trailed 29-23 at intermission.
CU needed an efficient second half start but didn't get it. Right away, the Buffs committed two turnovers, helping the Bears outscore them 6-2 and take their first double-figure lead (35-25). Another two CU turnovers aided in back-to-back baskets by Boyd, the second an "and-one" opportunity that she converted for an 11-point Cal lead – 40-29 – with 15:36 to play.
Lappe called Boyd "a nice player. She made plays for them. She got to the rim when she needed (to) . . . she plays hard, with a lot of heart and goes after it. We were trying to do everything we could to keep in front of her."
By the 10-minute mark the Buffs trailed 50-43, and time was growing short to make their move to reach Sunday's championship game. A Swan put-back (50-45) gave CU and its fans hope, but Gray answered with four quick points – including a three-point play – and Cal had restored its nine-point lead, 54-45, with just under eight minutes remaining.
Lappe called Gray "a key, a great player . . . (but) I thought our team defense was pretty effective on her. I thought we gave her a couple of easy looks but really made her work for everything that she got."
Even down by nine, the Buffs weren't done. Baskets by Haley Smith and Kresl brought them to within 56-51, but that was it. Boyd answered with a foul-line jumper that Lappe called "probably the biggest shot of the game" when the Buffs were coming out of a timeout and needing a stop. Mercedes Jefflo added two free throws, then a trey from the left corner by Gabby Green giving the Bears a 10-point lead – 63-53 – with 1:11 to play.
The Buffs were done, but Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb called the game "an incredibly tough battle. Credit Colorado. If you're a coaching staff that has their team playing the best basketball at the end, especially when they've gone through rough patches, it says a ton about the resilience of those players and coaches. They weren't backing down tonight."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
