Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Face No. 9/13 Stanford Sunday
January 10, 2016 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado continues its four-game road trip, closing out the weekend against No. 9/13 Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. MT at Maples Pavilion.
BROADCAST: Sunday's game is scheduled to air live on the Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Bay Area channels. Krista Blunk will have the call alongside Mary Murphy. The game will also be available on KDSP 760 AM with Cory Lopez and USA Basketball's Carol Callan.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 5-9 overall and 0-3 in Pac-12 play after dropping a 64-35 decision at No. 21 California on Friday, Jan. 8. The Buffaloes will look to snap a four-game losing skid and earn its first conference win of the season as they are set to play Stanford in their second of four straight road contests.
On offense, the Buffaloes are averaging 68.0 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field. Colorado is shooting 76.2
percent at the free throw line, 15th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 Conference. The team has also found success shooting from long distance as CU ranks 20th in the country and second among Pac-12 teams in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 37.1 percent of its shots behind the arc.
Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.5 points per game on 40.6 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 38.4 rebounds, 26.9 defensive boards, and are fifth in the Pac-12 with 4.7 blocked shots per game.
Senior Jamee Swan missed her first game of her collegiate career at California on Friday due to a back injury. The team's top scorer and rebounder, Swan is averaging 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds while hitting 49.7 percent from the field and 71.9 percent from the free throw line. Swan has also recorded a team-leading 25 blocks on the season and three double-doubles.
Swan ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring, eighth in field goal percentage, 12th in overall rebounding, is ninth with 5.6 defensive rebounds per game, 11th with 2.2 offensive rebounds a game and is fourth in blocked shots (1.9 bpg).
Freshman Kennedy Leonard has made a significant impact for the Buffaloes in her debut season. She enters the game as Colorado's second highest scorer, averaging 12.9 points per game and has also dished out a team-leading 68 assists, averaging 4.9 in each contest.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 18th in scoring, seventh in assists, and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
Guard/forward Haley Smith is having a strong junior campaign, averaging 9.8 points per game (29th in the Pac-12) and is second on the team with 5.1 rebounds. She has been one of Colorado's most accurate shooters from the field with at 46.21 percent and has gone 21-of-24 (.875) from the free-throw line.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is averaging 8.6 points per game and is third on the team in 3-point shooting (minimum 10 attempts), connecting on 31-of-83 from long range for a 37.3 field goal percentage from behind the arc. Huggins hit four of her five 3-pointers against Loyola Marymount and four of eight against Presbyterian, tying a career-high with 16 points in both contests to help the Buffs earn two victories. The Littleton, Colo. native is fourth in the conference in 3-point field goals made as she averages 2.2 per game and 15th in 3-point field goal percentage.
Freshman Alexis Robinson has earned a place in the starting line up recently, as she has made back-to-back starts after providing a nice spark off the bench in the previous four consecutive games.The Ashland, Ky. native is averaging 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 25 minutes per game. She is shooting 43.5 percent from the 3-point line, second best on the team and has connected on 39.6 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 and her best defensive performance came in the Buffs' Pac-12 opener when she held the Huskies' Kelsey Plum to a season low 18 points, 10 below her nation leading average of 28.1 per game. Robinson ranks 14th in the Pac-12 in assists and 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
ABOUT STANFORD: The Stanford Cardinal are 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12 after defeating Utah, 72-52 on Friday. The Cardinal, ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and 13 in the USA Today Sports WBCA poll, have won six of their last seven games. They are averaging 70.5 points per game and shooting 42.9 percent from the field. Stanford allows 52.6 points per game and owns the top defense in terms of opponent field goal percentage, holding teams to 30.4 percent from the field.
A pair of Cardinal are averaging double-figures in scoring with junior guard Lili Thompson leading Stanford and is 10th in the Pac-12 at 15.5 points per game. Junior forward Erica McCall is the Cardinal's other double-digit scorer and top rebounder, tallying 12.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. She ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in rebounding and is third in blocked shots, averaging 2.1 on the season. Collectively, the Cardinal block 6.4 shots per game as they rank second in the Pac-12 in that category.
Tara VanDerveer is in her 30th season at Stanford with a record of 812-169 and owns a 964-220 career mark over 36-plus years.
THE SERIES: This will be the 18th meeting between Colorado and Stanford with the Cardinal holding an 13-4 advantage in the series. Stanford has won the last eight, all since Colorado joined the Pac-12 for the 2011-12 season. The Cardinal won the only meeting last season, a 62-55 decision in Stanford on Jan. 3, 2015. Colorado's last win over Stanford came in 2002 when the Buffs defeated the Cardinal, 62-59, in the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Boise, Idaho. Colorado will be looking for its first win at Maples Pavilion in its eighth attempt.
Linda Lappe is 0-8 against Stanford as a head coach. Tara VanDerveer is 13-4 against Colorado as a head coach.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes travel to the Valley of the Sun and will face No. 14/14 Arizona State on Friday, Jan. 15. Then CU closes out its road trip at Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 17, which will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
