Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Set To Finish Road Trip In The Desert
January 14, 2016 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado concludes its four-game road trip this weekend as the Buffaloes visit the Valley of the Sun. The weekend tips off at No. 10/13 Arizona State on Friday, Jan. 15 at 11 a.m. MT from Wells Fargo Arena.
BROADCAST: Friday's game is scheduled to air live on KKZN 760 AM with Cory Lopez and USA Basketball's Carol Callan. A live video stream of the contest will be available through Arizona State's Pac-12 player at: http://pac-12.com/videos/arizona-state-university.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 5-10 overall and 0-4 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes will look to snap a five-game skid and earn its first conference win of the season as they are set to play their second straight weekend of road contests.
On offense, the Buffaloes are averaging 67.2 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field. Colorado is shooting 75.3 percent at the free throw line, 23rd in the nation and third in the Pac-12 Conference. The team has also been solid from long distance as CU ranks 20th in the country and second among Pac-12 teams in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 37.0 percent of its shots behind the arc.
Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.6 points per game on 40.5 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 37.9 rebounds, 26.5 defensive boards, and are fourth in the Pac-12 with 4.7 blocked shots per game.
Senior Jamee Swan is the team's top scorer and rebounder, 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 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring, eighth in field goal percentage, 12th in overall rebounding, is 10th with 5.6 defensive rebounds per game, 13th 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 as the team's starting point guard. She enters the game as Colorado's second highest scorer, averaging 12.6 points per game and has also dished out a team-leading 73 assists, averaging 4.9 in each contest.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 20th in scoring, seventh in assists, and 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
Junior guard/forward Haley Smith is having a strong 2015-16 campaign, averaging 10.3 points per game (25th in the Pac-12) and is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds. She has been one of Colorado's most accurate shooters from the field at 48.8 percent and has gone 21-of-24 (.875) from the free-throw line.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is averaging 8.5 points per game and is third on the team in 3-point shooting (minimum 10 attempts), connecting on 33-of-87 of her shots for a 37.9 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 13th in 3-point field goal percentage.
Freshman Alexis Robinson has earned a place in the starting line up recently, as she has made three straight starts after providing a nice spark off the bench. The Ashland, Ky. native is averaging 8.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. She is shooting 42.3 percent from the 3-point line, second best on the team and has connected on 36.3 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 Washington's Kelsey Plum to a season low 18 points, 10 below her then nation leading average of 28.1 per game. Robinson ranks 15th in the Pac-12 in assists and assist/turnover ratio (1.3).
Sophomore center Zoe Correal is averaging 2.6 points and 4.0 rebounds and is second on the team in blocked shots with 14 total. Against UMass in the Omni Hotels Classic she set a career-high with 10 rebounds.
Junior Zoe Beard-Fails, sophomore Brecca Thomas and freshman Makenzie Ellis have all contributed in various ways off the bench. The trio has combined to average 11.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game this season.
ABOUT ARIZONA STATE: The Arizona State Sun Devils are 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12, the only team undefeated in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils, ranked No. 10 in the AP poll and 13 in the USA Today Sports WBCA poll, are riding a 10-game winning streak. They are averaging 64.0 points per game and shooting 41.1 percent from the field. Arizona State owns the second best scoring defense in the league, allowing 52.4 points and teams are shooting 38.7 percent from the field against the Sun Devils, however opponents are only connecting on 26.3 percent of their shots from behind the arc.
A pair of Sun Devils are averaging double-figures in scoring with Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder leading the team at 11.4 and 10.1 points, respectively. Brunner is also Arizona State's leading rebounder, averaging 6.7 per game while Dornstauder averages 1.6 blocks per game, first on the team and fifth in the Pac-12 Conference. Elisha Davis ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in assists as she dishes 5.4 per game to go along with 7.6 points.
Charli Turner Thorne is in her 19th season at Arizona State with a record of 366-216 and owns a 406-256 career mark over 22-plus years.
THE SERIES: This will be the 18th meeting between Colorado and Arizona State with the Buffaloes holding an 11-6 series advantage. All six of the Sun Devils' wins in the series have come since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12 and have won six of eight during that span, including four straight meetings. Colorado is 4-3 all-time playing on Arizona State's home court.
Linda Lappe is 2-6 against Arizona State as a head coach. Charli Turner Thorne is 4-3 against Colorado, the first loss coming while she was at Northern Arizona during the 1993-94 season. Turner Thorne was on sabbatical for the 2011-12 season and did not coach against the Buffs in Arizona State's two Pac-12 wins.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes complete their trip to the desert with an afternoon game against the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. MT. The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
