Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
5-7, 0-1
Washington
11-2, 2-0
Brooks: Buffs' Comeback Denied In 76-74 Pac-12 Loss To Huskies
January 02, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – After a forgettable first half in its Pac-12 opener, the Colorado women's basketball team submitted the kind of second half that coach Linda Lappe believes can carry the Buffs through a long and laborious conference season.
CU's second 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon at the Coors Events Center were good – sometimes even a level above that. But in the final 13.5 seconds, the Buffs were just not quite good enough and fell 76-74 to Washington.
CU (5-7, 0-1) rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit with a 23-4 run to tie the score at 53-53 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. The Buffs led by as many as five points (67-62) in the fourth quarter and had two shots to win or tie after Kelsey Plum – the nation's leading scorer – hit two free throws for a two-point UW lead with 13.5 seconds to play.
After a CU timeout, Alexis Robinson's 3-point attempt bounded long off the back iron and a potential tying jumper off the rebound by Jamee Swan also missed. UW (11-2, 2-0) escaped with its fifth consecutive win against the Buffs and tied the series at 8-8.
"I'm really proud of our team," Lappe said. "We showed great strides in the second half. The first half was our old team, the second half was what I'm seeing now in practice. We really grew up in the second half."
After their dismal first half, the Buffs' only choice was to grow up or give up – which wasn't a choice at all. They opted for rallying, and they did an exceptional job of it.
"Coach told us at halftime we were done giving up . . . we came out with fire under our butts," said freshman guard Kennedy Leonard, whose 19 points tied Swan for team scoring honors and put her among five Buffs in double figures. Leonard also had a team-best six assists, six rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes.
The Buffs trailed by as many as 20 points late in the first half and were down by 19 (49-30) in the first minute of the third quarter. But behind Leonard's 14 second-half points and Swan's 13, CU caught and overcame UW 63-62 by the start of the last quarter.
"We were not going at a good clip, not moving with a sense of urgency," Lappe said of a start that saw CU shoot 25 percent from the field in the first quarter and appear lost in its "scramble" situations. At halftime, she promptly challenged the Buffs "to play like we were the underdog . . . we came out in the second half and played basketball."
In early December Lappe might have been concerned about how her team would have responded to a 46-28 halftime deficit. On Saturday she knew if the Buffs "played like we've practiced," a comeback and a win were entirely possible.
"Three weeks ago I would have been nervous (that) we would lay down and die," Lappe said. "But I knew we would come back and make a game of it . . . I was disappointed in the outcome, but it was a huge step for us – one we have to take. Now it's a matter of continuing to progress."
CU outrebounded UW 40-34, committed only 10 turnovers (second-lowest of the season) and had 18 assists on 31 made baskets. The Buffs shot 56.3 percent from the field in the second half while limiting the Huskies to 38.5 percent shooting in the second half. UW had hit 52.9 percent of its shots in the first half.
The Buffs' last first-half lead was 7-5 on a 3-pointer by Lauren Huggins (11 points), but a 13-0 run by the Huskies sent the visitors ahead for good in the opening half. The run was fueled by the long-range shooting of Chantel Osahor (24 points) and Talia Walton (24), who made two treys each during the surge.
Walton's marksmanship from beyond the arc was understandable; she came to Boulder as UW's leader in 3-point shooting (33-of-80). But Osahor? Having hit eight of her 24 attempts in the first 12 games, she finished Saturday's first half 3-of-5 from 3-point range with her odd, flat-footed, all-wrist, left-handed set shot. With 14 points, she was tied with Walton as the first-half scoring leader – five above Osahor's per game average (9.4) and only five below Walton's (18.3).
After the extraordinary 23-4 run that pushed the Buffs back into the game, Swan opened the fourth quarter with a pair of field goals, giving CU its largest lead of the game – 67-62.
With 7:19 remaining, UW crept to 67-66 on four consecutive free throws then went up 68-67 on a layup by Plum, who finished with 18 points – 10 below her average – and her lowest output in five games against CU.
"She's a great player," Lappe said. "But our players kept her uncomfortable. It tells you how great a player she is when she scores 18 and you're happy."
Robinson – she finished with 13 points and Haley Smith added 12 to round out CU's fivesome in double figures – answered with lay-in for a 69-68 CU lead with 5:21 to play. But it would be the Buffs' last advantage.
Left unguarded in the paint, Osahor and Walton hit consecutive layups to put the Huskies up 72-69 before Swan hit a short jumper to pull the Buffs to 72-71 with 2:10 remaining. A stop was needed – and CU got it via an expired shot-clock at the 1:42 mark.
But the Buffs turned it over on their next possession, giving Walton a chance to send the Huskies ahead 74-71. A timely Robinson trey tied the score at 74-74 with 56.9 seconds left, and when UW misfired on its following trip CU gained possession with a chance to regain the lead.
After a timeout, Leonard had the ball stripped and Plum hit her two free throws (76-74) after being fouled by Swan. The Buffs called timeout with 13.5 seconds left and had their final two shots to tie or win.
Lappe said Robinson's open 3-point attempt out of the timeout was just what had been strategized – getting the ball into Swan inside and letting her pass it back to the perimeter if warranted.
"We trusted her to either make the shot or the right read," Lappe said. "She made a great read on that play. Jamee kicked it out and 'Lex' had her feet set and had a great shot . . . I would really want to challenge 'Lex' to not worry about that last shot. (She) hit a three to tie the game, which was a huge, gutsy shot."
Added Robinson of her final trey attempt: "It was a great shot and it was a great pass by Jamee Swan; if it comes down to it again, I shoot it again and hopefully it'd go in but everything happens for a reason so something better will come out of this hopefully . . . I'm not going to lie, I was feeling it."
After Robinson's misfire, the long rebound went to Swan, who caught the carom, turned and fired. Her shot was just short, leaving UW with the 'W' and CU looking at Monday night's home game against Washington State (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network) as a chance to regroup and get a conference win.
"It's important to play well and not be so tentative (starting)," Lappe said. "What we saw in the second half was focused, strong basketball and that's what we have to expect. Monday's game is important; we need to protect our home floor, which we didn't do today. It's something we want to do from here on out." Â Â
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
