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Brooks: Buffs Stay Strong, Defeat USC 66-63 For First Pac-12 Win
January 31, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes believed they were closing in on their first Pac-12 win of the season, and Sunday night they closed out Southern California to finally get it.
Bothered by USC's late full-court pressure but not overcome by it, the Buffs made enough plays down the stretch to defeat the Trojans 66-63 and snap a 10-game losing streak.
CU (6-15 overall, 1-9 Pac-12) won for the first time since before Christmas – a 72-60 victory over Presbyterian on Dec. 19.
"When you think about team wins and how much everybody contributed to that win it was unbelievable," CU coach Linda Lappe said. "Everybody did their part to a high-level with a ton of energy. It was a fun game to be a part of; it was a fun game to witness . . . I'm glad we could get the win, and it feels good to be back in that win column."
Added Haley Smith, CU's leading scorer with 18 points: "We have not been focusing too much on past scores. But I think this one has been really great for us because we were finally able to get that breakthrough. We have been so close in the past few games, which gave us a confidence boost. It showed us what we are putting in has paid off. I think it is really powerful in that way."
In addition to Smith's total, which came on 7-of-11 shooting, including 2-of-2 from long range, Kennedy Leonard added 17 points and Alexis Robinson 10. But freshman Makenzie Ellis, with six points and seven key rebounds, played a pivotal role in helping the Buffs score 15 second-chance points.
"It was about getting the extra possessions, getting the extra plays, and Makenzie did a fantastic job all night long," Lappe said. "It was magnified in the last couple of minutes on free throws. She did a nice job all night long of keeping balls alive on the offensive end and being composed."
Ellis said the Buffs benefitted most from an attitude adjustment: "I think the biggest thing we have changed is our attitudes. You make a mistake but we pick each other up and go on the other end and get a stop or a score. We really just go on to the next play and I think that is the biggest change we have made. We have come closer together by doing that and have become a better team. I think those experiences show that when we can come together we can get ourselves a win."Â
The Trojans (16-6, 4-6) were led by Temi Fagbenle, who scored 17 points and collected a game-best 13 rebounds. Three other USC players reached double figures, including Aliyah Mazyck, whose back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute twice cut CU's lead to three.
But the Buffs held on, getting a key put-back basket by Leonard off her own missed free throw and a key rebound and free throw by Jamee Swan, who finished with nine points. One of two Leonard foul shots with 6.9 seconds left secured CU's win.
Lappe called the Buffs successfully dealing with the Trojans' late full-court "a growing up moment. We have been in that situation a lot in the past. We had it in our mind that we are going to play free and have fun."
At a timeout during that critical stretch, Lappe urged her players to "reset and play like you were playing in the first minute of the game, play like you would play in the first quarter of the game, take the shots you would take in the first quarter of the game, let's not overthink what we're doing.
"We had had a good game up to that point. You have to credit USC they put on a press and got us rattled a little bit. We did a nice job of regaining that composure. It was a big step for our team."
The Buffs finished with 18 turnovers, down from the 23 they committed two nights earlier in an 82-64 loss to UCLA. CU shot 45 percent from the field, held USC to 39 percent and outrebounded the visitors 44-31. The Trojans, who were hitting 35 percent from beyond the arc, hit only 2-for-15 (13 percent) and didn't get their first trey until Mazyck's pair in the final minute.
CU was without sharpshooting junior wing Lauren Huggins (concussion) for the second consecutive game. USC's Brianna Barrett (7.6 ppg) and Jordan Adams (12.8) were out Sunday due to eligibility issues.
CU led by as many as nine points (30-21) in the first half, but a 6-1 run by USC over the final 1:56 closed the Buffs' halftime advantage to 31-27.
Still, Sunday night's first half was a 180-degree turnaround from Friday night's against UCLA, when the Buffs committed 18 first-half turnovers in that double-digit loss.
At halftime Sunday, CU had nine turnovers, mostly the result of better decisions with the ball and more efficient sharing (6 assists on 14 baskets).
The Buffs hit 14 of their 27 field goal attempts (52 percent), with Smith the most accurate shooter – 4-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
She hit back-to-back treys, one from each corner, and added a shorter pull-up jumper for eight points during a 10-4 run that helped open up CU's 30-21 lead.
Fagbenle, who averages a double-double (16.3 points, 10.5 rebounds), led USC's first-half scorers with nine points. But the Trojans stayed close by hitting 11-of-12 free throws while the Buffs shot just four, making one. USC finished 17-of-22 from the line, CU 14-of-23.
The Buffs increased their lead to 37-29 with a 6-2 run that featured four points by Smith and a layup by Leonard. By quarter's end, they were up 47-41 and 10 minutes away from their first Pac-12 win of the season – if they kept their poise and didn't succumb to the Trojans' full court pressure.
But that was difficult. Forcing a pair of early fourth-quarter turnovers, USC scored the first four points of the period and cut CU's lead to 47-45. The Trojans tied it at 49 on a jumper by Fagbenle 6:35 to play and again at 51 but the Buffs didn't buckle in the final 4 minutes.
CU's next two games are against Utah – the first on Thursday night in Salt Lake City (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), the second on Sunday, Feb. 7 at the CEC (noon, Pac-12 Mountain).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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