Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Begin Four-Game Pac-12 Road Trip At No. 21 Cal
January 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado will play their first Pac-12 Conference road games this weekend. The Buffaloes' four-game trip begins on Friday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. MT when they face the California Bears at Haas Pavilion.
BROADCAST: Friday'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 KVCU 1190 AM with Cory Lopez and USA Basketball's Carol Callan.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 5-8 overall after dropping its latest Pac-12 contest, at home against Washington State, 74-66 on Jan. 4. The Buffaloes will look to snap a three-game losing skid and earn its first conference win of the season as they are set to play four straight Pac-12 road matches, beginning with this weekend's trip to the Bay Area.
On offense, the Buffaloes are averaging 70.5 points per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field. Colorado is a stellar 77.1
percent at the free throw line, seventh best in the nation and third in the Pac-12 Conference. The team has also found success shooting from long distance as CU ranks 13th in the country and second among Pac-12 teams in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.5 percent of its shots behind the arc.
Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.9 points per game on 40.4 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 39.0 rebounds and 27.2 defensive boards, seventh in the Pac-12 and are fifth with 4.9 blocked shots per game.
In her final year as a Buff, senior Jamee Swan has emerged once again as Colorado'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, ninth in field goal percentage, 13th in overall rebounding, is ninth 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. 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 5.2 in each contest.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 19th in scoring, sixth in assists, ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and tied for 14th in steals.
Guard/forward Haley Smith is having a strong junior campaign, averaging 9.9 points per game (29th in the Pac-12) and 4.9 rebounds. She has been one of Colorado's most accurate shooters from the field with at 49.1 percent and has gone 18-of-20 (.900) from the free-throw line.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is averaging 9.1 points per game and is third on the team in 3-point shooting (minimum 10 attempts), connecting on 30-of-76 from long range for a 39.5 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 2.3 per game and 13th in 3-point field goal percentage.
Freshman Alexis Robinson has provided a nice spark off the bench and has found her way to the starting line-up on three occasions, most recently against Washington State on Jan. 4. The Ashland, Ky. native is averaging 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 25 minutes per game. She is shooting 45.5 percent from the 3-point line, tied with Smith for best on the team and has connected on 37.0 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's leading average of 28.1 per game. Robinson ranks 14th in the Pac-12 in assists and 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
ABOUT CALIFORNIA: The California Golden Bears are 9-4 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12 after falling at then No. 17 Arizona State, 57-49 and Arizona 57-52 in the opening weekend of conference play. The Golden Bears, ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and receiving votes in the USA Today Sports WBCA poll, had won four straight before its latest two-game slide. They are averaging 77.3 points per game, fourth-most in the Pac-12 and shooting 38.2 percent from the field. Cal allows 68.9 points per game and opponents are shooting 38.3 percent against the Bears' defense.
Four Bears are averaging double-figures in scoring with freshman forward Kristine Anigwe leading Cal and is second in the Pac-12 at 21.9 points per game, while leading the conference (fourth in the nation) at 63.3 percent shooting from the floor. She also leads the Bears with 9.5 rebounds per game. Junior forward Courtney Range is second behind Anigwe with 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mikayla Cowling and freshman guard Asha Thomas round out Cal's top four scorers at 13.2 and 10.8 points, respectively.
Lindsay Gottlieb is in her fifth season at California with a record of 103-34 and owns a 159-73 career mark over seven-plus years.
THE SERIES: This will be the 14th meeting between Colorado and California with the Golden Bears holding an 8-5 advantage in the series. Cal has won the last eight, all since Colorado joined the Pac-12 for the 2011-12 season. The Golden Bears won both meetings last season, a 75-59 decision in Berkeley on Jan. 5, 2015 and then again on March 7, 2015, defeating the Buffs 68-55 in the Pac-12 Conference tournament semifinal contest. Colorado's last win over Cal came in Boulder, 81-64, in the second round of the 2011 Postseason WNIT.
Linda Lappe is 1-8 against California as a head coach. Lindsay Gottlieb is 8-0 against Colorado as a head coach.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes continue their road trip and will play at No. 9/13 Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Colorado is 4-13 all-time against the Cardinal.
