Friday, November 25
Boulder, Colo.
11:00 AM
Colorado
5-0
81
vs
54
St. Francis Brooklyn
1-3
1
2
3
4
F
St. Francis Brooklyn
13
11
15
15
54
Colorado
19
17
28
17
81
Monica Burich had her first game in double figures with 19 against St. Francis.
Freeman, Burich Spark Buffs Off The Bench Over St. Francis Brooklyn, 81-54
November 25, 2016 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – Ariana Freeman scored a career-high 24 points and Monica Burich added 19 points and eight rebounds as the Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team won its first-round match-up of its own Omni Classic, 81-54, over St. Francis Brooklyn Friday morning at the Coors Events Center.
Kennedy Leonard added 16 points and five steals as the Buffs pushed a six point first quarter lead to 12 by halftime and then 25 by the end of the third before coasting to the 27-point win. With the victory, the Buffs improve to 5-0 and advance to Saturday's Omni Classic Championship game. St. Francis Brooklyn falls to 1-3 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Alexis Robinson got things off on the right foot for the Buffs, hitting a three on CU's first possession 30 seconds into the game. CU trailed just once, at 7-6 off a layup from Maria Palarino, but did so for just 13 seconds as Leonard hit her first three of the game to put CU up 9-7. After St. Francis came within a point at 11-10, CU went on a quick 6-0 run with back-to-back layups from Burich and the Freeman's first points put CU up 17-10 and CU would hold a 19-15 edge after the first quarter.
The Buffs cracked down on defense in the second quarter, outscoring the Terriers 17-9 in the quarter to take a 36-24 halftime lead. CU's lead first went to double-figures on Leonard's second triple of the game, 28-17, and then Freeman took over, scoring the half's final eight points, including six in the final minute of the half as CU led 36-24. Freeman finished the first half with 14 points.
Leonard then took over early in the third quarter and Burich picked it up from there. The two scored 22 of 28 points in the third quarter. Leonard had had nine of the first 11 points of the quarter in the first 79 seconds, and she assisted on the other bucket by Zoe Correal. Leonard then handed the baton off to Burich, who scored 13 of the Buffs next 15 points to push the lead to 25 at the end of the quarter. She had a pair of three-pointers and an old fashioned three-point play as the Buffs pushed the lead to 64-39 at the end of the third quarter.
Freeman again led the Buffs in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her game high 24, and Quinessa Caylao-Do scored five points as the Buffs lead hovered between 25-30 points for most of the final quarter.
TURNING POINT: With St. Francis within one point at 11-10, Burich and Freeman both got in the score book as the Buffs went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 17-10. The game would never be within four points at any point after that, and CU's lead continued to grow throughout the game. Freeman's run of eight straight points in the second quarter pushed the lead to 12 at halftime, and Burich and Leonard's third quarter antics put the game out of reach for good with CU's 25-point lead through three quarters.
CU STANDOUTS: Freeman led the way with her first career 20 point performance, scoring 24 points off of an 11-of-16 shooting performance. Burich also had the best performance of her young career with 19 points and eight rebounds. Her first double-figure scoring game, she hit 7-of-11 from the field, both of her threes and three free throws. Leonard had 16 points, including a run of nine points in 79 seconds to open the second half, and she hit 3-of-7 from distance and had two blocks and five steals, the second-highest total of her career and a season's best. Robinson scored just three points, the first three of the game, but was key early for the Buffs and finished with six rebounds and six assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs shot just under 50 percent, making 34-of-69 from the field, 49.3 percent, but held St. Francis to 30.9 percent (17-of-55). CU was plus-13 on the boards, including plus-five on offensive rebounds. CU's bench outscored St. Francis 56-16, including 43 from Freeman and Burich. The Buffs had 14 steals and scored 30 points off turnovers to St. Francis totals of six steals and 13 points off turnovers. In all, 11 of the 12 Buffs who played, scored. Freeman (24), Burich (19) and Leonard (16), scored 59 of the 81 points with eight of the other 11 Buffs scoring between two and five points.
NOTEWORTHY: JR Payne begins her CU coaching career with a 5-0 record, matching the start that the legendary Ceal Barry had in 1983. Sox Walseth, after whom the court is named at the Coors Events Center, begin his career with a 12-0 start in 1980 for the women's basketball team. The Buffs have won each of the first five games by at least 10 points and have outscored those five opponents by an average of 20.2 points per game, 82.6 to 62.4.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs start 5-0 for the 12th time in school history and for just the fourth time in the past 16 seasons. CU also advances to the championship game of the Omni Classic.
QUOTE WORTHY: Payne: "It's a wonderful surprise, not just that Ariana and Monica had 24 and 19 tonight, but that they've been consistently going toward that. Ariana has been scoring consistently with her minutes played and Monica just plays hard, she does everything she can do and what we ask her to do, and to see her rewarded with that type of scoring is great. It's important for everybody to have fresh legs for tomorrow and pretty much everybody played the same number of minutes."
Freeman: "We all do our jobs. We all know our role in the team. Coming off the bench, we have a great team, we have great scorers in Kennedy, Alexis and Haley Smith. When I'm coming off the bench, we know our role. My role is to attack at the half-court, rebound and defend. I think by doing our jobs, it's easy points.
Burich: "Knowing our role has helped a lot. A lot of times, you kind of gauge the game as you come off the bench, to bring that spark of energy off the bench. Just really embrace it and do everything you can to help the team, and help in any way you can. That's the way I see it."
NEXT UP: The Buffs will host the championship game of the Omni Classic Saturday at 11 a.m. against the winner of the Boston College vs. SMU game, set to get under way at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The loser of that game will face St. Francis Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Kennedy Leonard added 16 points and five steals as the Buffs pushed a six point first quarter lead to 12 by halftime and then 25 by the end of the third before coasting to the 27-point win. With the victory, the Buffs improve to 5-0 and advance to Saturday's Omni Classic Championship game. St. Francis Brooklyn falls to 1-3 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Alexis Robinson got things off on the right foot for the Buffs, hitting a three on CU's first possession 30 seconds into the game. CU trailed just once, at 7-6 off a layup from Maria Palarino, but did so for just 13 seconds as Leonard hit her first three of the game to put CU up 9-7. After St. Francis came within a point at 11-10, CU went on a quick 6-0 run with back-to-back layups from Burich and the Freeman's first points put CU up 17-10 and CU would hold a 19-15 edge after the first quarter.
The Buffs cracked down on defense in the second quarter, outscoring the Terriers 17-9 in the quarter to take a 36-24 halftime lead. CU's lead first went to double-figures on Leonard's second triple of the game, 28-17, and then Freeman took over, scoring the half's final eight points, including six in the final minute of the half as CU led 36-24. Freeman finished the first half with 14 points.
Leonard then took over early in the third quarter and Burich picked it up from there. The two scored 22 of 28 points in the third quarter. Leonard had had nine of the first 11 points of the quarter in the first 79 seconds, and she assisted on the other bucket by Zoe Correal. Leonard then handed the baton off to Burich, who scored 13 of the Buffs next 15 points to push the lead to 25 at the end of the quarter. She had a pair of three-pointers and an old fashioned three-point play as the Buffs pushed the lead to 64-39 at the end of the third quarter.
Freeman again led the Buffs in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her game high 24, and Quinessa Caylao-Do scored five points as the Buffs lead hovered between 25-30 points for most of the final quarter.
TURNING POINT: With St. Francis within one point at 11-10, Burich and Freeman both got in the score book as the Buffs went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 17-10. The game would never be within four points at any point after that, and CU's lead continued to grow throughout the game. Freeman's run of eight straight points in the second quarter pushed the lead to 12 at halftime, and Burich and Leonard's third quarter antics put the game out of reach for good with CU's 25-point lead through three quarters.
CU STANDOUTS: Freeman led the way with her first career 20 point performance, scoring 24 points off of an 11-of-16 shooting performance. Burich also had the best performance of her young career with 19 points and eight rebounds. Her first double-figure scoring game, she hit 7-of-11 from the field, both of her threes and three free throws. Leonard had 16 points, including a run of nine points in 79 seconds to open the second half, and she hit 3-of-7 from distance and had two blocks and five steals, the second-highest total of her career and a season's best. Robinson scored just three points, the first three of the game, but was key early for the Buffs and finished with six rebounds and six assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs shot just under 50 percent, making 34-of-69 from the field, 49.3 percent, but held St. Francis to 30.9 percent (17-of-55). CU was plus-13 on the boards, including plus-five on offensive rebounds. CU's bench outscored St. Francis 56-16, including 43 from Freeman and Burich. The Buffs had 14 steals and scored 30 points off turnovers to St. Francis totals of six steals and 13 points off turnovers. In all, 11 of the 12 Buffs who played, scored. Freeman (24), Burich (19) and Leonard (16), scored 59 of the 81 points with eight of the other 11 Buffs scoring between two and five points.
NOTEWORTHY: JR Payne begins her CU coaching career with a 5-0 record, matching the start that the legendary Ceal Barry had in 1983. Sox Walseth, after whom the court is named at the Coors Events Center, begin his career with a 12-0 start in 1980 for the women's basketball team. The Buffs have won each of the first five games by at least 10 points and have outscored those five opponents by an average of 20.2 points per game, 82.6 to 62.4.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs start 5-0 for the 12th time in school history and for just the fourth time in the past 16 seasons. CU also advances to the championship game of the Omni Classic.
QUOTE WORTHY: Payne: "It's a wonderful surprise, not just that Ariana and Monica had 24 and 19 tonight, but that they've been consistently going toward that. Ariana has been scoring consistently with her minutes played and Monica just plays hard, she does everything she can do and what we ask her to do, and to see her rewarded with that type of scoring is great. It's important for everybody to have fresh legs for tomorrow and pretty much everybody played the same number of minutes."
Freeman: "We all do our jobs. We all know our role in the team. Coming off the bench, we have a great team, we have great scorers in Kennedy, Alexis and Haley Smith. When I'm coming off the bench, we know our role. My role is to attack at the half-court, rebound and defend. I think by doing our jobs, it's easy points.
Burich: "Knowing our role has helped a lot. A lot of times, you kind of gauge the game as you come off the bench, to bring that spark of energy off the bench. Just really embrace it and do everything you can to help the team, and help in any way you can. That's the way I see it."
NEXT UP: The Buffs will host the championship game of the Omni Classic Saturday at 11 a.m. against the winner of the Boston College vs. SMU game, set to get under way at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The loser of that game will face St. Francis Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Team Stats
SFBK
COLO
FG%
.309
.493
3FG%
.250
.269
FT%
.875
.857
RB
30
43
TO
21
17
STL
6
14
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
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