Saturday, December 17
Itta Bena, Miss.
2:00 PM
Colorado
at
Mississippi Valley State
Quinessa Caylao-Do
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
CU Looks To Win 10th In A Row On Saturday In Mississippi
December 15, 2016 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - Colorado's 15th-ranked women's basketball team will look to extend its record to 10-0 this season on Saturday as the Buffs travel to Mississippi Valley State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT in Itta Bena, Miss. Radio coverage will be provided by Cory Lopez and Carol Callan on ESPN 1600 AM.
It will be CU's third road game of the season, a place where the Buffs struggled last season. They carried a 14-game road losing streak into this season's opener, an 83-62 win at Northern Colorado, after going 0-13 on the road last season. First-year head coach JR Payne has quickly turned that around with wins in the first two road games of the year at UNC and North Dakota State.
"It's all in your mind," Payne said of preparing to play on the road. "Just go and do your thing. Snapping that losing streak was really important for the team. They probably knew about it. But we're also on another good streak now so we need to stay confident in that. On the road, at home, it doesn't matter. We've just got to be the same team that we've always been."
Colorado has been on a roll under the new coaching regime, averaging 83.6 points per game so far. CU hasn't averaged over 80 points in a season since 1980-81. A balanced attack with four players averaging double figures in scoring is led by sophomore guard Kennedy Leonard, who pours in 17.9 points and 6.4 assists per night. Alexis Robinson (12.0), Haley Smith (11.3) and Ariana Freeman (11.2) are also averaging over 10 points and redshirt freshman Monica Burich scores nine per game. Freeman and Burich have added an important 1-2 punch coming off the bench, keeping the scoring level up when the starters need a rest.
"We always wanted to have some of our best production off the bench," Payne said. "We don't typically start our highest scoring five [players] because there's not enough shots to go around. When you have all of your top scorers in at one time, the balance isn't there. To be able to bring scorers in at the guard position and at the post position off the bench is awesome. And I think [it's] a big part of our success. When we've had a little bit of scoring lulls, those two (Freeman and Burich) have been able to come in and sometimes they elevate the play of the game."
Meanwhile the Devilettes are also seeing improvement from a tough 2015-16 season where they dealt with a coaching change midseason. Melvin Williams dealt with losses in his first 10 games as head coach to close out last season, but has Mississippi Valley up to three wins through eight contests in his first full season leading the program. Senior Christina Reed, who was named Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, is the top player for MVSU, averaging 16.3 points. She had 26 points in a loss at Wisconsin and 20 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Blue Mountain College last week. Ashley Beals scores 10 points per game and leads the team with a 6.8 rebounding average.
This will be the final road test for the Buffs before beginning Pac-12 play New Year's weekend.
"North Dakota State was a good environment and this will be another good environment--challenging in that it's far away and tough travel conditions," Payne said. "But it is really important to be able to play on the road and win on the road. From here on out, basically half of our games are on the road so we need to learn how to be successful in a hostile environment and really stick together."
It will be CU's third road game of the season, a place where the Buffs struggled last season. They carried a 14-game road losing streak into this season's opener, an 83-62 win at Northern Colorado, after going 0-13 on the road last season. First-year head coach JR Payne has quickly turned that around with wins in the first two road games of the year at UNC and North Dakota State.
"It's all in your mind," Payne said of preparing to play on the road. "Just go and do your thing. Snapping that losing streak was really important for the team. They probably knew about it. But we're also on another good streak now so we need to stay confident in that. On the road, at home, it doesn't matter. We've just got to be the same team that we've always been."
Colorado has been on a roll under the new coaching regime, averaging 83.6 points per game so far. CU hasn't averaged over 80 points in a season since 1980-81. A balanced attack with four players averaging double figures in scoring is led by sophomore guard Kennedy Leonard, who pours in 17.9 points and 6.4 assists per night. Alexis Robinson (12.0), Haley Smith (11.3) and Ariana Freeman (11.2) are also averaging over 10 points and redshirt freshman Monica Burich scores nine per game. Freeman and Burich have added an important 1-2 punch coming off the bench, keeping the scoring level up when the starters need a rest.
"We always wanted to have some of our best production off the bench," Payne said. "We don't typically start our highest scoring five [players] because there's not enough shots to go around. When you have all of your top scorers in at one time, the balance isn't there. To be able to bring scorers in at the guard position and at the post position off the bench is awesome. And I think [it's] a big part of our success. When we've had a little bit of scoring lulls, those two (Freeman and Burich) have been able to come in and sometimes they elevate the play of the game."
Meanwhile the Devilettes are also seeing improvement from a tough 2015-16 season where they dealt with a coaching change midseason. Melvin Williams dealt with losses in his first 10 games as head coach to close out last season, but has Mississippi Valley up to three wins through eight contests in his first full season leading the program. Senior Christina Reed, who was named Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, is the top player for MVSU, averaging 16.3 points. She had 26 points in a loss at Wisconsin and 20 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Blue Mountain College last week. Ashley Beals scores 10 points per game and leads the team with a 6.8 rebounding average.
This will be the final road test for the Buffs before beginning Pac-12 play New Year's weekend.
"North Dakota State was a good environment and this will be another good environment--challenging in that it's far away and tough travel conditions," Payne said. "But it is really important to be able to play on the road and win on the road. From here on out, basically half of our games are on the road so we need to learn how to be successful in a hostile environment and really stick together."
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