Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Battle No. 15 Stanford Friday In Boulder
February 18, 2016 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado is back in Boulder to host its final two home games of the season. The Buffaloes' welcome Stanford to the Coors Events Center on Friday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. MST.
BROADCAST: Friday's game is scheduled to air live on Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Bay Area. Anne Marie Anderson will have the call alongside Maylana Martin-Douglas. The game will also be available on KKZN 760 AM with Cory Lopez and former Colorado women's basketball player Kami Carmann.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 6-19 overall and 1-13 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes fell in both games last weekend at Oregon State and Oregon, and have dropped four consecutive contests.
On the offensive end, the Buffaloes are averaging 62.5 points per game while shooting 39.6 percent from the field. Colorado is shooting 72.3 percent at the free throw line, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12 Conference. The team also ranks in the top half of the conference from long distance as they are fifth in the league, connecting on 34.2 percent of its shots behind the arc.
Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.3 points per game on 41.5 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 36.8 rebounds and are sixth in the Pac-12 with 4.2 blocked shots per game.
Senior forward Jamee Swan has been the team's top scorer and rebounder throughout the season, averaging 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds while hitting 44.6 percent from the field and 68.5 percent from the free throw line. Swan has also recorded a team-leading 41 blocks on the season and three double-doubles.
Swan ranks 13th in the Pac-12 in scoring, ninth in field goal percentage, 13th in overall rebounding, ninth in free throw percentage, is 11th with 5.0 defensive rebounds per game and is fourth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
Freshman Kennedy Leonard has made a significant impact for the Buffaloes in her debut season as the team's starting point guard and continues to grow into a leadership role on the floor. She enters the game as Colorado's second highest scorer, averaging 11.3 points per game and has also dished out a team-leading 110 assists, averaging 4.4 in each contest.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 20th in scoring, seventh in assists, 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and tied for 13th in steals (1.4 spg).
Junior guard Haley Smith is having a strong 2015-16 campaign on both defense and offense. She's averaging 10.3 points per game and is second on the team with 5.6 rebounds. She has been one of Colorado's most accurate shooters from the field at 46.5 percent and at the free throw line where she has gone 35-of-39 (.897).
Smith ranks 26th overall in the conference in scoring and 20th in rebounding.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is averaging 8.0 points per game and is second on the team in 3-point shooting, connecting on 44-of-114 of her shots totaling a 39.9 field goal percentage from behind the arc. In ten Pac-12 games this season, Huggins has shot 40.0 percent from the 3-point line and tied a career-high with five treys against Arizona. The Littleton, Colo. native averages 2.1 3-point field goals per game. Huggins missed last Sunday's game at Oregon with the flu.
Freshman guard Alexis Robinson has been a mainstay in the starting line up since early on in Pac-12 play. The Ashland, Ky. native is averaging 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists. She is shooting 36.7 percent from the 3-point line, third-best on the team. 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 Washington's Kelsey Plum to a season low 18 points, 10 below her nation leading average of 28.1 per game at the time.
Freshman Makenzie Ellis has earned back-to-back starts after providing a nice spark off the bench. She is averaging 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds a game, and is shooting 39.1 percent from the field.
Junior Zoe Beard-Fails leads the reserves in scoring and rebounding. She is averaging 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 44.2 percent from the field.
Sophomore center Zoe Correal is averaging 2.3 points and 3.4 rebounds and is second on the team in blocked shots with 16 total. All 15 of her career starts have come this season.
ABOUT STANFORD: The Stanford Cardinal are 20-6 overall and 10-4 in the Pac-12. The Cardinal, ranked No. 15 in this week's Associated Press and USA Today Sports WBCA polls, have won five of their last six games. They are averaging 66.5 points per game and shooting 41.5 percent from the field. Stanford allows 53.7 points per game and owns the second-ranked defense in the league in terms of opponent field goal percentage, holding teams to 32.3 percent from the field.
A pair of Cardinal are averaging double-figures in scoring with junior guard Lili Thompson leading Stanford and is 10th in the Pac-12 at 14.6 points per game. Junior forward Erica McCall is the Cardinal's second double-digit scorer and top rebounder, tallying 13.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. She ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounding and is third in blocked shots, averaging 2.0 on the season. Collectively, the Cardinal block 6.0 shots per game, which ranks second in the conference.
Tara VanDerveer is in her 30th season at the helm for Stanford with a record of 821-172 and owns a 973-223 career mark, now in her 37th year as a head coach.
THE SERIES: This will be the 19th meeting between Colorado and Stanford with the Cardinal holding an 14-4 advantage in the series. Stanford has won the last nine, all since Colorado joined the Pac-12 for the 2011-12 season. The Cardinal won this season's earlier meeting, a 71-56 decision in Stanford on Jan. 10. Colorado's last win over Stanford came in 2002 when the Buffs defeated the Cardinal, 62-59, in the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Boise, Idaho. Colorado is 2-4 all-time against the Cardinal at home.
Linda Lappe is 0-9 against Stanford as a head coach. Tara VanDerveer is 14-4 against Colorado as a head coach.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes host California on Sunday, then finish their regular season campaign on the road next weekend, traveling to play the Washington schools. Colorado faces Washington State on Thursday, Feb. 25 and then battles Washington on Saturday, Feb. 27, which will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
