Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Face California Sunday On Senior Day
February 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado hosts California in its final home game of the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 12 p.m. MST at the Coors Events Center.
BROADCAST: Sunday's game is scheduled to air live on Pac-12 Mountain. 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 KDVR Fox 31 Denver sports reporter and former Colorado women's basketball player Kami Carmann.
NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY: Colorado's annual celebration of National Girls & Women In Sports Day is set for Sunday. Beginning at 10 a.m., CU is inviting all girls in 8th grade and under, and all boys in 6th grade and under, to be a part of the celebration and then stay to watch the women's basketball game for free.
National Girls & Women In Sports Day was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor female athletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports and fitness participation for all girls and women.
CU will host skills and fitness stations run by female student-athletes and coaches. The skills and fitness stations will be held on the concourse starting at 10 a.m. followed by an autograph session with female student-athletes from 11-11:45 a.m.
All activities, including the women's basketball game are FREE for kids participating in the skills stations and accompanying adults can purchase tickets for $10 each. In order for kids to receive free general admission you must enter the Coors Events Center through the northwest entrance before 10:45 a.m. After 10:45 a.m. fans can purchase tickets at regular prices at the Coors Events Center ticket window.
SENIOR DAY: Sunday marks the final home game for forward Jamee Swan. She will be honored with family during a pregame ceremony and then address the crowd following the contest. Colorado is 27-14 all-time in its final regular season home game, or Senior Day, winning 11 of its last 16.
ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 6-20 overall and 1-14 in Pac-12 play. After earning their first Pac-12 win of the season on Jan. 31 against USC, the Buffs have struggled, dropping five straight contests. Colorado is in 12th place in the Pac-12, however are just two games out of ninth place with three regular season games remaining. The Buffs will play two of the three teams directly ahead of them in the standings in their next two games, beginning with Cal at home on Sunday and at Washington State on Wed., Feb. 25.
On offense, Colorado is averaging 62.0 points per game while shooting 39.3 percent from the field. Colorado is shooting 72.0 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 sixth in the league, connecting on 33.3 percent of its shots behind the arc.
Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.7 points per game on 41.8 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 36.6 rebounds and are tied for fifth 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 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds while hitting 46.2 percent from the field and 68.6 percent from the free throw line. Swan has also recorded a team-leading 42blocks on the season and three double-doubles. Swan led the team with 25 points against Stanford and also recorded a career-high four steals. She was nearly perfect from the field, shooting 9-of-10 and finished 7-of-10 at the free throw line.
Swan ranks 13th in the Pac-12 in scoring, seventh in field goal percentage, 14th in overall rebounding, ninth in free throw percentage, is 11th with 4.8 defensive rebounds per game and is fourth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
Freshman guard Kennedy Leonard is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points a game and leads the team with 112 assists this season as she averages 4.3 in each contest. She scored 13 points and recorded a pair of assists against Stanford.
On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 19th in scoring, seventh in assists, tied for 14th in steals (1.4 spg) and is 15th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2).
Junior guard Haley Smith leads the team in free throw percentage (.897) while ranking second in field goal percentage (.455), second in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and third in scoring (9.9 ppg). She has made 17-of-19 (.895) from the free throw line during league play. Smith has also been one of Colorado's most consistent rebounders, recording at least five rebounds in 17 of 25 games this season.
Smith ranks 26th overall in the conference in scoring and 20th in rebounding.
Junior wing Lauren Huggins is first on the team with 44 3-pointers, which is single-season career-high for the Littleton, Colo. native and has knocked down 38.3 percent of her shots from long range, ranking 10th in the Pac-12. She is tied for seventh in the league as she averages a pair of 3-point field goals per game. Huggins has played in 11 Pac-12 games this season where she is shooting 36.2 percent from behind the arc. In January, she tied a career-high with five treys at Arizona.
Freshman guard Alexis Robinson has been a mainstay in the starting line up since Colorado's second game of league play against Washington State. The Ashland, Ky. native is fourth on the team in scoring (8.1 ppg), fifth in rebounding (3.4 rpg) and second in assists (2.6 apg). Robinson has recorded 18 3-point field goals, third most on the team.
In Pac-12 play, she ranks 12th in assists, dishing out 2.7 per game and 15th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.0.
Freshman Makenzie Ellis has earned three straight starts after providing a nice spark off the bench over much of the season. She is averaging 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds a game, and is shooting 37.5 percent from the field.
Junior Zoe Beard-Fails leads the reserves in scoring and rebounding. She is averaging 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds while connecting on 43.6 percent of her shots.
Sophomore center Zoe Correal averages 2.2 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. She is second on the team with 16 blocks and all 15 of her career starts have come this season.
ABOUT CALIFORNIA: The California Golden Bears arrive in Boulder with a 12-14 overall record and are 3-12 in Pac-12 Conference play. After snapping a four-game losing streak a week ago (Feb. 14) by defeating Arizona, 75-56 at home, the Bears dropped their latest contest on Friday, falling 72-66 to Utah in Salt Lake City.
The Bears are averaging 68.8 points per game, fourth-best in the Pac-12 and shooting 44.4 percent from the field. Cal allows 67.0 points per game and opponents are shooting 40.0 percent against the Bears' defense.
A trio of Bears are averaging double-figures in scoring with freshman forward Kristine Anigwe leading Cal and is second in the Pac-12 at 19.9 points per game. In addition to leading her team with 9.0 rebounds per game, she is second in the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 57.7 percent from the floor. Junior forward Courtney Range is second behind Anigwe with 14.1 points and 6.0 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mikayla Cowling rounds out Cal's top scorers, averaging 11.7 points.
Lindsay Gottlieb is in her fifth season at California with a record of 115-48 and owns a 171-87 career mark over eight-plus years.
THE SERIES: This will be the 15th meeting between Colorado and California with the Golden Bears holding an 9-5 series lead. Cal has won the last nine, all since Colorado joined the Pac-12 for the 2011-12 season. The Golden Bears won the first meeting this season, topping the Buffs 64-35 in Berkeley on Jan. 8. Colorado's last win over Cal came in Boulder, 81-64, in the second round of the 2011 Postseason WNIT.
Linda Lappe is 1-9 against California as a head coach. Lindsay Gottlieb is 9-0 against Colorado as a head coach.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The Buffaloes finish their regular season campaign on the road next week, 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.
