Colorado University Athletics
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Brooks: Utes' Late Run Overtakes Buffs In 76-68 Pac-12 Defeat
February 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – The Colorado women's basketball team submitted three mostly solid quarters Sunday afternoon, but a shoddy fourth quarter was the Buffaloes' undoing. Meanwhile, Utah did it right; its late surge caught CU and doomed the Buffs to a 76-68 defeat at the Coors Events Center.
The Utes (14-9 overall, 6-6 Pac-12) outscored the Buffs 18-7 in the final 7:28 to win their second consecutive game against CU. Utah claimed a 71-55 decision on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
The Buffs (6-17, 1-11) lost for the 11th time in their last 12 games.
"Give Utah a lot of credit," CU coach Linda Lappe said. "They capitalized on our mistakes in last quarter . . . we got away from the things that made us successful in the first three quarters."
The Buffs could claim statistical success in most categories, including outrebounding the Utes 29-23, forcing them into 16 turnovers, producing 12 assists on 20 made baskets and getting 10 steals.
But CU's failure to capitalize on most of Utah's turnovers – 17 points on 16 errors while the Utes got the same amount on the Buffs' 11 turnovers – was a critical difference, as was 24-20 edge in the paint and 10-7 advantage in second-chance points.
Utah finished with six players in double figures, the inside play of 6-6 Emily Potter (13 points) and 6-4 Joeseta Fatuesi (12) more than off-setting CU's Jamee Swan and her game-best 24 points.
Swan said Utah favors a "different style of play . . . most post players don't like contact; theirs do." Plus, added Swan, the Buffs suffered "mental lapses" down the stretch when the Utes were fashioning their comeback.
Alexis Robinson added 13 points for the Buffs, who benefitted from the  return of junior wing Lauren Huggins (concussion protocol) after she had missed three consecutive games. Huggins entered Sunday's game with 3:49 left in the first quarter and the Buffs trailing 9-6. She finished with seven points, hitting two of her three 3-point attempts.
Lappe was disappointed in her team lapsing in the final quarter, which saw Utah score 25 points to CU's 13. She said the Buffs' running game slowed, as did their execution in transition: "If you don't get stops, it's hard to get the transition going.
"We stopped controlling the tempo (and) let all of their players do what they're most comfortable doing. We let their three-point shooters shoot threes; we let their post players get deep position. You can't give up 25 points in a quarter."
But the first three quarters were different . . . in a good way.
Closing with a 10-0 run and holding the Utes scoreless for the final 4:08, the Buffs led 16-9 after the first quarter. CU increased the tempo after Utah had taken a 9-6 lead, with Brecca Thomas scoring in transition on a pull-up jumper and Robinson following with a banked in fast-break layup to get the surge started.
Thereafter, Swan scored the next six points – three of them on a conventional three-point play – as the Buffs closed out the quarter. Her scoring binge continued into the second period as she tallied four of CU's first eight points, the last two on a pair of free throws that gave the Buffs their largest lead of the half – 24-16 – with 5:31 remaining before the break.
But the Utes weren't fazed, and they quickly took advantage of Swan picking up her second personal foul and going to the bench with 4:26 left in the half. With Joseta Fatuesi getting a pair of inside baskets, they outscored the Buffs 7-2 over the next 2 minutes and crept to within 26-23 at the 3:34 mark.
And they pulled to 29-27 before Huggins ended the run with a 3-pointer to put CU up 32-27. Utah answered with a Katie Kuklok trey from the left corner at the buzzer to cut the home team's advantage to 32-30 at halftime.
Hitting 4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line, Swan led all first-half scorers with 12 points – matching her Thursday night output in Salt Lake City. She played just 11 first-half minutes.
Leading by a basket, the Buffs needed to quickly set the second-half tempo and take control as they did late in the first quarter. They didn't – at least not right away. With 6:55 left in the third, the Utes tied the score at 36 on two free throws by Malia Nawahine, then took their first lead since 9-8 – 38-36 – on a pair of foul shots by Potter half a minute later.
The teams traded baskets and the lead until a 7-0 CU run – a field goal each by Robinson and Ellis, a 3-pointer in transition by Huggins – opened a 49-42 Buffs lead 3:13 left in the quarter. It ended with CU in front 55-51 after Robinson made two of four free throws in the final 38.9 seconds.
Swan worked inside for CU's first six points of the fourth quarter, but Utah countered with inside/outside balance. And it was the inside work of the 6-6 Potter that gave the Utes the lead. Her consecutive layups pushed Utah in front 64-61 with 6:51 left.
The Buffs got as close as 64-63 on a Kennedy Leonard jumper but the Utes answered with a trey by Kuklok and a layup by Danielle Rodriguez to take a 69-63 advantage. A straightaway Paige Crozon 3-pointer with 2:54 to play pushed the visitors up by nine points – 72-63 – and gave them their largest lead of the afternoon.
The Utes stretched their lead to as many as 10 in the final minute.
CU visits No. 9 Oregon State on Friday (8:30 p.m. MST) and plays Oregon on Sunday, Feb. 14 (5 p.m. MST). Both games will be telecast by the Pac-12 Networks.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
