Buffs, Huskies Meet Thursday In Pac-12 Tournament

THE GAME: The University of Colorado is the No. 12 seed in the 2016 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament and will open play with a first round game against No. 5 seed Washington on Thursday, March 3 at 9:30 p.m. MST at KeyArena in Seattle.

BROADCAST: All Pac-12 Tournament games through the semifinals will air nationally on the Pac-12 Network with Sunday's championship game is set to air on ESPN. Krista Blunk will have the call alongside Mary Murphy and will be joined by Jill Savage on the sidelines for Colorado's Pac-12 Network games. All of Colorado's Pac-12 Tournament games will also air live on KKZN 760 AM. Cory Lopez will have the call with Carol Callan of USA Basketball.

POSTSEASON FACTS: The Buffs are 5-4 in their previous Pac-12 Tournament appearances, winning its opening game every year since becoming a member of the league in the 2011-12 season. Colorado has advanced to the tournament semifinals in two of the four years, including last year, when the team achieved the biggest upset in Pac-12 Tournament history as the No. 9 seed Buffaloes knocked off top seed and No. 8/9 ranked Oregon State, 68-65 in the quarterfinals, before falling to California in the semifinals.

In 2012, No. 10 Colorado defeated No. 7 Utah 55-41 in a first-round game in Los Angeles. The Buffs were eliminated in the quarterfinals by California as the Bears defeated the Buffaloes 68-59.

Colorado was the No. 4 seed in 2013, receiving a first round bye and claiming a 70-59 quarterfinal win over Washington before falling to eventual champion and top seeded Stanford in the semifinals.

In 2014, No. 9 seed Colorado defeated UCLA 76-65 in the first round and then fell to Stanford, 69-54 in a quarterfinal contest.

Colorado has five conference tournament crowns in its history, the first four coming in the Big Eight Conference (1988, '92, '95 and '96) and the final in the first year of the Big 12 (1997). Overall the Buffaloes are 34-28 in conference tournament games.

ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado closed out its 2015-16 regular season campaign with a 7-22 overall record and 2-16 in Pac-12 play, finishing in 12th place. The Buffaloes snapped a five-game skid and earned their second Pac-12 win of the season against California on Feb. 21, but then dropped both contests at the Washington schools in their final weekend of the season.

On offense, Colorado is averaging 62.3 points per game while shooting 39.4 percent from the field. Colorado is shooting 71.4 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 33.5 percent of its shots behind the arc.

Defensively, Colorado has allowed 69.7 points per game on 41.6 percent from the field. The Buffaloes average 36.8 rebounds and are fifth in the Pac-12 with 4.3 blocked shots per game.

Senior forward Jamee Swan has been the team's top scorer and rebounder throughout the season, averaging 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds while hitting 44.5 percent from the field and 69.1 percent from the free throw line. Swan has also recorded a team-leading 49 blocks on the season. Swan led the team with 12 rebounds against California and added 18 points to earn her team-best fourth double-double of the year. She also tied a career-high with six steals.

Swan ranks 12th in the Pac-12 in scoring, tied for 12th in overall rebounding eighth in field goal percentage, ninth in free throw percentage, is 11th with 4.7 defensive rebounds per game, 14th with 2.2 offensive rebounds per game, fourth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and 15th in steals (1.4 spg)

Freshman guard Kennedy Leonard is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 points a game and leads the team with 135 assists this season as she averages 4.7 in each contest. She scored a career-high 23 points and dished out a career-high 13 assists against California, recording her second double-double of her young career. Leonard then registered 20 points at Washington State, to record her second straight 20-point game and third of her career.

On the Pac-12 leaderboard, Leonard is 18th in scoring, sixth in assists and 14th in steals (1.4 spg).

Junior guard Haley Smith leads the team in field goal percentage (.468) and free throw percentage (.881). She ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and third in scoring (10.8 ppg). She has made 19-of-22 (.864) from the free throw line during league play and 37-of-42 overall. Smith has also been one of Colorado's most consistent rebounders, recording at least five rebounds in 19 of 29 games this season. In the Buffs' home finale vs. Cal, she paced the team on offense, matching a career-high with 24 points. She has led the team in scoring eight times this season. Smith ranks 24th overall in the conference in scoring and 20th in rebounding.

Junior wing Lauren Huggins is first on the team with 47 3-pointers, which is a single-season career-high for the Littleton, Colo. native and has knocked down 36.7 percent of her shots from long range, ranking 10th in the Pac-12. She is ninth in the league in 3-point field goals made, averaging 1.9 per game. Huggins has played in 14 Pac-12 games this season where she is shooting 35.9 percent from behind the arc (10th in the Pac-12). 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 (7.9 ppg), tied for fourth in rebounding (3.2 rpg) and second in assists (2.4 apg). Robinson has recorded 22 3-point field goals, third most on the team.

Freshman Makenzie Ellis has earned six straight starts after providing a nice spark off the bench over much of the season. She is averaging 3.1 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. Ellis registered eight points against Cal, one point shy of tying a career-high and grabbed four rebounds.

Junior Zoe Beard-Fails leads the reserves in scoring. She is averaging 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while connecting on 42.9 percent of her shots.

Sophomore center Zoe Correal averages 2.2 points and 3.2 rebounds a game. She is second on the team with 17 blocks and all 15 of her career starts have come this season. Sophomore guard Brecca Thomas averages 3.4 points and 1.5 assists per game coming off the bench.

ABOUT WASHINGTON: The Washington Huskies finished the regular season 20-9 overall and in fifth place in the Pac-12 at 11-7 after winning four of their last six games. Washington owns the third-ranked offense in the conference, averaging 71.7 points per game. The Huskies shoot 41.2 percent from the field and a conference-best 78.4 percent from the free throw line. From beyond the arc, Washington connects on 33.2 percent of its shots and makes on average 7.0 3-point field goals each game, second most in the conference. Defensively, the Huskies allow 62.8 points per game and opponents shoot 36.5 percent against them.

Junior guard Kelsey Plum leads the Pac-12 and ranks third in the nation in scoring at 26.5 points per game. She also leads the conference in free throw accuracy at 88.8 percent and dishes a team-leading 3.8 assists per game. Senior forward Talia Walton is second on the team in scoring at 15.6 points per contest and junior forward Chantel Osahor is averaging 9.9 points and a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the conference. Junior forward Katie Collier paces the Huskies in blocks (1.0 bpg).

Head coach Mike Neighbors is in his third season at the helm for Washington with a record of 62-33.

THE SERIES: This will be the 18th meeting between Colorado and Washington with the Huskies holding a 9-8 lead in the series. Washington won both meetings during the regular season. The Huskies defeated the Buffs 76-74 in CU's Pac-12 opener on Jan. 2 in Boulder and they also took the season finale last weekend, 68-47 in Seattle. Washington has won the last six and seven of nine since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12. Colorado and Washington have previously met one time in the Pac-12 Tournament with the Buffaloes defeating the Huskies, 70-59 in the quarterfinals of the 2013 tournament.

Linda Lappe is 2-7 against Washington as a head coach. Mike Neighbors is 6-0 against Colorado as a head coach.

WHAT'S NEXT?: With a win against Washington, Colorado advances to face No. 4 seed Stanford on Friday, March 4 at 9:30 p.m. MST in the quarterfinals.