Colorado
6-1
North Dakota State
5-2
Buffs Continue Hot Start, Improve to 6-1 With 108-59 Win
November 29, 2017 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER - The Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team improved to 6-1 on Wednesday with a commanding 108-59 victory over the North Dakota State Bison. It was the fifth consecutive win for the Buffs.
The Bison (5-2) were never really in the contest, as an early 8-1 Colorado first-quarter run set the tone early for multiple impressive individual performances from the Buffs.
Led by junior guard Kennedy Leonard (16 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds) and junior transfer Janea Bunn (21 points, 11 rebounds), the Buffs improved to 16-6 in Coors Events Center under coach JR Payne in her second season at the helm, including moving to 4-0 this season.
How it Happened
The Buffs came out on fire in the first quarter, largely due to the court vision and play of Leonard--who collected 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game's first six minutes of action--along with 10 first quarter points from senior Brecca Thomas off the bench.
Capitalizing on a Bison squad that opened the game shooting 2-for-13 from the field on two Rylee Nudell field goals, the Buffs used a 24-9 first quarter run to establish control on both ends of the court early and take a 28-11 lead entering the second quarter.
As the Bison began to heat up by shooting 57 percent to start the second quarter to cut the Colorado lead to 12, Leonard and Thomas led the counterattack on the other end--including two acrobatic layups from Leonard and two contested mid-range jump shots from the 5-foot-5 Thomas to stretch the Colorado lead to 43-25 at the 4:25 mark in the quarter.
Bunn contributed early and often to the all-around onslaught, including two defying blocks early in the first quarter to establish her presence down low that resulted in 11 first-half 3-point attempts from North Dakota State.
Additionally, Bunn's 75 percent (9-for-12) shooting from the floor on Wednesday featured numerous tough finishes at the rim, including multiple contested post-ups in the middle of the second half.
The Buffs took a 51-30 lead into the locker room at halftime, thanks largely to Thomas' 7-for-7 first-half shooting performance, Leonard's court distribution and speed, and Bunn's physicality on the blocks.
Freshman Aubrey Knight got the scoring started in the second half with a mid-range contested jumper, which was followed by junior Alexis Robinson and Leonard both hauling in half-court, over-the-top passes and finishing on the run to help extend the Colorado lead to 65-36 at the 6:17 mark in the third quarter.
From there, the Buffs marched on a 20-6 run through the 4:45 mark in the quarter behind 6 points from freshman reserve Mya Hollingshed and both a crafty drive and assist from freshman reserve Peyton Carter, stretching the Buffs lead to 80-44 by the end of the third.
Entering the fourth quarter of play shooting a whopping 62.5 percent from the field, Leonard, Bunn, and Thomas remained on the bench for the first 2:20 of the quarter to allow Payne the chance to provide valuable game experience to her younger players--particularly her five freshmen on the roster.
From there, the team's veteran presence--Leonard, Thomas, Bunn--returned briefly to facilitate the development of the younger Buffs. Specifically, fourth-quarter treys from Hollingshed and freshman Sara Castro along with three other Carter lay-ups capped off an all-around dominant offensive team performance.
By the end, Colorado had stretched its lead to 108-59, concluding Wednesday's absolute rout of the Bison.
Turning Point
Leonard and Bunn established CU's offensive force on the team's second possession of the game as Leonard found a cutting Bunn for a layup, a force that would not cease to let up until the final buzzer sounded.
With the score 14-9 CU at the 5:55 mark in the first quarter, the Buffs proceeded to go on a 14-0 run over the next 5:12 that featured baskets from Robinson, Leonard, Bunn, Hollingshed, and the last three from Thomas to turn it into a 28-9 game right before the end of the quarter.
CU Standouts
Thomas ended with 14 points in 16 minutes of action and a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor, her first ever "perfect game" of shooting while attempting at least two shots.
Other than setting the pace of the game on the team's initial 8-1 first-quarter run, Carter dazzled down the stretch with the freshman flashing tremendous ball-handling skills on 60 percent fourth-quarter shooting--including an "and-1" finish with 2:13 left in the game. She finished with 12 points and eight assists. Fellow freshman Mya Hollingshed had her first double-digit scoring game, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.
Notable Stats
Leonard went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line on Wednesday, improving on her 73 percent career percentage from the stripe.
Leonard and Bunn also both recorded double-doubles in Wednesday's contest, with Bunn eclipsing her previous career-high of 10 points with her 21 against the Bison. Meanwhile, this was just Leonard's fifth career double-double--all with points and assists.
Noteworthy
28th time in school history CU has scored over 100 points and the 108 points were tied for the 11th-most ... fifth career double-double for Leonard, all on points/assists ... CU has only had 19 points/assists double-doubles in history, including three triple-doubles ... Bunn recorded her first career double-double ... it is the fourth consecutive game CU has had a player with a double-double ... CU shot 59.7 percent in the game, its highest field goal percentage since Feb. 1, 2006, against Kansas when it shot 61.9 percent ... Colorado had its highest-scoring first quarter and first half since Idaho State on Dec. 3 last season (led 30-11 and 55-25 in that game) ... CU's .605 field goal percentage in the first half was the highest in a half since shooting .613 in the first half against UMass on Nov. 27, 2015 ... it was the second time this season CU has held an opponent under 30 percent shooting ... the +27 rebounding margin was the Southeastern Louisiana game on Nov. 30 last season (+35) ... the 46 field goals matched the total from the Southeastern Louisiana game and are tied for the sixth-most in CU history ... all 12 Buffs who saw action tonight recorded at least 2 points, including five Buffs who put up double digits (Bunn, Leonard, Thomas, Carter, Hollingshed).
Quoteworthy
"There's no such thing as a perfect game, but there was no drop off at anytime tonight, every Buff played well." -JR Payne
"(Tonight's performance) is pretty exciting, it helps my confidence a lot and lets me know that I should be playing and competing here." - Janea Bunn
"I just told myself to not rush anything when I first got put in, and like Janea said, it's a huge confidence booster to me." -Peyton Carter
"It's a huge confidence boost for all of us in general, and the chance to raise the level of play in the future is encouraging." -JR Payne
What's Next?
The Buffs have a week off before traveling up I-25 to take on rival Colorado State in Fort Collins on December 6th with a 7:00 tip.
Postgame Quotes:
JR Payne, head coach
Opening Statement"What an exciting game for us. Every single player on the roster played significant minutes, rebounded the basketball, scored the basketball, and executed the game-plan. There is no such thing as a perfect game, but our team played really well tonight. I am really proud of us, and in everybody's effort."
On the play of Peyton Carter
"She rebounded, scored, and had eight assists and only one turnover. She was awesome in transition. We are always asking her to shoot the ball and to be ready to score the ball. She did everything that we needed her to do tonight."
On the importance of having a back-up like Peyton Carter
"There was no drop off anywhere tonight. Every Buff that played today played well, rebounded, played aggressively, and pushed in transition. You love to see that as a coach. It brings confidence to our players and to our coaches. It was great."
On the team's rebounding tonight
"We talk about rebounding all day, everyday. It is the only thing we stat consistently in practice. We place a huge emphasis on it. We have a bunch of different players that can rebound. Everybody rebounded tonight."
On the depth of the team
"It is a huge confidence booster for all of us. It is really neat that everybody can come in, and raise the level of play in certain circumstances. It is really special, and we will look forward to using that this year."
On what she saw from the defense
"I think we were communicating really well. We had a great grasp on personnel. We knew who the shooters were, and who the rebounders were. We were trying to dictate tempo defensively to get stops and transition offensively."
On the key to the fast start
"Everything starts on defense. Our defense starts our offense, and our defense kick starts our rebounding, and all of that kick starts our energy. The biggest focus was trying to dictate tempo from a defensive standpoint."
Janea Bunn, junior
On placing an emphasis on rebounding.
"Coach T [Toriano Towns] especially will pull me to the side and give me this look and tell me to go rebound. It's definitely an emphasis for our team. "
On big moments this season and to have a game like this.
"It's pretty exciting. It has definitely helped my confidence a lot. I am supposed to be playing here. I think what really gets me going is blocking shots, that's my thing and what I like to do."
On what defense did to help the offense
"We always emphasis defense first. Coach T takes great pride in that, if we screw that up then we are in trouble. We just try to focus on that first and we know our offense will come from our energy on defense."
Peyton Carter, freshman
On growing up watching CU and to have a big game like this
"Like Janea said, it's definitely a confidence booster. It is so much fun getting out on the court and obviously playing well is fun too."
On flow of the game
"I tried to do a good job at running the offense and passing and not being overly aggressive helped me get into the flow of the game."
On building coaches trust
"That's a confidence booster as well. I have to keep working and show that I'm not timid and do what I am supposed to be doing out there."
Maren Walseth, North Dakota State head coach
On how the team moves forward after this game
"I think we look at what we did do well. I thought we defended the ball screen incredibly well. That is something that obviously Colorado hangs their hat on. Our ability to defend that ball screen, different ways different people. I was very impressed with that. We wrap it up and we move on. We have a game on Friday and I said this at home, thank goodness we aren't a football program and we don't have to sit on it for a whole week. We have the opportunity to get back on the floor tomorrow and make some corrections and have another opponent on Friday."
On what will you look at about this game and what do you improve
"I think we look at the pace at which we play defense in transition and improve upon that, but also take a page out of Colorado's book on the offensive end. They had numerous players flying up court for transition offense and that is something we can certainly implement and foster into what we do."
