Sunday, January 14
Boulder, Colo.
4:00 PM
Colorado
11-6, 2-4Pac-12
55
vs
93
UCLA
13-4, 4-2Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
UCLA
27
25
21
20
93
Colorado
9
19
12
15
55
Photo by: Benko Photographics
No. 14 UCLA's Hot Start Downs Buffs In Boulder
January 14, 2018 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – No. 14 UCLA scored the first 16 points of the game to cruise to a 93-55 win over Colorado on Sunday afternoon. The Buffs dropped to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-12, while the Bruins improved to 13-4 and 4-2.
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 12 points and five assists, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor. Freshmen Annika Jank and Aubrey Knight led the team with seven rebounds each. Alexis Robinson, Peyton Carter and Jaimie Curtis each had six points.
Japreece Dean led UCLA with 21 points off the bench. Jordin Canada had 10 points and 11 assists. Monique Billings had a game-high 11 rebounds. Six Bruins scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Bruins took control from the onset, jumping out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter and leading 27-9 after the period.
The Buffs could not recover from the slow start. UCLA shot 19-of-37 (.514) in the first half and forced 15 turnovers.
The Bruins stretched their lead to 73-40 at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 41 points in the fourth quarter.
CU had stretches of strong play throughout the game, but was unable to sustain that. After falling behind 16-0, the Buffs got a 3-point play from Mya Hollingshed, who made a strong layup and hit the ensuing free throw, followed by a transition layup by Knight, who was fed a nice pass from half court by Leonard.
Carter buried a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Curtis had her best game in a CU uniform, making all three of her field goal attempts, blocking three shots, and adding two rebounds and an assist.
KEY STATISTICS: CU committed just three turnovers in the second half to finish with 18 for the game, but UCLA had nine total. The Bruins also shot 46.8 percent from the floor, including 9-of-19 from the outside. CU was held to 31.4 percent shooting.
NOTES: The 38-point loss means CU has suffered its two worst defeats since joining the Pac-12 in the last two games after losing by 35 to USC on Friday ... CU dropped to 1-1 vs. ranked teams this season ... Canada recorded her 700th career assist, becoming the first UCLA player to reach that milestone.
UP NEXT: The Buffs will play at Arizona on Friday.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Opening Statement
"I feel a lot better about this game than the last time we played, and that's not because of the outcome of points. I don't really ever talk about winning and losing but I feel a lot better about the way we played. Obviously we had a slow start offensively, but I'm really proud of the effort that our team gave tonight. I'm proud of the way we stuck together tonight. The truth is that they (UCLA) are a really good team. They have multiple All-Americans on their team. They have multiple seniors who have played 30 or more minutes a night for their entire careers. That is a great and well-coached team. We are also a really good team, we are just a lot younger than them, but the fact that we came out and played fearlessly, played hard, never gave up, I am very proud about tonight."
On why they couldn't get anything to fall
"I think the fact that we were getting great shots against UCLA is a positive. I think that we are getting to the basket, I thought Janea had good looks; we had some at the rim. I think that's a positive and we can use that moving forward, whether it's the next time we play UCLA, or the next time we play someone else. We can say, 'we got this shot, we can make this shot next time.' We aren't going to miss many wide-open layups next time like we did today."
On if there is a danger of the team not bouncing back after this game
"I think that if we played today the way that we played on Friday, that would require a whole different conversation and film session. I like this game. We will be able to pull a lot of highlights from this game. I know that sounds funny to be proud of this team, but I really am. There are some good things that we can take from this game. We had some young kids come in and played fearlessly against one of the best teams in the nation. We tied them on rebounds and on the glass. There aren't a lot of teams who can say that against this team. I think we need to build on this."
Kennedy Leonard, junior
On whether tonight was one of the nights where shots wouldn't fall
"I don't think it felt like one of those nights. Some people on our team normally make those shots and they didn't go in tonight. It kind of gets you down when you're thinking, 'that's a normal shot that's going in.' We didn't base this game off of the shots that didn't fall."
On the 16-0 run to start the game
"We fought with them like it we weren't down 16-0. Had we not started out down 16-0, I think the game would have been different. Obviously it's difficult to come back from a 16-0 deficit. I think it speaks volumes that we fought, kept the energy up and kept pushing."
On if this loss affects the confidence of the team
"Obviously we got beat by a lot of points but at the same time, that's a really good UCLA team. They have an awesome point guard. Monique Billings is amazing post player and they've been together for a while. We're still getting used to everybody. So for us to fight them and have the energy that we did along with never giving up says something about us."
Cori Close, UCLA head coach
On the game
"I really respect JR and how she is building her program and they are doing it the right way. We had a good night. We were able to disrupt them on the defensive end which led to easy scores. They are going to be a good program and I encourage them to stay the course."
On preparing for Cal and Stanford next weekend
"We've played them once already. We have a lot of pride in protecting our home court and we love sharing it with the great fans that have got behind us. We take every week as an opportunity to get better and respond to what we learned the week before."
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 12 points and five assists, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor. Freshmen Annika Jank and Aubrey Knight led the team with seven rebounds each. Alexis Robinson, Peyton Carter and Jaimie Curtis each had six points.
Japreece Dean led UCLA with 21 points off the bench. Jordin Canada had 10 points and 11 assists. Monique Billings had a game-high 11 rebounds. Six Bruins scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Bruins took control from the onset, jumping out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter and leading 27-9 after the period.
The Buffs could not recover from the slow start. UCLA shot 19-of-37 (.514) in the first half and forced 15 turnovers.
The Bruins stretched their lead to 73-40 at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 41 points in the fourth quarter.
CU had stretches of strong play throughout the game, but was unable to sustain that. After falling behind 16-0, the Buffs got a 3-point play from Mya Hollingshed, who made a strong layup and hit the ensuing free throw, followed by a transition layup by Knight, who was fed a nice pass from half court by Leonard.
Carter buried a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Curtis had her best game in a CU uniform, making all three of her field goal attempts, blocking three shots, and adding two rebounds and an assist.
KEY STATISTICS: CU committed just three turnovers in the second half to finish with 18 for the game, but UCLA had nine total. The Bruins also shot 46.8 percent from the floor, including 9-of-19 from the outside. CU was held to 31.4 percent shooting.
NOTES: The 38-point loss means CU has suffered its two worst defeats since joining the Pac-12 in the last two games after losing by 35 to USC on Friday ... CU dropped to 1-1 vs. ranked teams this season ... Canada recorded her 700th career assist, becoming the first UCLA player to reach that milestone.
UP NEXT: The Buffs will play at Arizona on Friday.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Opening Statement
"I feel a lot better about this game than the last time we played, and that's not because of the outcome of points. I don't really ever talk about winning and losing but I feel a lot better about the way we played. Obviously we had a slow start offensively, but I'm really proud of the effort that our team gave tonight. I'm proud of the way we stuck together tonight. The truth is that they (UCLA) are a really good team. They have multiple All-Americans on their team. They have multiple seniors who have played 30 or more minutes a night for their entire careers. That is a great and well-coached team. We are also a really good team, we are just a lot younger than them, but the fact that we came out and played fearlessly, played hard, never gave up, I am very proud about tonight."
On why they couldn't get anything to fall
"I think the fact that we were getting great shots against UCLA is a positive. I think that we are getting to the basket, I thought Janea had good looks; we had some at the rim. I think that's a positive and we can use that moving forward, whether it's the next time we play UCLA, or the next time we play someone else. We can say, 'we got this shot, we can make this shot next time.' We aren't going to miss many wide-open layups next time like we did today."
On if there is a danger of the team not bouncing back after this game
"I think that if we played today the way that we played on Friday, that would require a whole different conversation and film session. I like this game. We will be able to pull a lot of highlights from this game. I know that sounds funny to be proud of this team, but I really am. There are some good things that we can take from this game. We had some young kids come in and played fearlessly against one of the best teams in the nation. We tied them on rebounds and on the glass. There aren't a lot of teams who can say that against this team. I think we need to build on this."
Kennedy Leonard, junior
On whether tonight was one of the nights where shots wouldn't fall
"I don't think it felt like one of those nights. Some people on our team normally make those shots and they didn't go in tonight. It kind of gets you down when you're thinking, 'that's a normal shot that's going in.' We didn't base this game off of the shots that didn't fall."
On the 16-0 run to start the game
"We fought with them like it we weren't down 16-0. Had we not started out down 16-0, I think the game would have been different. Obviously it's difficult to come back from a 16-0 deficit. I think it speaks volumes that we fought, kept the energy up and kept pushing."
On if this loss affects the confidence of the team
"Obviously we got beat by a lot of points but at the same time, that's a really good UCLA team. They have an awesome point guard. Monique Billings is amazing post player and they've been together for a while. We're still getting used to everybody. So for us to fight them and have the energy that we did along with never giving up says something about us."
Cori Close, UCLA head coach
On the game
"I really respect JR and how she is building her program and they are doing it the right way. We had a good night. We were able to disrupt them on the defensive end which led to easy scores. They are going to be a good program and I encourage them to stay the course."
On preparing for Cal and Stanford next weekend
"We've played them once already. We have a lot of pride in protecting our home court and we love sharing it with the great fans that have got behind us. We take every week as an opportunity to get better and respond to what we learned the week before."
Team Stats
UCLA
COLO
FG%
.468
.314
3FG%
.474
.385
FT%
.800
.462
RB
53
42
TO
9
18
STL
13
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballColorado Women's Basketball: Cooking with the Buffs
Friday, July 18
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT second Round Press Conference
Sunday, March 23
Women's Basketball: Colorado vs Gonzaga Highlights | Mar 23, 2025
Sunday, March 23
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT First Round Press Conference
Friday, March 21