Friday, January 5
Pullman, Wash.
9:00 PM
Colorado
10-4, 1-2
75
at
89
Washington State
8-7, 1-2
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
19
17
21
18
75
Washington State
20
22
26
21
89
Photo by: Rob Jackson/WSU Athletics
Buffs Unable To Slow Wazzu's Hristova In Road Loss
January 05, 2018 | Women's Basketball
PULLMAN, Wash. – Colorado could not slow Washington State's Borislava Hristova as the host Cougars defeated the Buffs 89-75 on Friday night at Beasley Coliseum. CU dropped to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12, while the Cougars improved to 8-7 and 1-2.
Borislava scored a career-high 36 points, hitting 15-of-21 from the floor, burying four 3-pointers to lead all scorers. Her 36 points were the most for a Pac-12 player this season.
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard scored 20 points and had eight assists to lead the Buffs, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor and 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Janea Bunn had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Alexis Robinson and Brecca Thomas each scored 12 points, combining to go 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs got off to a rough start, turning the ball over eight times in the first quarter. But hot shooting kept the game close as Leonard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Thomas hit a three at the buzzer to bring the Buffs within 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was back-and-forth as the Buffs continued to shoot well, but the Cougars continued to force turnovers. Robinson gave CU its first lead at 21-20 with a layup on CU's first possession of the quarter. That was CU's only lead of the first half, however.
Thomas buried a 3-pointer and drew the foul, hitting the free throw for a four-point play at the 2:59 mark to tie the game at 32-32. Wazzu led for the remainder of the half, taking a 42-36 lead into halftime, closing on a 10-4 run.
Washington State built a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Buffs were able to cut the deficit to five, but the Cougars built their lead back to 11 at 68-57 after a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter.
Wazzu pulled away in the fourth quarter. CU cut the deficit to seven points with 8:15 remaining, but the Cougars responded with a 12-2 run to lead by 17 points at 82-65 with 4:47 left in the game and CU was unable to recover.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot 8-of-17 from 3-point range and 21-of-31 at the free throw line. But the Buffs committed 23 turnovers and forced just 11 and the Cougars took advantage. Wazzu shot 45 percent for the game and scored 56 points in the paint, while holding a 42-40 rebounding advantage.
NOTES: CU has not won in Pullman since 2012 and has lost five straight on the road to Wazzu ... it was Leonard's 20th career game with over 20 points ... Thomas hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range after entering the game 4-of-18 in 12 games on the season, and 1-of-7 in 25 games last season ... Bunn recorded her second double-double this season and a season-high 13 rebounds ... the -12 turnover margin (23-11) was the worst since Feb. 6, 2015 (-12, 28-16).
UP NEXT: CU will travel to Seattle to take on Washington on Sunday at 3 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
JR Payne, head coach
General thoughts on the game
"Scoring 75 points is a lot of points and you should be able to win a basketball game. But we gave up 18 o boards and we turned the ball over and our turnovers led to easy points for them and that combination was lethal."
On the turnovers
"I think a lot of those inbounds turnovers and trying to break too quickly, not to take anything away from Washington State, but those were unforced turnovers. We were just throwing the ball out of bounds. Our players are not allowed to make one-handed passes. We threw the ball directly out of bounds simply because we tried to throw a one-handed pass. Those are things we cannot afford to do."
On the turnovers in transition
"We want to play fast, but we also have to be able to deliver the ball to our point guard in order to play fast. We're going to turn on the film and say, 'well why did we try to throw it to Kennedy through three people when our power forward's bringing the ball up the floor?' That's just not a good decision; that's not good basketball. I think our identity is that we want to play fast, we're better in transition than we are in the half court, but those are simply errors that we cannot make at this level against anyone that is left on our schedule."
On Annika Jank being held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting
"A lot of Annika's success early has come on jump shots. It's difficult to rely your entire season on jump shots. She can make those shots, but we also need to find a way to get Annika to the free throw line. In 31 minutes, your power forward can't afford to only take two free throws."
On Hristova's performance for Washington State
"She's really good and someone asked me at halftime what we were going to do to slow her down. Every shot she took was contested. Good offense beats good defense every time. I thought that we were defending and contesting her shots, but she's just a heck of a player."
Borislava scored a career-high 36 points, hitting 15-of-21 from the floor, burying four 3-pointers to lead all scorers. Her 36 points were the most for a Pac-12 player this season.
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard scored 20 points and had eight assists to lead the Buffs, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor and 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Janea Bunn had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Alexis Robinson and Brecca Thomas each scored 12 points, combining to go 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs got off to a rough start, turning the ball over eight times in the first quarter. But hot shooting kept the game close as Leonard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Thomas hit a three at the buzzer to bring the Buffs within 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was back-and-forth as the Buffs continued to shoot well, but the Cougars continued to force turnovers. Robinson gave CU its first lead at 21-20 with a layup on CU's first possession of the quarter. That was CU's only lead of the first half, however.
Thomas buried a 3-pointer and drew the foul, hitting the free throw for a four-point play at the 2:59 mark to tie the game at 32-32. Wazzu led for the remainder of the half, taking a 42-36 lead into halftime, closing on a 10-4 run.
Washington State built a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Buffs were able to cut the deficit to five, but the Cougars built their lead back to 11 at 68-57 after a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter.
Wazzu pulled away in the fourth quarter. CU cut the deficit to seven points with 8:15 remaining, but the Cougars responded with a 12-2 run to lead by 17 points at 82-65 with 4:47 left in the game and CU was unable to recover.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot 8-of-17 from 3-point range and 21-of-31 at the free throw line. But the Buffs committed 23 turnovers and forced just 11 and the Cougars took advantage. Wazzu shot 45 percent for the game and scored 56 points in the paint, while holding a 42-40 rebounding advantage.
NOTES: CU has not won in Pullman since 2012 and has lost five straight on the road to Wazzu ... it was Leonard's 20th career game with over 20 points ... Thomas hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range after entering the game 4-of-18 in 12 games on the season, and 1-of-7 in 25 games last season ... Bunn recorded her second double-double this season and a season-high 13 rebounds ... the -12 turnover margin (23-11) was the worst since Feb. 6, 2015 (-12, 28-16).
UP NEXT: CU will travel to Seattle to take on Washington on Sunday at 3 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
JR Payne, head coach
General thoughts on the game
"Scoring 75 points is a lot of points and you should be able to win a basketball game. But we gave up 18 o boards and we turned the ball over and our turnovers led to easy points for them and that combination was lethal."
On the turnovers
"I think a lot of those inbounds turnovers and trying to break too quickly, not to take anything away from Washington State, but those were unforced turnovers. We were just throwing the ball out of bounds. Our players are not allowed to make one-handed passes. We threw the ball directly out of bounds simply because we tried to throw a one-handed pass. Those are things we cannot afford to do."
On the turnovers in transition
"We want to play fast, but we also have to be able to deliver the ball to our point guard in order to play fast. We're going to turn on the film and say, 'well why did we try to throw it to Kennedy through three people when our power forward's bringing the ball up the floor?' That's just not a good decision; that's not good basketball. I think our identity is that we want to play fast, we're better in transition than we are in the half court, but those are simply errors that we cannot make at this level against anyone that is left on our schedule."
On Annika Jank being held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting
"A lot of Annika's success early has come on jump shots. It's difficult to rely your entire season on jump shots. She can make those shots, but we also need to find a way to get Annika to the free throw line. In 31 minutes, your power forward can't afford to only take two free throws."
On Hristova's performance for Washington State
"She's really good and someone asked me at halftime what we were going to do to slow her down. Every shot she took was contested. Good offense beats good defense every time. I thought that we were defending and contesting her shots, but she's just a heck of a player."
Team Stats
COLO
WSU
FG%
.418
.450
3FG%
.471
.227
FT%
.677
.600
RB
40
42
TO
23
11
STL
5
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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