Tuesday, November 27
Boulder, Colo.
7:00 PM
Colorado
6-0
80
vs
65
Pepperdine
3-1
1
2
3
4
F
Pepperdine
15
23
20
7
65
Colorado
22
21
15
22
80
Photo by: Tim Benko, Benko Photographics
Late Defense Proves Key in Win for Colorado
November 27, 2018 | Women's Basketball
CU continues hot start to the season
BOULDER–Colorado women's basketball moved to 6-0 to start the season on Tuesday. The Buffaloes finished off their third game in five days with an 80-65 win over Pepperdine.
STAT LEADERS: The Buffs got production from both young and old. Freshman Peanut Tuitele and senior Kennedy Leonard each totaled 18 points on the night. Tuitele also snagged six rebounds in her first career start. Leonard recorded her first double-double of the season, totaling 10 assists. She was also big on the glass with seven rebounds. Sophomores Mya Hollingshed and Annika Jank also hit double figures. Hollinshed closed the night with 13 points, while Jank provided 12 off the bench.
Pepperdine's Yasmine Robinson-Bacote led all players with 25 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: A change in the starting lineup for the Buffaloes sparked a hot start to the contest. Tuitele brought a new energy to the lineup, going 2-for-3 in the opening quarter. As a team, the Buffs shot 50 percent (9-18) in the quarter. Colorado's early scoring started with Leonard's distribution. She tied her own school record, handing out seven helpers in the frame and scored at the buzzer to give CU a 22-15 lead.
Colorado continued to have the hot hand in the second quarter. Tuitele hit CU's first two baskets, giving the Buffs a 10-point lead. Colorado used a 7-for-7 shooting streak midway through the quarter to go up 41-28. The Waves closed the gap to three, 41-38, with a 10-0 run late in the quarter. Tuitele put an end to the run, closing the half with a jumper to put the Buffs back up by five.
Pepperdine (3-1) outscored Colorado, 20-15, in the third quarter. The Waves tied the game at 43 just over a minute into the second quarter and would overtake the lead, 52-50, midway through the period. The Buffs got up by four in the final two minutes but a 3-pointer from Robinson-Bacote tied the game at 58 in the closing seconds.
Colorado's defense came up big in the final 10 minutes. The Buffs held the Waves to an 0-for-7 start. Pepperdine was just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from the field fourth. CU forced six of Pepperdine's 13 turnovers in the final quarter. Offensively, the Buffs leaned on Leonard. She scored eight points in the quarter. A 12-0 run helped Colorado slam the door shut. In the end, the Buffs outscored the Waves 22-7. CU did most of its damage from close range, outscoring Pepperdine, 14-0, in the paint.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado's defense has been superb when called upon. The Buffs held Robinson-Bacote to just two points in seven minutes in the fourth quarter. CU held an 11-5 rebounding advantage in the final period, including nine defensive boards.
NOTES: Colorado best start since 2016-17 (10-0)…first career start for Tuitele…season-high in points (18) for Tuitele…CU has had four players score in double figures in its last two games (vs Utah State)…Colorado finished a season-low 1-of-12 from 3-point range…CU totaled a season-high 50 points in the paint…Leonard's 10 assists were the most since she handed out 13 against Washington last season...Alexis Robinson scored four points and is now just seven shy of 1,000 on her career...Leonard now has 572 career assists, closing in on Bridget Turner's record of 612.
UP NEXT: Colorado hits the road for the final time in the nonconference season. The Buffs will head south to Miami (Fla.) for a rematch with the Hurricanes on Sunday.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall thoughts
"Two undefeated basketball teams clashed tonight. Two good rebounding teams. Two teams with good scorers who have played really good games so far this year. It was what we expected. We expected a battle. We knew that we were capable of beating this team, but we knew it would not be easy. It certainly was not. We defended and executed down the stretch to get the win. It was a good win by our team tonight."
On switching to a zone defense
"That was the catalyst for everything in the second half. We were having a hard time stopping that kid (Yasmine Robinson-Bacote). Anybody who is capable of scoring 47 points in a DI basketball game is a dang good scorer. She is that. We thought that that might disrupt their flow and rhythm a little bit. Thankfully, it did. We got hands on balls that led to some transition opportunities and all of that was really good for us on both ends on the floor."
On sliding Peanut Tuitele into the starting lineup
"We felt like Peanut has been consistently one of our very best rebounders. Every night she pretty much leads us in rebounding. We knew that this was a great rebounding team. That was something that we needed from the jump. We also felt like one of Annika [Jank's] strengths are her motor and ability to run the floor—which is a positive here at elevation. We thought we might bring her in when their post defense got a little fatigued after a couple minutes and she could put pressure on rebounding by running the floor. I think it worked out well. They both had really good games tonight.
"For us, starting is not that relevant. A lot of times we like to bring some of our most energetic and productive players off the bench. For us, it is more about who finishes the game than who starts it. I thought it was a good adjustment tonight. We have great post players. They are very unselfish. They do not care who starts. They do not care who gets the glory. They just want to do their job and do what is asked of them. When you have players like that on your team is does not matter who starts or who plays. It is a team win."
Senior Kennedy Leonard
On defense down the stretch
"We switched to a zone. Coach T [Toriano Towns] told us to go into a zone and I think there were a lot of veterans on the floor and Peanut as well—but we work on zone every day. Our zone is kind of unorthodox so we kind of do different things. Just those looks and what they were running against. We had our hands up and we got our hands on a lot of balls and we attacked in transition once we got those steals."
On CU's young players stepping up
"It helps us a ton. It kind of takes the weight off our shoulders. You know me and Lex [Alexis Robinson] kind of come to work every day knowing we have to be leaders and do what we do. At the same time, we have to lead the younger kids with us. With the kids we have now, we do not really have to do much. Peanut holds the room really well. She leads the room really well and she is a really good voice. I think Lex and I are lucky with the younger kids we have. We do not have to do too much with them. They kind of just come to work every day and are ready to go."
Freshman Peanut Tuitele
On Getting the Ball inside
"Our scout was saying their post-game was not as strong as the competitors we faced before. I definitely took advantage of that and ducked in. Credit to my guards for feeding me the ball."
On the confidence of the team
"I think the big confidence booster was the UNC [North Carolina] game. Our confidence just keeps growing throughout the day. So far, I think the best competitors we have played are each other, which is really great for us. Our confidence has grown, and it just keeps going."
STAT LEADERS: The Buffs got production from both young and old. Freshman Peanut Tuitele and senior Kennedy Leonard each totaled 18 points on the night. Tuitele also snagged six rebounds in her first career start. Leonard recorded her first double-double of the season, totaling 10 assists. She was also big on the glass with seven rebounds. Sophomores Mya Hollingshed and Annika Jank also hit double figures. Hollinshed closed the night with 13 points, while Jank provided 12 off the bench.
Pepperdine's Yasmine Robinson-Bacote led all players with 25 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: A change in the starting lineup for the Buffaloes sparked a hot start to the contest. Tuitele brought a new energy to the lineup, going 2-for-3 in the opening quarter. As a team, the Buffs shot 50 percent (9-18) in the quarter. Colorado's early scoring started with Leonard's distribution. She tied her own school record, handing out seven helpers in the frame and scored at the buzzer to give CU a 22-15 lead.
Colorado continued to have the hot hand in the second quarter. Tuitele hit CU's first two baskets, giving the Buffs a 10-point lead. Colorado used a 7-for-7 shooting streak midway through the quarter to go up 41-28. The Waves closed the gap to three, 41-38, with a 10-0 run late in the quarter. Tuitele put an end to the run, closing the half with a jumper to put the Buffs back up by five.
Pepperdine (3-1) outscored Colorado, 20-15, in the third quarter. The Waves tied the game at 43 just over a minute into the second quarter and would overtake the lead, 52-50, midway through the period. The Buffs got up by four in the final two minutes but a 3-pointer from Robinson-Bacote tied the game at 58 in the closing seconds.
Colorado's defense came up big in the final 10 minutes. The Buffs held the Waves to an 0-for-7 start. Pepperdine was just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from the field fourth. CU forced six of Pepperdine's 13 turnovers in the final quarter. Offensively, the Buffs leaned on Leonard. She scored eight points in the quarter. A 12-0 run helped Colorado slam the door shut. In the end, the Buffs outscored the Waves 22-7. CU did most of its damage from close range, outscoring Pepperdine, 14-0, in the paint.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado's defense has been superb when called upon. The Buffs held Robinson-Bacote to just two points in seven minutes in the fourth quarter. CU held an 11-5 rebounding advantage in the final period, including nine defensive boards.
NOTES: Colorado best start since 2016-17 (10-0)…first career start for Tuitele…season-high in points (18) for Tuitele…CU has had four players score in double figures in its last two games (vs Utah State)…Colorado finished a season-low 1-of-12 from 3-point range…CU totaled a season-high 50 points in the paint…Leonard's 10 assists were the most since she handed out 13 against Washington last season...Alexis Robinson scored four points and is now just seven shy of 1,000 on her career...Leonard now has 572 career assists, closing in on Bridget Turner's record of 612.
UP NEXT: Colorado hits the road for the final time in the nonconference season. The Buffs will head south to Miami (Fla.) for a rematch with the Hurricanes on Sunday.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall thoughts
"Two undefeated basketball teams clashed tonight. Two good rebounding teams. Two teams with good scorers who have played really good games so far this year. It was what we expected. We expected a battle. We knew that we were capable of beating this team, but we knew it would not be easy. It certainly was not. We defended and executed down the stretch to get the win. It was a good win by our team tonight."
On switching to a zone defense
"That was the catalyst for everything in the second half. We were having a hard time stopping that kid (Yasmine Robinson-Bacote). Anybody who is capable of scoring 47 points in a DI basketball game is a dang good scorer. She is that. We thought that that might disrupt their flow and rhythm a little bit. Thankfully, it did. We got hands on balls that led to some transition opportunities and all of that was really good for us on both ends on the floor."
On sliding Peanut Tuitele into the starting lineup
"We felt like Peanut has been consistently one of our very best rebounders. Every night she pretty much leads us in rebounding. We knew that this was a great rebounding team. That was something that we needed from the jump. We also felt like one of Annika [Jank's] strengths are her motor and ability to run the floor—which is a positive here at elevation. We thought we might bring her in when their post defense got a little fatigued after a couple minutes and she could put pressure on rebounding by running the floor. I think it worked out well. They both had really good games tonight.
"For us, starting is not that relevant. A lot of times we like to bring some of our most energetic and productive players off the bench. For us, it is more about who finishes the game than who starts it. I thought it was a good adjustment tonight. We have great post players. They are very unselfish. They do not care who starts. They do not care who gets the glory. They just want to do their job and do what is asked of them. When you have players like that on your team is does not matter who starts or who plays. It is a team win."
Senior Kennedy Leonard
On defense down the stretch
"We switched to a zone. Coach T [Toriano Towns] told us to go into a zone and I think there were a lot of veterans on the floor and Peanut as well—but we work on zone every day. Our zone is kind of unorthodox so we kind of do different things. Just those looks and what they were running against. We had our hands up and we got our hands on a lot of balls and we attacked in transition once we got those steals."
On CU's young players stepping up
"It helps us a ton. It kind of takes the weight off our shoulders. You know me and Lex [Alexis Robinson] kind of come to work every day knowing we have to be leaders and do what we do. At the same time, we have to lead the younger kids with us. With the kids we have now, we do not really have to do much. Peanut holds the room really well. She leads the room really well and she is a really good voice. I think Lex and I are lucky with the younger kids we have. We do not have to do too much with them. They kind of just come to work every day and are ready to go."
Freshman Peanut Tuitele
On Getting the Ball inside
"Our scout was saying their post-game was not as strong as the competitors we faced before. I definitely took advantage of that and ducked in. Credit to my guards for feeding me the ball."
On the confidence of the team
"I think the big confidence booster was the UNC [North Carolina] game. Our confidence just keeps growing throughout the day. So far, I think the best competitors we have played are each other, which is really great for us. Our confidence has grown, and it just keeps going."
Team Stats
PEP
COLO
FG%
.373
.517
3FG%
.409
.083
FT%
.667
.739
RB
32
40
TO
12
10
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
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