Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Texas Southern
Players Mentioned
Buffs' Streak Hits Seven
December 03, 2019 | Women's Basketball
Colorado improves to 7-0 on the season
BOULDER — Sophomore Emma Clarke scored a career-high 17 points and junior Mya Hollingshed finished with a double-double, helping Colorado to 74-50 win over Texas Southern on Tuesday.
Four Buffaloes to finished in double figures on the night. Hollingshed posted 14 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Aubrey Knight and freshman Charlotte Whittaker snuck into double figures with 11 and 10 respectively.
Colorado (7-0) totaled a season-high 51 rebounds, using its height to its advantage against the smaller Tigers. CU's performance on the glass was the first time the Buffs had 50 ore more rebounds since playing Prairie View A&M last season (58).
The Buffs converted just 27 shots on the night, going 39.7 percent (27-68) from the field. CU's defense held Texas Southern to 10 points in each of the first two quarters and limited TSU to 18-of-58 from the floor on the night.
Colorado did a good job navigating Texas Southern's relentless ball-pressure. The Tigers entered the night No. 23 in the nation with 11.5 steals per game. Both teams finished with 18 turnovers, breaking CU's streak of 20-plus turnovers. The Buffs capitalized on their opportunities, totaling 18 points off the Tigers' mishaps.
Richelle Velez led Texas Southern (2-4) with 15 points in the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs had two early turnovers in the first two minutes of the night that allowed Texas Southern to get out to a 3-0 start. Colorado's offense got started by Clarke, overtaking the Tigers with an 8-0 run. Unlike CU's recent starts, the Buffs protected the ball, against the steal-happy Tigers. The Buffs forced nine turnovers in the opening period. Late 3's from Annika Jank and Knight closed the quarter for Colorado, leading 23-10.
Colorado's lead hit 21 points before halftime, despite a slow 0-for-4 start to the second quarter. Whittaker and Clarke combined for six points in 52 seconds, to spark the Buffs offense. The spurt put the Buffs up 29-14 and forced TSU into a panicked timeout with 6:28 to play in the half. Hollingshed scored the final nine points of the half, sending the Buffs into the half with a 41-20 cushion.
Clarke led the Buffs out of the half, hitting from behind the arc to help CU start the quarter 4-for-4. She went a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the third, helping CU shoot a game-high 61.5 percent (8-13). Her second 3 of the quarter gave the Buffs their largest lead of the night, 51-23.
Texas Southern outscored Colorado 14-12 in the fourth quarter, but the Buffs lead never dipped below 20 points in the second half.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado snagged 20 offensive boards on the night. It was the second consecutive game CU had 20 or more offensive rebounds. The work on the offensive glass led to a season-high 17 second-chance points.
NOTES: Sherrod got her first start of the season…Knight's 11 points marked a career-high…Hollinghshed's double-double was the sixth of her career…Colorado has scored 30 ore more points in the paint five games this season (34 tonight)…CU's 28-point lead (51-23) was the largest lead the Buffs have held all season…Coach Payne improves to 51-50 at CU.
NEXT UP: The Buffs have some time off before their next game. Colorado resumes practice on Friday, getting ready for Texas Southern on Dec. 3.
QUOTES
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall Thoughts
"We knew that this game would be a game of runs and sporadic play. I thought we did some good things and kind of kept our composure for the most part against an athletic team. That was something that we couldn't really simulate as well as we wanted to in practice this week. I thought we did a good job of making some adjustments on the floor. Our rebounding effort was tremendous. To outrebound them by 17—we continue to rebound the basketball. We had a lot of really good sort of smart individual efforts. Certainly, from these two [Mya Hollingshed and Emma Clarke] and several other people. I thought it was a good game tonight."
On Defensive Effort
"We would love to be able to pressure the ball a lot. I think we're significantly longer than we've been in the past. We're able to utilize our length to pressure the ball. It's hard to pressure a team sometimes like this that is so good off the bounce and can stretch you with a couple of shooters. We felt like if we could do it, it would be good for us. But we weren't sure how that would go. I loved our ball pressure. Emma [Clarke] being able to pick up the full court was great. We were able to slow them in transition. I thought our team defense was pretty good when someone wanted to penetrate. I thought our team was good closing gaps and that was important for us."
On 7-0 Start
"We're really happy with who we are. I know that our basketball can be better on both ends of the floor as always. I always like to celebrate things in the stat sheet and then I always say there are things we can do better, which we all know, but I love who we are. We're balanced. We give great effort. Our discipline, I want to be better, but I'm always striving to be the very best. We are striving to be the very best that we can be in. But I love our team. I tweeted something out yesterday, just a picture of them and just said 'I love these people.' It's just a great group of young women right now."
Sophomore Emma Clarke
On Early Turnovers
"I think we just refocused. I think we came in and they just had a lot of energy. They were handsy and I think we just had to take a timeout and refocus. We had to go back in and take care of the ball and make smart passes."
On Her Early Season Success
"I'm just not thinking about it. I'm not overthinking. I'm just shooting the ball when I'm open, making the extra pass when it's there and just having fun. I just came into the game happy. We hadn't played in a few days so I'm just coming in thinking about another opportunity to play. I don't think about it too much."
Junior Mya Hollingshed
On the Importance of Rebounding
"We knew coming in that they were trying to swipe balls and so we needed to get rebounds and keep. Our goal was to get on the glass and keep the ball high but also since they were smaller, we did have an advantage coming into the game."
On Having a Double-Double
"I didn't even know I had twelve rebounds until I looked right here. I thought I just had ten. I didn't even know I had a double-double. I was just trying to get to the glass and get rebounds and limit their offensive opportunities."