Friday, March 1
Los Angeles, Calif.
8:00 PM
Colorado
12-16
77
at
84
USC
16-12
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
21
9
20
27
77
Southern California
17
22
19
26
84
Photo by: Gary Breedlove
Trojans Outlast Buffs
March 01, 2019 | Women's Basketball
CU's comeback falls just short
LOS ANGELES – A strong start and a late push were not enough for the Colorado women's basketball team on Friday night. The Buffaloes dropped the weekend-opener, 84-77, to Southern California inside the Galen Center.
The Buffs hit the comeback trail after starting the night with a 21-point first quarter. Colorado cut the USC lead down to five in the fourth quarter but could not complete the comeback.
"I feel like we ran out of time," head coach JR Payne commented. "There were a lot of good things that we did tonight. When we go back and watch the film we are going to see that there were small areas where if we could just take care of the ball better, especially in the first half. We knew these guys [USC] live off creating turnovers and scoring in transition. That's how they beat us tonight."
Colorado continues to suffer from the injury bug. The Buffs got senior Alexis Robinson back in a limited role but lost freshman Peanut Tuitele for the weekend. CU has now played the last 14 games with at least one starter out of the lineup.
The Buffs came out and battled to the end, despite the continued hardships. Colorado finished with four players in double figures and outworked USC on the glass (45-35).
CU got off to a strong open, due in large to the offense of sophomore Mya Hollingshed. She had 12 points in the first quarter, helping the Buffs build a six-point lead. She finished the night with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Kennedy Leonard helped lead CU's comeback, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. Quinessa Caylao-Do contributed 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Emma Clarke closed the night with 11.
CU's inability to protect the ball early on proved costly. Southern California scored 19 points off 11 first-half turnovers. The Buffs corrected the issue at the half, giving the ball up just four times in the second half. The Trojans continued to capitalize though, finishing with 27 points off the mishaps.
Aliya Mazyck provided the spark for the Trojans. She was silent in the opening quarter, totaling just three points. She would finish with a career-high 30 points. Minyon Moore came on late, hitting 12-of-18 from the free-throw line to finish with 18 points. Ja'Tavia Tapley and Desiree Caldwell each finished with 10 points.
"We said all week that this kid [Mazyck] can go for 30 on any given night," Payne added. "She did tonight. We needed to be able to run her off the 3-point line a little more effectively."
The loss drops CU to 12-16 overall and 2-15 in the Pac-12. Southern California improves to 16-12 overall and 6-11 in the conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado and USC swapped early 3s to open the third quarter, keeping the nine-point halftime deficit intact. The Buffs kept within reach through the midway mark of the period. That's when Mazyck put the Trojans on her back. She hit a jumper with followed by a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to put USC up 14, 52-38. A pair of 3s from Robinson helped Colorado get back within eight, 58-50, to close the period.
Caylao-Do got CU to within six in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Mazyck helped the Trojans to a 9-2 run, pushing the lead back up to 13, 69-53, just past the midway mark. Colorado slowly chipped away, outscoring USC 13-6 over the next 3:45. A pair of Leonard free throws brought CU to within five, 74-69, with 1:11 left to play.
The Trojans took care of business from the free-throw line in the final minute. A desperation 3 by Leonard banked cutting things to five once again. Minyon Moore put finishing touches on the win with a pair of free throws to close out the night.
Hollingshed got the night going for Colorado. She hit CU's opening shot, a 3-pointer, on her way to scoring the Buffs' first eight points. Caylao-Do got in on the action, helping the Buffs put together a 6-0 run and a 12-6 lead. The two Buffs combined for 18 of CU's 21 points, going 8-for-9 from the field.
Colorado's four-point lead disappeared in the second quarter. CU went from a 60 percent (9-15) start to a 3-for-15 second quarter. The Buffs started 1-of-6 and watched as the Trojans went on an 8-3 run to take the 25-24 lead. A Caylao-Do 3-pointer momentarily put Colorado back in the lead. The Trojans charged back with a 10-0 run, capped by Mazyck at the buzzer to go up 39-30 at the break.
TURNING POINT: The Trojans put together a 9-3 run in a span of 2:24 in the fourth quarter to go up by 14. Mazyck scored the first five points in the run and Mariya Moore capped it with an inside jumper to give USC the cushion it would need to hold on.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado will need to pick up a win in the regular season finale on Sunday to avoid its second 2-16 Pac-12 season in the last four seasons. The Buffs finished 2-16 in 2015-16.
KEY STATISTICS: Both teams finished with nine 3-pointers. The difference came in attempts. The Buffs put up 31 shots from behind the arc, while USC attempted just 17.
NOTEWORTHY: Robinson scored eight points in her return to the lineup…Leonard moved past Erin Scholz for seventh in scoring (1,623)…her eight assists add to her school record (657)…USC recorded opponent-highs in FTM (23) and FTA (37)…CU's bench outscored USC, 19-16.
QUOTEWORTHY: "I read somewhere that USC was the last-place 3-point shooting team [in the conference] and they shot the lights out tonight. Some contested some were uncontested." – CU's JR Payne
"I thought our effort was really pretty good. We've had some games where we look at the film and see pure effort things. I didn't see a lot of that tonight." – CU's JR Payne
"Being able to fight the way we did. We didn't give up and we kept coming at them. We didn't get the win but at least we had the effort to fight and get back into it." – CU's Kennedy Leonard
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up the regular season on Sunday at No. 25 UCLA (1 p.m. MT).
The Buffs hit the comeback trail after starting the night with a 21-point first quarter. Colorado cut the USC lead down to five in the fourth quarter but could not complete the comeback.
"I feel like we ran out of time," head coach JR Payne commented. "There were a lot of good things that we did tonight. When we go back and watch the film we are going to see that there were small areas where if we could just take care of the ball better, especially in the first half. We knew these guys [USC] live off creating turnovers and scoring in transition. That's how they beat us tonight."
Colorado continues to suffer from the injury bug. The Buffs got senior Alexis Robinson back in a limited role but lost freshman Peanut Tuitele for the weekend. CU has now played the last 14 games with at least one starter out of the lineup.
The Buffs came out and battled to the end, despite the continued hardships. Colorado finished with four players in double figures and outworked USC on the glass (45-35).
CU got off to a strong open, due in large to the offense of sophomore Mya Hollingshed. She had 12 points in the first quarter, helping the Buffs build a six-point lead. She finished the night with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Kennedy Leonard helped lead CU's comeback, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. Quinessa Caylao-Do contributed 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Emma Clarke closed the night with 11.
CU's inability to protect the ball early on proved costly. Southern California scored 19 points off 11 first-half turnovers. The Buffs corrected the issue at the half, giving the ball up just four times in the second half. The Trojans continued to capitalize though, finishing with 27 points off the mishaps.
Aliya Mazyck provided the spark for the Trojans. She was silent in the opening quarter, totaling just three points. She would finish with a career-high 30 points. Minyon Moore came on late, hitting 12-of-18 from the free-throw line to finish with 18 points. Ja'Tavia Tapley and Desiree Caldwell each finished with 10 points.
"We said all week that this kid [Mazyck] can go for 30 on any given night," Payne added. "She did tonight. We needed to be able to run her off the 3-point line a little more effectively."
The loss drops CU to 12-16 overall and 2-15 in the Pac-12. Southern California improves to 16-12 overall and 6-11 in the conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado and USC swapped early 3s to open the third quarter, keeping the nine-point halftime deficit intact. The Buffs kept within reach through the midway mark of the period. That's when Mazyck put the Trojans on her back. She hit a jumper with followed by a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to put USC up 14, 52-38. A pair of 3s from Robinson helped Colorado get back within eight, 58-50, to close the period.
Caylao-Do got CU to within six in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Mazyck helped the Trojans to a 9-2 run, pushing the lead back up to 13, 69-53, just past the midway mark. Colorado slowly chipped away, outscoring USC 13-6 over the next 3:45. A pair of Leonard free throws brought CU to within five, 74-69, with 1:11 left to play.
The Trojans took care of business from the free-throw line in the final minute. A desperation 3 by Leonard banked cutting things to five once again. Minyon Moore put finishing touches on the win with a pair of free throws to close out the night.
Hollingshed got the night going for Colorado. She hit CU's opening shot, a 3-pointer, on her way to scoring the Buffs' first eight points. Caylao-Do got in on the action, helping the Buffs put together a 6-0 run and a 12-6 lead. The two Buffs combined for 18 of CU's 21 points, going 8-for-9 from the field.
Colorado's four-point lead disappeared in the second quarter. CU went from a 60 percent (9-15) start to a 3-for-15 second quarter. The Buffs started 1-of-6 and watched as the Trojans went on an 8-3 run to take the 25-24 lead. A Caylao-Do 3-pointer momentarily put Colorado back in the lead. The Trojans charged back with a 10-0 run, capped by Mazyck at the buzzer to go up 39-30 at the break.
TURNING POINT: The Trojans put together a 9-3 run in a span of 2:24 in the fourth quarter to go up by 14. Mazyck scored the first five points in the run and Mariya Moore capped it with an inside jumper to give USC the cushion it would need to hold on.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado will need to pick up a win in the regular season finale on Sunday to avoid its second 2-16 Pac-12 season in the last four seasons. The Buffs finished 2-16 in 2015-16.
KEY STATISTICS: Both teams finished with nine 3-pointers. The difference came in attempts. The Buffs put up 31 shots from behind the arc, while USC attempted just 17.
NOTEWORTHY: Robinson scored eight points in her return to the lineup…Leonard moved past Erin Scholz for seventh in scoring (1,623)…her eight assists add to her school record (657)…USC recorded opponent-highs in FTM (23) and FTA (37)…CU's bench outscored USC, 19-16.
QUOTEWORTHY: "I read somewhere that USC was the last-place 3-point shooting team [in the conference] and they shot the lights out tonight. Some contested some were uncontested." – CU's JR Payne
"I thought our effort was really pretty good. We've had some games where we look at the film and see pure effort things. I didn't see a lot of that tonight." – CU's JR Payne
"Being able to fight the way we did. We didn't give up and we kept coming at them. We didn't get the win but at least we had the effort to fight and get back into it." – CU's Kennedy Leonard
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up the regular season on Sunday at No. 25 UCLA (1 p.m. MT).
Team Stats
CU
USC
FG%
.406
.433
3FG%
.290
.529
FT%
.842
.622
RB
45
35
TO
15
9
STL
2
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
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