Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Oregon State
Buffs Fall to No. 10 Beavers
January 30, 2020 | Women's Basketball
Oregon State hit 13 3-pointers on the night
BOULDER – Colorado's home-court advantage went by the wayside for the second consecutive night at the CU Events Center on Thursday. No. 10 Oregon State had no issues in the foreign gym, hitting 13 3-pointers on its way to a 79-52 win over the Buffaloes.
Colorado (14-6, 3-6 Pac-12) hit the first shot of the night to gain the 2-0 lead. That would be the only lead of the contest for the Buffs. The Beavers shot 52.8 percent (28-53) on the night and led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter. Colorado, on the other hand, shot a season-low 26.6 percent (17-64) from the field.
CU junior Mya Hollingshed led the Buffs with 16 points. Freshman Charlotte Whittaker was the only other Colorado scorer in double figures, closing with 10 points.
Oregon State was led by Aleah Goodman and her career-high 26 points off the bench. She did most of her damage from behind the 3-point line, shooting 7-for-9. Destiny Slocum added 11 points and seven assists for OSU.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado started slow out of the gate. The Buffs opened 1-for-6 from the field, allowing the Beavers to get an 8-2 jump in the early minutes of the first quarter. The Buffs struggled to get inside against the Beavers, getting denied in the paint three times in the first six minutes. The Beavers also used a hot start (4-4) from 3-point range to open up a 13-point lead (17-4). OSU finished 5-of-7 from deep in the period.
The Buffs got their offense going late in the first quarter. Peanut Tuitele scored four points in the final 2:40, helping CU close with a 6-0 run. The Buffs finished 4-of-7 after starting 2-for-12.
Hollingshed hit a 3 to open the second quarter for the Buffs and Whittaker followed with a layup for a quick 5-0 run, cutting the OSU lead to 19-17. The Beavers responded with back-to-back 3's from Goodman to extend their lead to 25-19. The Buffs got 3's from Whittaker and Hollingshed to keep Colorado within striking distance. Hollingshed's 3 cut the OSU lead down to 32-28, but the Buffs finished 0-of-5 shooting, while the Beavers closed the quarter 4-for-4 to take a 37-28 lead.
The Buffs shooting woes leaked into the third quarter. CU went 0-for-9 to open the quarter, allowing the Beavers to extend the lead to 53-32. Emma Clarke hit Colorado's first field goal of the frame at the 2:41 mark, ending the Buffs' slump. CU shot just 2-for-12 in the quarter, while OSU hit 9-for-15 and 4-of-5 from behind the arc. The Beavers lead hit 25 by the end of the quarter, slimming any chances of CU comeback.
OSU kept its foot on the gas in the fourth, scoring 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting (53.8 percent). Colorado, in need of an offensive surge, made just three field goals (18.8 percent) in the crunch.
KEY STATISTICS: CU's shooting slump between the second and third quarter hit 0-for-14. Oregon State outscored the Buffs 21-4 in just over 10 minutes of game time.
NOTES: CU turned the ball over just four times total, its fewest since having three against Villanova (Mar. 27, 2008)…OSU outrebounded CU 50-27 (-23), marking CU's largest rebounding deficit since -28 (52-24) at Seton Hall (Dec. 9, 2008)…Oregon State's bench totaled an opponent-high 44 points…OSU shot over 50.0 percent in each of the final three quarters...Clarke fouled out of the game with 8:22 to play in the fourth quarter.
NEXT UP: CU hosts another top-10 opponent in Oregon on Saturday. The Buffs and No. 3 Ducks will tip-off at 2 p.m. MT.
QUOTES
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall thoughts
"I'm obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game tonight. I thought we played hard and that's fantastic. That's kind of the hallmark of this team. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily answer all your problems. When you're playing a great team—and every team in the Pac-12 is really good— I thought we played hard physically. I think mentally as a whole, we just weren't dialed into our game plan as effectively as we needed to be. Truth is, they're a great ballclub and we just didn't get it done. I told the team we have to regroup and to have a short memory. We got to learn and get better. The key is being able to learn and really apply what we learn because we have a great team coming in Sunday [Oregon]. We have to get ready."
On what changed between the first and second meeting with Oregon State
"I don't know. I think in a short window there [ Corvallis] we had a great idea for our game plan and what we wanted to do. I thought we did that. I thought we were the aggressor there on both ends of the floor. We played loose [in the first meeting]. I thought we played pretty tight here tonight. I don't know why but I thought we were not anxious, but tight. We took care of the ball well, which is fantastic. We weren't rebounding quite as well as we typically do. We got crushed on the glass, which that never happens. I don't know. I don't think we executed the game plan as well as we needed to."
On Oregon State's 3-point shooting
"They are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country. I said the same thing about Utah and both teams shot 70 percent from three against us. We need to rewatch the film, but there are times we're not matched up, there are times we're not rotating correctly. If we don't rotate correctly, someone else has to help and then it's a shooter that's open. It kind of snowballs. If you have a plan, it's really best to try to stick with what you've been working on just because then everybody's on the same page. If we don't do that, it makes it really hard against a great shooting team because a team like that, that starts two seniors and a redshirt junior in the backcourt. They're very experienced, they will find the open player and they did, and they knocked down their shots."
Freshman Charlotte Whittaker
On what changed from a players perspective
"What changed was our mindset. We weren't locked in in certain areas. We needed to box out and be aggressive. I think we were aggressive on the boards but it's the little things that get you the ball. I think we weren't as locked in as we were in the previous game."
Junior Mya Hollingshed
On the team's feeling
"I wouldn't say we weren't angry but just disappointed at what the outcome was. We didn't execute our game plan as we should have. We have to be better about that."
