Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Washington State
Buffs Look to Bounce Back on the Road
February 06, 2020 | Women's Basketball
CU heads to WSU and UW
PULLMAN, Wash. — The Colorado women's basketball team heads back on the road this week, looking to get back into the win column after a difficult homestand. The Buffaloes will open play on Friday at Washington State (8 p.m. MT) and then head over to Washington on Sunday (1 p.m. MT).
Colorado (14-7, 3-7 Pac-12) will need to start anew, leaving losses to No. 10 Oregon State and No. 3 Oregon in the past. CU averaged just 52.5 points in the two games and shot 29.8 percent on the weekend. The Beavers and the Ducks bullied their way through the weekend, but the Buffs hurt themselves in multiple instances.
"I know I've said this before, but we turned on the learning lessons from the game [Oregon] and so many of them [mistakes] are just totally in our control," head coach JR Payne said. "It was our communication, three people knowing what we're doing two people not. It's things like that that we need to continue to get better, but so far so good this week."
The Buffs have had one of the more difficult stretches in the nation. Six of CU's seven losses in the Pac-12 have come against opponents with a top-15 RPI. Colorado has had been able to bounce back from adversity this season, only having one three-game losing streak this season. The third loss in the streak was CU's overtime loss at No. 6 Stanford, but the team responded with a 62-50 win that same weekend at California.
"We are refocusing on our jobs," Payne added. "I think we turn on the film and see possessions where we say, 'what you supposed to be doing?' and it's not what we're supposed to be doing. We all have a job to do. We can all max out to our best ability, then we are capable of great things. If I'm not doing my job and you're sort of doing your job and you're sometimes doing yours, then you get a very inconsistent ballclub which is what I think we were last weekend."
Payne changed up the starting lineup last weekend, moving redshirt sophomore Aubrey Knight back into the rotation. Mya Hollingshed and Emma Clarke helped lead CU's offensive efforts, averaging 13.5 and 11.5 points per game, respectively. CU's bench production was limited last weekend, totaling just 24 combined points.
Part of the drop in scoring can be attributed to the quality of opponents in the Pac-12. Another part of it can be attributed to just not getting shots to fall. CU has been able to get open looks in each of the last four games but has only shot 34.0 percent, including a season-low 26.6 percent (17-64) against Oregon State.
"For the most part, we give our players the ultimate green light," Payne noted. "There aren't a lot of times that people pass up good looks. What I saw last weekend was we were just missing good looks. I don't know how many layups we missed in the first quarter against Oregon. It was probably six or eight contested layups. We must knock down the open 3 as well. That's confidence. That's time in the gym and you can see how our team is in here before practice wanting to get up shots and things like that so really it's confidence and reps I think."
To put a stop to CU's current skid, the Buffs will have to do something they have only done once against the Cougars. That's win in Pullman. Colorado's lone win in Beasley Coliseum dates to Jan. 7, 2012 (57-56). Colorado is just 1-7 on the road against WSU and 7-10 overall.
Borislava Hrstova leads the Cougars with her 18.8 points per game this season. She is Washington State's top all-time scorer between both the men's and women's teams, totaling 2,113 career points. Despite her success. the Cougars are also just 3-7 in the Pac-12. WSU has lost five of its last six, breaking a four-game losing streak with a 92-66 win over Cal.
The Buffs close the weekend with Washington on Sunday. The Huskies opened the conference season 2-0 but have since lost eight straight games. Washington hosts Utah on Friday.
All of Colorado's Pac-12 games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network this season. You can also catch the game on the Colorado Radio Network with the TuneIn app.
