Colorado
7-5, 0-1
Stanford
9-4, 1-0
No. 15 Stanford Holds Off Colorado 62-55
January 03, 2015 | Women's Basketball
STANFORD, Calif. – Nothing comes easy once conference play begins and Colorado had the envious task of opening with the 15th ranked team in the country on their home court, a place the Buffaloes have never won.
The final result still favored the home team, but Colorado proved to be a worthy early opponent for the defending league champions and the Buffaloes came away with plenty of reasons to feel good about moving forward.
Colorado completely erased an 11-point second half deficit, but a late 8-0 run gave Stanford enough of a cushion to hold on for a 62-55 Saturday night at Maples Pavilion in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.
"We're disappointed, I felt like we had our chances," head coach Linda Lappe said. "It came down to a two minute spurt there in the second half when we took the lead and couldn't sustain it."
Jamee Swan had her second consecutive double-double leading the Buffaloes with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Colorado (7-5, 0-1) had several bright moments defensively. The Buffaloes forced 16 turnovers, several coming on shot clock violations after 30 seconds of intense defense. Colorado played even – and at times better than the Cardinal - on the boards for most of the game, although Stanford would end up with a slight overall edge (37-35).
But one thing the Buffaloes couldn't stop was the backcourt combination of Amber Orrange and Lili Thompson. The Cardinal duo combined for 43 of Stanford's 62 points, hitting both the outside shot and getting into the paint as well.
Orrange had a game-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. Thompson had 17 points making 7-of-12.
Colorado set the tone defensively early as Stanford's first two possessions ended in a blocked shot and a shot clock violation as the Buffaloes held an early 5-2 lead. Thompson got going for the Cardinal (9-4, 1-0) who scored seven straight for a four point advantage.
Swan scored four in a row for the Buffaloes who tied the game at 11-11, but she picked up her second foul less than 10 minutes in. Zoe Beard-Fails, making her third start of the season also got into foul trouble, forcing the Buffaloes deep into their frontcourt bench.
San Francisco native Zoe Correal, who had played just 10 minutes in the previous four games, put in some key minutes. She scored all of her career-best six points, during a seven minute stretch in the first half.
Most importantly, Correal's minutes came at a time that halted Stanford's biggest run. Orrange had scored five points during a 9-0 run that gave the Cardinal a 30-19 lead.
Stanford was red hot early, but cooled off at the right time. The Cardinal scored just two points in the final 4:17 and none after Thompson scored from 15-feet out with 3:31 left as Stanford's lead was down to 32-25 at the break.
Shortly after Briana Roberson put Stanford back into a double-digit lead at 42-31 with a 3-pointer, the Buffaloes turned it up defensively.
Colorado forced seven Stanford turnovers held the Cardinal scoreless over a 4:44 stretch that put the Buffaloes back in the lead. Haley Smith and Swan scored on back-to-back layups to start the run. Lexy Kresl would then score consecutive baskets to bring CU to within two at 42-40.
"We really came together and had a lot of energy, genuinely excited for each other and having fun," Kresl said. "We really want to get back to being considered a defensive team; we want to be a top-three defense in this conference."
The comeback was complete when freshman Brecca Thomas hit CU's only 3-pointer of the game, with 10:14 left giving the Buffaloes a 43-42 lead.
But Stanford's Bonnie Samuelson responded immediately with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Cardinal back on top. Samuelson's 3-pointer, her only make on six tries, sparked an 8-0 run as the Cardinal retook the lead 50-43.
"Thompson and Orrange really had their way tonight," Lappe said. "When we made our run we did a nice job of slowing them down. But Orrange took the team on her shoulders and showed her leadership after we took the lead."
Swan pulled Colorado back to four at 51-47, but the Buffaloes missed their next three shots and Stanford reclaimed a double-digit lead at 57-47.
Colorado clamped down for one final time. Leading scorer Jen Reese who had been silent for most of the game scored six of her 10 points in the final minutes with a long jumper bringing the Buffaloes to within four at 57-53 with just over a minute remaining.
But the Buffaloes couldn't draw any closer as Orrange scored her 10th bucket of the game and also hit a free throw in the final seconds.
Colorado will complete its Bay Area swing by facing California on Monday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. MST, at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
