Colorado
4-4
Northern Arizona
3-5
Buffs Bury Lumberjacks, 90-66, Snap Three-Game Losing Skid
December 09, 2015 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – No doubt, Linda Lappe wanted to win and say so-long to a three-game losing streak. But equally important was seeing cohesiveness and energy develop among her Colorado Buffaloes.
Lappe saw all that and maybe a little more on Wednesday night at the Coors Events Center as CU overran Northern Arizona, 90-66, to open a three-game home stand that comes at the most opportune of times.
"I don't feel like we've had a lot of fun in the last couple of games," said Lappe, whose team evened its record at 4-4 after losing four of its previous five games and three in a row.
But the fun came in waves Wednesday, with the frequently high-fiving Buffs demonstrating what their coach said was "togetherness, connectedness and encouragement" for one another. They never trailed and led by as many as 28 points in the final 2:21 after the Lumberjacks (3-5) had pulled to within five points midway through the third quarter.
"Basketball is an amazing sport," Lappe continued, "everybody has a job and it's fun when everybody does that . . . I saw a lot of great things we can build on."
To reward several players who had shown up well in recent practices and see if her team could start more dynamically, Lappe shuffled her starting lineup. Leading scorers Jamee Swan (12.7 ppg) and Kennedy Leonard (12.6) sat briefly, while Makenzie Ellis (third start), Alexis Robinson (second), Brecca Thomas (third), Zoe Correal (sixth) and Haley Smith (seventh) opened against NAU.
"We hadn't had great starts in the past," Lappe said. "I thought we would have good firepower coming off the bench, but it was good to see how those five starters came out. Coaches are always trying to get the best out of their players . . . I want them to value what Colorado basketball is about – passion and effort – and I think our players did that."
Five Buffs reached double figures, topped by Smith's 18 points. Swan added 14, with Thomas and Lauren Huggins contributing 12 each, and Leonard scoring 10 – all in the second half. Smith also had a team-best seven rebounds.
Thomas' total was a career high, and along with her 12 points she tied her season high with five of the Buffs' 20 assists, committed only one turnover, and made one steal in her 26 minutes. It was her most productive stat line of the season.
"It was fun to score," Thomas said, "but it was also fun to watch my teammates score. It was fun to just be together out there."
Thomas said the Buffs entered the game "with the mindset of attacking, being aggressive and encouraging one another. It really helped everyone out on offense and defense."
The Buffs wound up shooting 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field and 58.3 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-12). Their bench outscored NAU's 43-21, and after committing 11 first-half turnovers had only four in the second half. Meanwhile, they turned the Lumberjacks' 19 errors into 23 points.
"We had some great energy plays," Smith said. "We had a lot of steals (13) and a lot of deflections on defense, which gave us a lot of transition offense."
NAU (3-5) was led by former Horizon High School standout Alyssa Rader with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Shay Young added 18 points. Lappe said the Buffs didn't recruit Rader, a 6-2 freshman, but in hindsight probably should have.
"That kid was tough," Lappe said. "She's big and physical . . . she wanted the ball and had a chip on her shoulder. If we weren't playing against her, I would have enjoyed watching her play. She was pretty amazing tonight."
Swan, who had made six of seven previous starts, entered the game with 6:57 left in the first quarter and the score tied at 5-5. Leonard, a starter in all seven previous games, came in just over 2 minutes later with Zoe Beard-Fails.
The Buffs were up 8-5 at the time, and Beard-Fails quickly made it 12-5 with consecutive short-range baskets. CU extended its lead to 31-16 – the largest of the half – and by halftime was up 38-26.
Thomas made the most of her increased first-half minutes, going 3-for-3 from the field (2-of-2 from beyond the arc) and making both of her free throw attempts. She also had four of the Buffs' 12 first-half assists.
Up by 12 to start the third quarter, the Buffs increased their lead to 14 and might have believed the Lumberjacks were about to cave. Not so. NAU outscored CU 11-3 and pulled to 46-41 with 4:46 left in the quarter.
That was the Buffs' wakeup call. They outscored the Lumberjacks 10-2 over the next 2:41, with Leonard getting six of those points as CU restored a double-digit lead – 56-43. The third quarter ended on a 3-pointer by Huggins – her second of the night – that pushed the Buffs in front 63-49.
Leonard opened the final quarter with another basket, giving CU its largest lead of the night to that point, 65-49. The Buffs pushed their advantage to 20 (73-53) with 6:58 to play and were up by 28 in the final 2:21.
"We talked about this game didn't so much as a win or a loss, but we just wanted a step in the right direction," Smith said, noting that step was taken through togetherness on offense and tighter defense. "This game was great for that . . . it was definitely good momentum for us going into this weekend."
The Buffs return to the CEC on Saturday afternoon (1:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) to face Missouri in the first game of a women's/men's doubleheader. The men play BYU at 6 p.m.
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