Sunday, February 12
Berkeley, Calif.
4:00 PM
Colorado
14-11, 4-10Pac12
64
at
59
California
17-9, 5-9Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
24
11
12
17
64
California
16
12
16
15
59
Zoe Correal had her first Pac-12 double-double Sunday in CU's 64-59 win.
Photo by: Asher Vandevort
CU Flips The Script, Holds On In Fourth Quarter To Beat Cal
February 12, 2017 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
Buffs’ 64-59 win breaks 16-game Pac-12 road losing streak dating to 2015
BERKELEY, Calif. – Coming so close so often apparently got old for the Colorado women's basketball team, and on Sunday afternoon the Buffaloes shook that stigma and came away a winner.
Ahead from buzzer to buzzer but having to dig in valiantly to hold a fourth-quarter lead, CU dispatched California 64-59 to snap a 16-game Pac-12 Conference road losing streak that stretched to the 2015 season.
The win also was the Buffs' first in the regular season over a ranked Pac-12 opponent (Cal was No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll) since they joined the conference for the 2011-12 season.
CU's list of heroines was long: Bay Area native Zoe Correal recorded her first double-double (16 points, 15 rebounds) in Pac-12 play, Alexis Robinson went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc (15 points) with all of her triples being of the clutch variety before Kennedy Leonard hit the biggest trey of the game in the final 38 seconds, and Monica Burich made the biggest of the Buffs' nine steals in the last 12.8 seconds.
"I'm proud of us most games of our effort, but just so happy that we finally were able to finish one off," CU coach JR Payne said. "Not for us, for the coaches, but for the players. Just to come that close so many times and to not finish it, it's heartbreaking sometimes.
"The really neat thing about this game is so many people did so many great things. Correal's numbers obviously were just amazing. Lexi hit big 3's with foul trouble, and Kennedy's three and free throws down the stretch. [It was] just a tremendous effort and discipline down the stretch."
Leonard, CU's leading scorer at 18.1 points a game, finished at half her average but scored the Buffs' final five points after Cal had pulled to within 59-57. Leonard also contributed 7 of CU's 18 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds.
Under Payne, the Buffs (14-11 overall, 4-10 Pac-12) have doubled their number of conference wins from last season.
Cal (17-9, 5-9) was led by Kristine Anigwe (15 points), Asha Thomas (14) and Mikayla Cowling (12). Anigwe scored 29 in the Bears' 65-53 win in Boulder last month.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs' start was everything they could have hoped for: Pushing the tempo and sharing the ball, they scored 24 points – a team season-high in conference play.
At the 4:05 mark of the quarter, they were 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, building a 17-4 lead. The treys came from Makenzie Ellis, Robinson and Haley Smith.
And by period's end, with CU up 24-16, it had one more assist (8) than in four quarters in Friday's loss at Stanford. In that game, Leonard was the only Buffs player with an assist.
By halftime CU had 11 assists on 15 made baskets, but the Buffs' shooting had cooled considerably. They scored just 11 second-quarter points, finishing the half 15-of-41 from the field and 5-of-16 from long range.
Nonetheless, the Buffs led 35-28, with Correal's eight points and six rebounds both team highs. CU also converted nine Cal turnovers into 13 points while committing just three miscues.
The Buffs' 7-point halftime lead Sunday matched their advantage in last month's meeting in Boulder. In that game, the Bears opened the third quarter with a 19-1 run en route to a 65-53 win.
Anigwe led that surge and scored 25 second-half points after getting just four in the opening two quarters. In Sunday's rematch, she totaled 11 first-half points but didn't have a rebound.
No one thought that stat would hold up, everyone thought Anigwe's point total would go up too. Both figures began climbing immediately in the third quarter.
She opened the period with the first two of her five total rebounds and scored a field goal and one of two free throws, helping Cal climb back to within 41-36.
But the Buffs weren't in a roll-over mood, opening a nine-point (45-36) advantage when Leonard sank two free throws with 2:40 left in the quarter.
They couldn't hold it, first due to a 5-0 spurt by Thomas, who made a layup then drained the Bears' first trey of the game – they were 0-for-9 to that point – to pull Cal to 45-41.
Robinson hit a jumper at the shot clock buzzer to increase CU's lead to 47-41, but Cowling's trey at the quarter buzzer pulled Cal to within 47-44 entering the final period.
The Buffs found themselves in the same position as in Friday night's loss at Stanford – having played three mostly solid quarters and holding the lead entering the last one.
Could CU flip the script? The fourth quarter started that way. Behind six inside points by Correal and two treys by Robinson, the Buffs built a nine-point lead (59-50) with 4:27 to play.
It didn't last, but CU did. On a 7-0 run, Cal crept to within 59-57 before Leonard's monster 3-pointer with 38 seconds left. Burich followed with her steal with 12.8 seconds remaining, leading to Leonard's pair of win-clinching free throws with 9.4 seconds showing.
At long last, CU had a four-quarter, 40-minute game – and something huge to show for it.
TURNING POINT: With a 7-0 run having brought Cal back to within two points of CU in the final minute, Leonard delivered a long trey as the shot clock ticked toward zero. Her triple put the Buffs ahead 62-57, and just under 30 seconds later she added a pair of free throws to seal the win.
CU STANDOUTS: Correal's career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (15) also accounted for her first double-double in Pac-12 play . . . . Leonard's seven assists gave her 14 for the Bay Area trip . . . . Robinson had six assists to go with her 15 points; she committed only one turnover in 22 minutes . . . . Haley Smith, one of two Buffs to play 40 minutes (Leonard was the other), continued her solid play, contributing 9 points and 7 rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS:
CU converted Cal's 19 turnovers into 21 points while committing just 10 turnovers that cost the Buffs 5 points . . . . The Buffs more than doubled their assist total (18-7) from Friday night's loss at Stanford . . . . Each team scored 30 points in the paint . . . . CU was 6-of-6 from the foul line, Cal 10-of-15 . . . . Cal outshot CU from the field, 41 percent-35 percent, but the Buffs held a 31 percent-21 percent in 3-point shooting.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs are learning to compete for a full 40 minutes and how to hold on down the stretch. One fundamental that was obvious Sunday was their paying attention to boxing out. Cal finished with a 41-37 board edge but the Bears' leading rebounder – Anigwe – was limited to only five. CU appears to be believing in Payne's philosophy that the little things can make a big difference.
NOTEWORTHY: Sunday's win snaps a 16-game road losing streak in Pac-12 regular season games for the Buffs with their previous win coming Feb. 27, 2015, at Arizona . . . . It was the Buffs' first regular-season win over a ranked Pac-12 opponent since joining the conference in 2011-12 ... Correal had her third career double-double (all this season) and first against a Pac-12 opponent .... Her 16 points and 15 rebounds were both career highs (both previous highs were 11) .... Correal's 15 rebounds were the most since Jamee Swan had 15 on Dec. 30, 2014 against Long Beach State ... CU's 24 points in the first quarter were the most it has scored in the first quarter in Pac-12 play this season.
QUOTEWORTHY:
Colorado Coach JR Payne
On the difference between this game and previous ones where CU lost a late lead
"I think the biggest difference was in the second half we continued with the game plan. Sometimes we get hesitant and things start to go downhill a little bit and I thought we were aggressive. And our execution at the end of the game was really good. And rebounding. We didn't win the rebounding [battle], but we came pretty darned close."
On the play of Zoe Correal in her hometown
"It's great to play like that anywhere, but to play in front of your high school coaches and family, is just such an amazing experience for her. And she's such a great person, teammate, so it's really neat to see her have that opportunity and make that happen."
On what was working so well for Correal
"In the Stanford game, we talked about her rebounding had to be better. She has to box that kid out. And we kind of challenged her from a rebounding standpoint to keep Anigwe off the glass. If you do anything, keep her off the glass. I thought that was probably her focus going into the game and she did that. She pushed back and had her hands high and did her job from a rebounding standpoint. I think that was her motivation and she did it."
On the great start to the game for CU
"Forced turnovers always lead to good offense for us. I thought we just had a very aggressive mindset. We were trying to get into the paint, we were trying to score in transition, hit a couple of perimeter shots. But the biggest thing was our aggressive mindset."
Zoe Correal, junior
On playing so well after a rough game on Friday
"I just really had to fight hard for my team. I had a rough night [on Friday] and wanted to come out strong."
On scoring after receiving some tough weak-side passes on the low block
"I had to be confident in it, knowing I was going to catch it and knowing I was going to lay it up."
On out-rebounding Kristine Anigwe
"I just had to do the little things, like focus and make sure I got a body on somebody every time, actively pursuing the rebound."
On keeping confidence down the stretch
"We just had to be reminded that we do this every day, we come to practice every day. We've been through long stretches and we're fully capable of handling long stretches and basketball is essentially a game of runs. They're going to go on runs, we're going to go on runs, we've just got to be patient and go back to our next run."
NEXT UP: The Buffs return to the Coors Events Center to face No. 9 Oregon State on Thursday night (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks, KVCU Radio 1190 am).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Ahead from buzzer to buzzer but having to dig in valiantly to hold a fourth-quarter lead, CU dispatched California 64-59 to snap a 16-game Pac-12 Conference road losing streak that stretched to the 2015 season.
The win also was the Buffs' first in the regular season over a ranked Pac-12 opponent (Cal was No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll) since they joined the conference for the 2011-12 season.
CU's list of heroines was long: Bay Area native Zoe Correal recorded her first double-double (16 points, 15 rebounds) in Pac-12 play, Alexis Robinson went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc (15 points) with all of her triples being of the clutch variety before Kennedy Leonard hit the biggest trey of the game in the final 38 seconds, and Monica Burich made the biggest of the Buffs' nine steals in the last 12.8 seconds.
"I'm proud of us most games of our effort, but just so happy that we finally were able to finish one off," CU coach JR Payne said. "Not for us, for the coaches, but for the players. Just to come that close so many times and to not finish it, it's heartbreaking sometimes.
"The really neat thing about this game is so many people did so many great things. Correal's numbers obviously were just amazing. Lexi hit big 3's with foul trouble, and Kennedy's three and free throws down the stretch. [It was] just a tremendous effort and discipline down the stretch."
Leonard, CU's leading scorer at 18.1 points a game, finished at half her average but scored the Buffs' final five points after Cal had pulled to within 59-57. Leonard also contributed 7 of CU's 18 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds.
Under Payne, the Buffs (14-11 overall, 4-10 Pac-12) have doubled their number of conference wins from last season.
Cal (17-9, 5-9) was led by Kristine Anigwe (15 points), Asha Thomas (14) and Mikayla Cowling (12). Anigwe scored 29 in the Bears' 65-53 win in Boulder last month.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs' start was everything they could have hoped for: Pushing the tempo and sharing the ball, they scored 24 points – a team season-high in conference play.
At the 4:05 mark of the quarter, they were 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, building a 17-4 lead. The treys came from Makenzie Ellis, Robinson and Haley Smith.
And by period's end, with CU up 24-16, it had one more assist (8) than in four quarters in Friday's loss at Stanford. In that game, Leonard was the only Buffs player with an assist.
By halftime CU had 11 assists on 15 made baskets, but the Buffs' shooting had cooled considerably. They scored just 11 second-quarter points, finishing the half 15-of-41 from the field and 5-of-16 from long range.
Nonetheless, the Buffs led 35-28, with Correal's eight points and six rebounds both team highs. CU also converted nine Cal turnovers into 13 points while committing just three miscues.
The Buffs' 7-point halftime lead Sunday matched their advantage in last month's meeting in Boulder. In that game, the Bears opened the third quarter with a 19-1 run en route to a 65-53 win.
Anigwe led that surge and scored 25 second-half points after getting just four in the opening two quarters. In Sunday's rematch, she totaled 11 first-half points but didn't have a rebound.
No one thought that stat would hold up, everyone thought Anigwe's point total would go up too. Both figures began climbing immediately in the third quarter.
She opened the period with the first two of her five total rebounds and scored a field goal and one of two free throws, helping Cal climb back to within 41-36.
But the Buffs weren't in a roll-over mood, opening a nine-point (45-36) advantage when Leonard sank two free throws with 2:40 left in the quarter.
They couldn't hold it, first due to a 5-0 spurt by Thomas, who made a layup then drained the Bears' first trey of the game – they were 0-for-9 to that point – to pull Cal to 45-41.
Robinson hit a jumper at the shot clock buzzer to increase CU's lead to 47-41, but Cowling's trey at the quarter buzzer pulled Cal to within 47-44 entering the final period.
The Buffs found themselves in the same position as in Friday night's loss at Stanford – having played three mostly solid quarters and holding the lead entering the last one.
Could CU flip the script? The fourth quarter started that way. Behind six inside points by Correal and two treys by Robinson, the Buffs built a nine-point lead (59-50) with 4:27 to play.
It didn't last, but CU did. On a 7-0 run, Cal crept to within 59-57 before Leonard's monster 3-pointer with 38 seconds left. Burich followed with her steal with 12.8 seconds remaining, leading to Leonard's pair of win-clinching free throws with 9.4 seconds showing.
At long last, CU had a four-quarter, 40-minute game – and something huge to show for it.
TURNING POINT: With a 7-0 run having brought Cal back to within two points of CU in the final minute, Leonard delivered a long trey as the shot clock ticked toward zero. Her triple put the Buffs ahead 62-57, and just under 30 seconds later she added a pair of free throws to seal the win.
CU STANDOUTS: Correal's career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (15) also accounted for her first double-double in Pac-12 play . . . . Leonard's seven assists gave her 14 for the Bay Area trip . . . . Robinson had six assists to go with her 15 points; she committed only one turnover in 22 minutes . . . . Haley Smith, one of two Buffs to play 40 minutes (Leonard was the other), continued her solid play, contributing 9 points and 7 rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS:
CU converted Cal's 19 turnovers into 21 points while committing just 10 turnovers that cost the Buffs 5 points . . . . The Buffs more than doubled their assist total (18-7) from Friday night's loss at Stanford . . . . Each team scored 30 points in the paint . . . . CU was 6-of-6 from the foul line, Cal 10-of-15 . . . . Cal outshot CU from the field, 41 percent-35 percent, but the Buffs held a 31 percent-21 percent in 3-point shooting.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs are learning to compete for a full 40 minutes and how to hold on down the stretch. One fundamental that was obvious Sunday was their paying attention to boxing out. Cal finished with a 41-37 board edge but the Bears' leading rebounder – Anigwe – was limited to only five. CU appears to be believing in Payne's philosophy that the little things can make a big difference.
NOTEWORTHY: Sunday's win snaps a 16-game road losing streak in Pac-12 regular season games for the Buffs with their previous win coming Feb. 27, 2015, at Arizona . . . . It was the Buffs' first regular-season win over a ranked Pac-12 opponent since joining the conference in 2011-12 ... Correal had her third career double-double (all this season) and first against a Pac-12 opponent .... Her 16 points and 15 rebounds were both career highs (both previous highs were 11) .... Correal's 15 rebounds were the most since Jamee Swan had 15 on Dec. 30, 2014 against Long Beach State ... CU's 24 points in the first quarter were the most it has scored in the first quarter in Pac-12 play this season.
QUOTEWORTHY:
Colorado Coach JR Payne
On the difference between this game and previous ones where CU lost a late lead
"I think the biggest difference was in the second half we continued with the game plan. Sometimes we get hesitant and things start to go downhill a little bit and I thought we were aggressive. And our execution at the end of the game was really good. And rebounding. We didn't win the rebounding [battle], but we came pretty darned close."
On the play of Zoe Correal in her hometown
"It's great to play like that anywhere, but to play in front of your high school coaches and family, is just such an amazing experience for her. And she's such a great person, teammate, so it's really neat to see her have that opportunity and make that happen."
On what was working so well for Correal
"In the Stanford game, we talked about her rebounding had to be better. She has to box that kid out. And we kind of challenged her from a rebounding standpoint to keep Anigwe off the glass. If you do anything, keep her off the glass. I thought that was probably her focus going into the game and she did that. She pushed back and had her hands high and did her job from a rebounding standpoint. I think that was her motivation and she did it."
On the great start to the game for CU
"Forced turnovers always lead to good offense for us. I thought we just had a very aggressive mindset. We were trying to get into the paint, we were trying to score in transition, hit a couple of perimeter shots. But the biggest thing was our aggressive mindset."
Zoe Correal, junior
On playing so well after a rough game on Friday
"I just really had to fight hard for my team. I had a rough night [on Friday] and wanted to come out strong."
On scoring after receiving some tough weak-side passes on the low block
"I had to be confident in it, knowing I was going to catch it and knowing I was going to lay it up."
On out-rebounding Kristine Anigwe
"I just had to do the little things, like focus and make sure I got a body on somebody every time, actively pursuing the rebound."
On keeping confidence down the stretch
"We just had to be reminded that we do this every day, we come to practice every day. We've been through long stretches and we're fully capable of handling long stretches and basketball is essentially a game of runs. They're going to go on runs, we're going to go on runs, we've just got to be patient and go back to our next run."
NEXT UP: The Buffs return to the Coors Events Center to face No. 9 Oregon State on Thursday night (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks, KVCU Radio 1190 am).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Team Stats
COLO
CAL
FG%
.352
.411
3FG%
.308
.214
FT%
1.000
.667
RB
37
41
TO
10
19
STL
9
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballColorado Women's Basketball: Cooking with the Buffs
Friday, July 18
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT second Round Press Conference
Sunday, March 23
Women's Basketball: Colorado vs Gonzaga Highlights | Mar 23, 2025
Sunday, March 23
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT First Round Press Conference
Friday, March 21