Friday, February 17
Boulder, Colo.
8:00 PM
Colorado
14-12,4-11P12
49
vs
54
Oregon State
24-3,13-2Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Oregon State
17
16
11
10
54
Colorado
11
14
10
14
49
Kennedy Leonard shoots for two of her 18 points on Friday night against Oregon State.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Come Back But Can’t Overtake No. 11 Beavers
February 17, 2017 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
OSU hangs on for 54-49 Pac-12 win in CU’s next-to-last home game
BOULDER – A spirited fourth-quarter comeback fell short on Friday night for the Colorado women's basketball team, enabling No. 11 Oregon State to escape the Coors Events Center with a 54-49 Pac-12 Conference win.
The Buffaloes (14-12 overall, 4-11 Pac-12) trimmed a 12-point second-quarter deficit to 48-47 but faltered down the stretch as the Beavers (24-3, 13-2) outscored them 6-2 in the final 1:17.
"Everyone that played, played hard and tough for us," CU coach JR Payne said. "We had some mishaps in execution but I thought for the most part we executed well and gave ourselves an opportunity to play with a team that's so much bigger than us. Someone said after the game that you have to remember that they're the number 11 team in the country, which doesn't make me feel better.
"But the reality is that they're ranked that high for a reason, they're a very good team. But we're a good team as well, we played tough, fearless and we were aggressive being everything we wanted to be tonight. We just fell a little bit short but I'm really proud of our effort."
The Buffs went 0-for-14 from beyond the arc, the first time since March 2, 2014 against USC (0-for-9) that they haven't made a 3-pointer. They also were out-rebounded 51-30, the largest margin of the season. The Beavers finished with a 48-31 rebounding edge in their 81-57 win last month in Corvallis, Ore.
CU had one player in double figures – Kennedy Leonard with 18. Haley Smith added eight points.
OSU was led by Sidney Wiese's 14 points, with Kolbie Orum contributing 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs started with a blaze, hitting three of their first six shots, capitalizing on four early OSU turnovers and taking a 7-0 lead. But that beginning would be CU's first-half high-point.
Down 7-0, OSU came out of a timeout and went on a 16-2 run with Wiese accounting for nine of the points with three treys. By the end of the quarter, the Beavers had pushed their lead to 17-11 and by halftime it was 33-28. OSU's largest first-half lead was 12 (33-21).
Wiese, who averages 14.4 points a game, nearly reached that in the first half, scoring 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Leonard led the Buffs with nine points but hit only two of her six second-quarter field goal attempts.
The half's biggest discrepancy was on the boards, where the Beavers held a 24-13 advantage that more than made up for their 11 turnovers (the Buffs committed only five).
After the hot start, CU went to the locker room shooting 34 percent (12-of-35) while OSU was at 48 percent (13-of-27).
The Buffs opened the third quarter with a free throw by Leonard, a conventional 3-point play by Alexis Robinson – her first points of the night – and a Leonard layup, closing to within 37-31 of the visitors.
They narrowed the gap to five twice in the quarter's final 4 minutes, but each time the Beavers answered with baskets by Orum. CU didn't score for the period's final 3:30 and a layup by Marie Gulich sent OSU up 44-35 entering the final quarter.
An upset was still within reach – but the Buffs' 34 percent shooting from the field had to improve. Layups would do that, and CU got a pair from Robinson and Makenzie Ellis to open the period and again cut the deficit to five (44-39) with 8:22 to play.
The Buffs weren't folding. Ariana Freeman's runner brought them to 48-45 with 3:58 remaining and she missed a free throw that would have meant a 2-point game.
But after an OSU turnover, Freeman made it a 1-point game, hitting a short jumper in the lane. CU trailed 48-47, and after another OSU scoreless possession had a chance to take the lead.
An Ellis 3-point try as the shot clock wound down missed and the Beavers controlled the rebound before calling a timeout with 1:34 left and 24 seconds on the shot clock.
This possession wasn't squandered. The ball was worked to the 6-5 Gulich for a short jumper, putting OSU up 50-47. After Leonard missed a 3-point try at the other end, Wiese was fouled with 32.7 seconds to play.
She hit both free throws, giving the Beavers a 52-47 lead. A Leonard layup after a timeout pulled the Buffs to within 52-49 at the 24.6 mark, and a Smith foul on the in-bounds pass put Gabriella Hanson on the line for two free throws. She made one.
Trailing 53-49, CU called timeout with 23.3 seconds left. Robinson missed a trey from the right wing, Mikayla Pivec made one of two free throws and OSU had its 54-49 win.
TURNING POINT: After closing to 48-47, CU got only two more points in the final 1:17, going 1-for-5 from the field.
CU STANDOUTS: Leonard hit eight of her 19 field goal attempts and was 2-of-3 from the free throw line for her game-high 18 points . . . . Smith's 8 points came on 4-of-9 shooting . . . . Makenzie Ellis had eight of CU's 30 rebounds, Smith added six boards and a career-best five steals.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs' 0-for-14 long-range shooting included four missed trey attempts in the final minute . . . . CU finished at 35 percent (23-of-66) from the field and went to the free throw line only six times, making three . . . . OSU hit five of its 20 3-point attempts, with Wiese going 4-of-9 from long distance . . . . The Buffs committed only eight turnovers to the Beavers' 18, converting those into 19 points . . . . CU outscored OSU 36-28 in the paint but the Beavers' bench accounted for 19 points to the Buffs' 12.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs continue to battle but also continue to have close-out problems against high-caliber opponents. The Beavers simply were more efficient down the stretch on Friday night, pulling away after their lead had been cut to 48-47.
NOTEWORTHY: Smith's previous career high in steals was four . . . . Friday night marked the sixth time this season CU has had fewer than 10 turnovers . . . . CU's rebounding margin of -21 (51-30) was the worst since Jan. 22, 2012 (-21, 30-51 at Arizona) . . . . The Buffaloes are now 6-7 all-time against Oregon State and 4-3 inside the Coors Events Center.
QUOTEWORTHY
Colorado Coach JR Payne
On How CU Performed
"I think our effort is so good that it allows us to be in a game with a team like that. Other than some mishaps on execution, our effort is phenomenal and for the most part that's what we want, demand and expect for our team. In that regard, I'm really proud. But I'm disappointed in our rebounding numbers, I know they're the best rebounding team in the Pac-12 and one of the better rebounding teams in the country. But I still think we're better than being beat by 20 on the boards and that's an area as a group we have to do better from top to bottom."
On Poor Shooting From 3-Point Range
"I wish we had made some, but I don't really worry about that. We shoot the ball well and our shooters are confident. They know that we're confident in them so I don't expect the poor shooting to happen again, but the rebounding we really need to fix in order to compete."
On Defending OSU's Sydney Wiese
"In that stretch where she hit those three's, when we talked about a lack of execution that was a lack of execution. We lost her by going off her to go to someone who wasn't as much as a shooter. We talked about that at halftime, and as a group a lot of people guarded her and the ones who guarded her did their job. Not that we would have held her scoreless from the beginning, I thought that our execution, when it came to Wiese, was better after she hit those three's."
NEXT UP: The Buffs close out their regular-season home schedule with a noon game on Sunday against Oregon (Pac-12 Networks, KVCU Radio 1190 am).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
The Buffaloes (14-12 overall, 4-11 Pac-12) trimmed a 12-point second-quarter deficit to 48-47 but faltered down the stretch as the Beavers (24-3, 13-2) outscored them 6-2 in the final 1:17.
"Everyone that played, played hard and tough for us," CU coach JR Payne said. "We had some mishaps in execution but I thought for the most part we executed well and gave ourselves an opportunity to play with a team that's so much bigger than us. Someone said after the game that you have to remember that they're the number 11 team in the country, which doesn't make me feel better.
"But the reality is that they're ranked that high for a reason, they're a very good team. But we're a good team as well, we played tough, fearless and we were aggressive being everything we wanted to be tonight. We just fell a little bit short but I'm really proud of our effort."
The Buffs went 0-for-14 from beyond the arc, the first time since March 2, 2014 against USC (0-for-9) that they haven't made a 3-pointer. They also were out-rebounded 51-30, the largest margin of the season. The Beavers finished with a 48-31 rebounding edge in their 81-57 win last month in Corvallis, Ore.
CU had one player in double figures – Kennedy Leonard with 18. Haley Smith added eight points.
OSU was led by Sidney Wiese's 14 points, with Kolbie Orum contributing 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs started with a blaze, hitting three of their first six shots, capitalizing on four early OSU turnovers and taking a 7-0 lead. But that beginning would be CU's first-half high-point.
Down 7-0, OSU came out of a timeout and went on a 16-2 run with Wiese accounting for nine of the points with three treys. By the end of the quarter, the Beavers had pushed their lead to 17-11 and by halftime it was 33-28. OSU's largest first-half lead was 12 (33-21).
Wiese, who averages 14.4 points a game, nearly reached that in the first half, scoring 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Leonard led the Buffs with nine points but hit only two of her six second-quarter field goal attempts.
The half's biggest discrepancy was on the boards, where the Beavers held a 24-13 advantage that more than made up for their 11 turnovers (the Buffs committed only five).
After the hot start, CU went to the locker room shooting 34 percent (12-of-35) while OSU was at 48 percent (13-of-27).
The Buffs opened the third quarter with a free throw by Leonard, a conventional 3-point play by Alexis Robinson – her first points of the night – and a Leonard layup, closing to within 37-31 of the visitors.
They narrowed the gap to five twice in the quarter's final 4 minutes, but each time the Beavers answered with baskets by Orum. CU didn't score for the period's final 3:30 and a layup by Marie Gulich sent OSU up 44-35 entering the final quarter.
An upset was still within reach – but the Buffs' 34 percent shooting from the field had to improve. Layups would do that, and CU got a pair from Robinson and Makenzie Ellis to open the period and again cut the deficit to five (44-39) with 8:22 to play.
The Buffs weren't folding. Ariana Freeman's runner brought them to 48-45 with 3:58 remaining and she missed a free throw that would have meant a 2-point game.
But after an OSU turnover, Freeman made it a 1-point game, hitting a short jumper in the lane. CU trailed 48-47, and after another OSU scoreless possession had a chance to take the lead.
An Ellis 3-point try as the shot clock wound down missed and the Beavers controlled the rebound before calling a timeout with 1:34 left and 24 seconds on the shot clock.
This possession wasn't squandered. The ball was worked to the 6-5 Gulich for a short jumper, putting OSU up 50-47. After Leonard missed a 3-point try at the other end, Wiese was fouled with 32.7 seconds to play.
She hit both free throws, giving the Beavers a 52-47 lead. A Leonard layup after a timeout pulled the Buffs to within 52-49 at the 24.6 mark, and a Smith foul on the in-bounds pass put Gabriella Hanson on the line for two free throws. She made one.
Trailing 53-49, CU called timeout with 23.3 seconds left. Robinson missed a trey from the right wing, Mikayla Pivec made one of two free throws and OSU had its 54-49 win.
TURNING POINT: After closing to 48-47, CU got only two more points in the final 1:17, going 1-for-5 from the field.
CU STANDOUTS: Leonard hit eight of her 19 field goal attempts and was 2-of-3 from the free throw line for her game-high 18 points . . . . Smith's 8 points came on 4-of-9 shooting . . . . Makenzie Ellis had eight of CU's 30 rebounds, Smith added six boards and a career-best five steals.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs' 0-for-14 long-range shooting included four missed trey attempts in the final minute . . . . CU finished at 35 percent (23-of-66) from the field and went to the free throw line only six times, making three . . . . OSU hit five of its 20 3-point attempts, with Wiese going 4-of-9 from long distance . . . . The Buffs committed only eight turnovers to the Beavers' 18, converting those into 19 points . . . . CU outscored OSU 36-28 in the paint but the Beavers' bench accounted for 19 points to the Buffs' 12.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs continue to battle but also continue to have close-out problems against high-caliber opponents. The Beavers simply were more efficient down the stretch on Friday night, pulling away after their lead had been cut to 48-47.
NOTEWORTHY: Smith's previous career high in steals was four . . . . Friday night marked the sixth time this season CU has had fewer than 10 turnovers . . . . CU's rebounding margin of -21 (51-30) was the worst since Jan. 22, 2012 (-21, 30-51 at Arizona) . . . . The Buffaloes are now 6-7 all-time against Oregon State and 4-3 inside the Coors Events Center.
QUOTEWORTHY
Colorado Coach JR Payne
On How CU Performed
"I think our effort is so good that it allows us to be in a game with a team like that. Other than some mishaps on execution, our effort is phenomenal and for the most part that's what we want, demand and expect for our team. In that regard, I'm really proud. But I'm disappointed in our rebounding numbers, I know they're the best rebounding team in the Pac-12 and one of the better rebounding teams in the country. But I still think we're better than being beat by 20 on the boards and that's an area as a group we have to do better from top to bottom."
On Poor Shooting From 3-Point Range
"I wish we had made some, but I don't really worry about that. We shoot the ball well and our shooters are confident. They know that we're confident in them so I don't expect the poor shooting to happen again, but the rebounding we really need to fix in order to compete."
On Defending OSU's Sydney Wiese
"In that stretch where she hit those three's, when we talked about a lack of execution that was a lack of execution. We lost her by going off her to go to someone who wasn't as much as a shooter. We talked about that at halftime, and as a group a lot of people guarded her and the ones who guarded her did their job. Not that we would have held her scoreless from the beginning, I thought that our execution, when it came to Wiese, was better after she hit those three's."
NEXT UP: The Buffs close out their regular-season home schedule with a noon game on Sunday against Oregon (Pac-12 Networks, KVCU Radio 1190 am).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Team Stats
OSU
COLO
FG%
.389
.348
3FG%
.250
.000
FT%
.438
.500
RB
51
30
TO
18
8
STL
3
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
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