Sunday, December 9
Boulder, Colo.
1:00 PM
Colorado
8-1
59
vs
43
Navy
4-4
1
2
3
4
F
Navy
6
8
13
16
43
Colorado
17
18
13
11
59
Photo by: Cliff Grassmick
Buffs Continue Winning Ways
December 09, 2018 | Women's Basketball
CU improves to 8-1
BOULDER–The University of Colorado women's basketball team led from start to finish, defeating the United States Naval Academy 59-43 on Sunday. CU's strong start held up for the full 40 minutes, helping the team improve to 8-1 on the season.
The Buffaloes played for quality over quantity in the first half, getting out to a 7-for-12 start from the floor in the opening quarter. Junior Quinessa Caylao-Do opened the afternoon with five points on 2-of-2 shooting. Freshman Peanut Tuitele was also perfect (2-2) in the quarter, registering four points.
The Midshipmen were less selective, shooting 3-for-18 in the first 10 minutes. Navy used eight offensive rebounds in the quarter to gain second and third chances. The Colorado defense did a solid job of limiting points off of the extra possessions. The Mids totaled just two points off the extra chances.
Caylao-Do added five more points in the second quarter, to lead all scorers with 10 at the break. CU's defense continued to stifle the Midshipmen, holding them to 3-for-13 in the quarter. The Buffs lead grew to 21 points in the quarter. Freshman Cameron Swartz hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to send Colorado into the half with a 35-14 lead.
The Buffaloes pushed their lead to 25, 39-14, at the start of the third quarter. Navy countered, slowing the pace of the game down from that point. Both teams totaled 13 points in the quarter, keeping CU's lead at 13, 48-27.
The Mids outscored CU 16-11 in the final quarter. Navy cut the Buffs' lead down to 10, 51-41, with 4:10 left to play. Colorado's defense responded, shutting down the visitor's offense. Navy finished 0-for-5 from the field, scoring just two points off of free throws in the final four minutes.
Stat Leaders: Tuitele continued to impress for the Buffs. She hit double figures for the fourth consecutive contest, totaling a game-high 15 points. Tuitele added seven rebounds to her efforts. Mya Hollingshed secured her second career double-double, ending the afternoon with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Caylao-Do's scoring slowed in the second half as she finished with 11 points. Senior Kennedy Leonard closed with nine points and handed out nine assists, giving her 601 for her career.
Kolbi Green led the Midshipmen with 10 points off the bench.
How it Happened: The Buffs led from start to finish for the first time this season. CU's first-half defense held Navy to just 14 points, the fewest of any opponent this season. Colorado limited the Mids to just six field goals and a meager 19.4 shooting percentage in the first half.
Colorado's offense fed off its defense in the first 20 minutes. The Buffaloes built a comfortable cushion from the start. CU opened the game 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from the field. The strong start was enough to keep the lead intact for all 40 minutes.
Key Statistic: Navy held CU off the glass, out-rebounding the Buffs 42-38. It is the second time Colorado has been outrebounded this season (at Miami). Colorado outscored Navy in second-chance points, 11-6, despite losing the rebounding battle. The Buffs entered the afternoon fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounds per game (42.4).
Notes: CU improves to 6-0 at home this season…Colorado shot 80.0 percent (4-5) from 3 in the first half…CU totaled 20 fast-break points, it's most since Colorado State (22)…Leonard is now 11 assists away from tying Bridget Turner for the school record (612).
Up Next: The Buffs return to the CU Events Center on Wednesday (Dec. 12), hosting Prairie View A&M.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall thoughts
"It was a tale of two halves again. I thought we shot the ball a lot better. The rebounding was something that I did not expect. I know they are a tough, tenacious team but I found out early that we need to get better at rebounding. We typically outrebound people and that is a strength for us. As we continue through our preseason we continually find areas that we are doing well and areas that we need to improve. Today was no different. Today was a good win against a very good basketball team that won 25 games last year and they are third in their league this year."
On Navy's rebounding
"I thought their pursuit of the basketball was more aggressive than ours. We were longer at most positions, but their pursuit and aggressiveness to secure that ball was tougher than ours. We are fully capable of being an outstanding rebounding team and we typically are."
On Kennedy Leonard's pursuit of the assists record
"It is not just that record, you can look throughout our record books and Kennedy's name is scattered in the top-5, and top-10 of every statistical category. Kennedy is one the best players to ever wear a Colorado uniform. The assist numbers are great and we love it. We will be ready for it when she passes it. As I have said before Kennedy is one of the hardest working basketball players that I have ever coached and I've coached a lot of really good basketball players. For all the kids out there, understand that it is hours and hours of work when nobody is watching."
Senior Kennedy Leonard
On letting Navy back into the game
"Navy's a good team, so they started to hit shots. We tend to do that a lot where we let teams get back into it [the game]. That is something we need to stop doing. Navy did a good job of hitting shots that they were not hitting in the first half. They adjusted well to our zone. I think we just have to buckle down and attack them on offense and lock in on defense."
On getting an early lead
"I was excited. It is always nice to get ahead and pull that lead further and further. Coming out of halftime we always struggle. If we could just figure out that one little lull there I think that would be really good for us."
On having different scorers emerge
"It is great having them. We obviously love [to play in] transition. When I get the ball out I just tell them to run as fast as they can and get their hands up. There were a few times tonight where I passed to them and their hands were not ready. In the huddle, I would tell them to 'get your hands ready and l will give you the ball.' They run hard and it is nice to reward them. You never want to run the court and not get the ball. I think it helps them run faster when they know I am looking to give them the ball."
The Buffaloes played for quality over quantity in the first half, getting out to a 7-for-12 start from the floor in the opening quarter. Junior Quinessa Caylao-Do opened the afternoon with five points on 2-of-2 shooting. Freshman Peanut Tuitele was also perfect (2-2) in the quarter, registering four points.
The Midshipmen were less selective, shooting 3-for-18 in the first 10 minutes. Navy used eight offensive rebounds in the quarter to gain second and third chances. The Colorado defense did a solid job of limiting points off of the extra possessions. The Mids totaled just two points off the extra chances.
Caylao-Do added five more points in the second quarter, to lead all scorers with 10 at the break. CU's defense continued to stifle the Midshipmen, holding them to 3-for-13 in the quarter. The Buffs lead grew to 21 points in the quarter. Freshman Cameron Swartz hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to send Colorado into the half with a 35-14 lead.
The Buffaloes pushed their lead to 25, 39-14, at the start of the third quarter. Navy countered, slowing the pace of the game down from that point. Both teams totaled 13 points in the quarter, keeping CU's lead at 13, 48-27.
The Mids outscored CU 16-11 in the final quarter. Navy cut the Buffs' lead down to 10, 51-41, with 4:10 left to play. Colorado's defense responded, shutting down the visitor's offense. Navy finished 0-for-5 from the field, scoring just two points off of free throws in the final four minutes.
Stat Leaders: Tuitele continued to impress for the Buffs. She hit double figures for the fourth consecutive contest, totaling a game-high 15 points. Tuitele added seven rebounds to her efforts. Mya Hollingshed secured her second career double-double, ending the afternoon with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Caylao-Do's scoring slowed in the second half as she finished with 11 points. Senior Kennedy Leonard closed with nine points and handed out nine assists, giving her 601 for her career.
Kolbi Green led the Midshipmen with 10 points off the bench.
How it Happened: The Buffs led from start to finish for the first time this season. CU's first-half defense held Navy to just 14 points, the fewest of any opponent this season. Colorado limited the Mids to just six field goals and a meager 19.4 shooting percentage in the first half.
Colorado's offense fed off its defense in the first 20 minutes. The Buffaloes built a comfortable cushion from the start. CU opened the game 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from the field. The strong start was enough to keep the lead intact for all 40 minutes.
Key Statistic: Navy held CU off the glass, out-rebounding the Buffs 42-38. It is the second time Colorado has been outrebounded this season (at Miami). Colorado outscored Navy in second-chance points, 11-6, despite losing the rebounding battle. The Buffs entered the afternoon fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounds per game (42.4).
Notes: CU improves to 6-0 at home this season…Colorado shot 80.0 percent (4-5) from 3 in the first half…CU totaled 20 fast-break points, it's most since Colorado State (22)…Leonard is now 11 assists away from tying Bridget Turner for the school record (612).
Up Next: The Buffs return to the CU Events Center on Wednesday (Dec. 12), hosting Prairie View A&M.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Head Coach JR Payne
Overall thoughts
"It was a tale of two halves again. I thought we shot the ball a lot better. The rebounding was something that I did not expect. I know they are a tough, tenacious team but I found out early that we need to get better at rebounding. We typically outrebound people and that is a strength for us. As we continue through our preseason we continually find areas that we are doing well and areas that we need to improve. Today was no different. Today was a good win against a very good basketball team that won 25 games last year and they are third in their league this year."
On Navy's rebounding
"I thought their pursuit of the basketball was more aggressive than ours. We were longer at most positions, but their pursuit and aggressiveness to secure that ball was tougher than ours. We are fully capable of being an outstanding rebounding team and we typically are."
On Kennedy Leonard's pursuit of the assists record
"It is not just that record, you can look throughout our record books and Kennedy's name is scattered in the top-5, and top-10 of every statistical category. Kennedy is one the best players to ever wear a Colorado uniform. The assist numbers are great and we love it. We will be ready for it when she passes it. As I have said before Kennedy is one of the hardest working basketball players that I have ever coached and I've coached a lot of really good basketball players. For all the kids out there, understand that it is hours and hours of work when nobody is watching."
Senior Kennedy Leonard
On letting Navy back into the game
"Navy's a good team, so they started to hit shots. We tend to do that a lot where we let teams get back into it [the game]. That is something we need to stop doing. Navy did a good job of hitting shots that they were not hitting in the first half. They adjusted well to our zone. I think we just have to buckle down and attack them on offense and lock in on defense."
On getting an early lead
"I was excited. It is always nice to get ahead and pull that lead further and further. Coming out of halftime we always struggle. If we could just figure out that one little lull there I think that would be really good for us."
On having different scorers emerge
"It is great having them. We obviously love [to play in] transition. When I get the ball out I just tell them to run as fast as they can and get their hands up. There were a few times tonight where I passed to them and their hands were not ready. In the huddle, I would tell them to 'get your hands ready and l will give you the ball.' They run hard and it is nice to reward them. You never want to run the court and not get the ball. I think it helps them run faster when they know I am looking to give them the ball."
Team Stats
NAVY
COLO
FG%
.233
.412
3FG%
.211
.333
FT%
.550
.684
RB
42
38
TO
17
18
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
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