Thursday, December 8
Boulder, Colo.
7:00 PM
Colorado
9-0
74
vs
56
Colorado State
5-4
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado State
21
15
9
11
56
Colorado
25
18
14
17
74
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
No. 18 Buffs Remain Unbeaten With 74-56 Win Against Rams
December 08, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
Box ScorePostgame Quotes And NotesPAC-12 NETWORK RECAPHIGHLIGHTSPRESS CONFERENCEPOSTGAME QUOTES AND NOTES
Leonard’s long-range shooting is catalyst in beating in-state rival
BOULDER – Colorado women's basketball coach JR Payne thought it was time for her first Buffs team to be tested again – and she believed in-state rival Colorado State would provide one.
The Rams did, but only briefly.
With sophomore Kennedy Leonard scoring a career-best 31 points and teammates like senior Haley Smith controlling the backboards, No. 18 CU rolled over CSU 74-56 on Thursday night at the Coors Events Center.
Leonard, a guard from Southlake, Texas, got 19 of her total in the first half – including 13 in the first quarter – to help the Buffs (9-0) rally from a 6-0 deficit, take control and put away the Rams (5-4).
Despite a cut on the tip of her index finger of her shooting (right) hand, Leonard hit seven 3-pointers (11 attempts) and tied a school record (eighth time). They were the most by a CU player since Bianca Smith hit seven on Jan. 31, 2009. Leonard's previous career high was 26 points scored in CU's 2016-17 season-opening 83-62 win over Northern Colorado.
"They were going in, I don't know how, must have just been God's grace," Leonard said. "It was an interesting week with my shooting. I think I just shot it. My teammates got me open. Once you hit that first one, you're good to go, you just have to get your mind into the game.
"Luckily my shots went in and I had good passes from my teammates. They believed in me to make them . . . the shots haven't been going in. When they went in tonight it was a sigh of relief."
Payne knew the feeling. Her Buffs hadn't been tested at home since they defeated then-No. 15 Kentucky 79-69.
"Leading up to this game we've been talking to our team and different people about how our team needed to be tested," Payne said. "We needed to play a really good team like Colorado State . . . there haven't been too many games this year where we've been down and have had to fight back, so I'm proud of the way we responded."
CU's Thursday night win avenged a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to CSU last season in Fort Collins in which Leonard and CSU's Ellen Nystrom traded baskets in the final 90 seconds before Nystrom hit a game-winning jumper with 1.6 seconds to play.
Monica Burich (14 points) was the only other CU player in double figures while Smith collected a career-high 13 rebounds, helping the Buffs out-board the Rams 44-36, including 12-2 edge in offensive rebounds.
"Holding (CSU) to only two offensive rebounds is just effort," Payne said. "When they start (players) as big as they did and we're able to keep them to that number it's a testament to these guys' heart and desire to keep them off the glass."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs fell behind 6-0 and didn't get their first field goal until Leonard drained a 3-pointer with 8:02 remaining in the opening quarter. That brought CU within 7-5, and an Alexis Robinson jumper tied the score at 7-7 less than a minute later.
By quarter's end, with Leonard scoring 10 more points, the Buffs had opened a 25-21 lead and were looking to increase it. And they did – going up by double digits (31-21) by outscoring the Rams 6-0 to open the second quarter.
But CSU kept creeping back, pulling to within five points (37-32) on a conventional 3-point play by Callie Kaiser with 2:23 before the half, then to within three points (37-34) on two free throws by Myanne Hamm.
Leonard had an answer – two answers in fact. She closed out CU's first-half scoring with back-to-back treys, send the Buffs up 43-36 at the break and finishing the half with 19 points in 19 minutes.
Her 3-point shooting – 4-of-6 – kept CU ahead and afloat. Burich and Makenzie Ellis added a trey each, hitting their only first-half attempts to make the Buffs 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters.
The Rams, meanwhile, hit just one of their four first-half long-range tries but outshot the Buffs 67 percent (14-of-23) to 40 percent (15-of-34) from the field.
CSU opened the second half in a 2-3 zone, which appeared to be causing issues for CU until Leonard canned a 3-pointer from the left wing with 6:40 left in the period.
It was the Buffs' first field goal of the second half and pushed them ahead 46-38. A pair of Burich free throws a minute later restored the 10-point lead (48-38) and when Leonard knifed through the zone for a baseline layup, the Buffs had a 50-38 advantage – their largest of the night to that point.
More CU points were coming . . . Leonard's triple and Burich's pair of foul shots were on the front end of a 14-2 run that gave the Buffs a 17-point bulge (57-40) with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
It ended with CU comfortably up 57-45, leaving CSU to play catch up for the final period. The Rams couldn't do it.
TURNING POINT: Down 6-0 and giving up two layups, the Buffs calmed any opening nerves they might have had, tightened up their defense and loosed Leonard on the Rams. Her 13 points helped CU to a 25-21 lead that was never relinquished and grew as the night progressed.
CU STANDOUTS: Kennedy Leonard hit 9-of-17 from the field, including 7-of-11 3-pointers, and 6-of-11 free throws. She also had a game-best seven assists . . . . Monica Burch connected on 4-of-10 from the field, with 1-of-2 treys, and missed only one of her six free throw attempts . . . . Haley Smith collected a game-high 13 rebounds, which also was a career high.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs outrebounded the Rams 12-2 on the offensive glass and 44-36 overall . . . . CU limited CSU to only 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) shooting from beyond the arc while hitting 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) of its trey attempts . . . . The Buffs' eight turnovers were only one off their season-low of seven against Kentucky.
WHAT IT MEANS: After two runaway wins against overmatched opponents, the Buffs showed they could take it up a notch against a quality team and their instate rival.
NOTEWORTHY: CU had defeated its previous two opponents by an average of 43 points – 112-54 over Southeastern Louisiana, 85-56 over Idaho State . . . . CSU's roster has a decided Scandinavian flavor: It featured eight players from Sweden, Norway or Denmark. Three Swedes and one Norwegian started – along with Hannah Tvdry, of Seward, Neb. . . . The Buffs now have a couple of days off before beginning exams next week ... Leonard's 31 points were the most since Brittany Spears scored 36 against USC on March 27, 2011 ... her seven 3-point field goals tied the school record last achieverd on Jan. 31, 2009 by Bianca Smith against Nebraska ... it's the third time in CU history the Buffs have held their first nine opponents under 70 points (1992 and 2011).
QUOTEWORTHY: "Control the controllable is what we've been focusing on . . . but a win is a win. It's not about how many points I had or anything like that. We outplayed them and we won." – CU guard Kennedy Leonard
"I think one of our big things is we want to come to right away and be that assertive team. They beat us to it, they started strong so props to them. We had to make up for that the rest of the game. We don't want to do it just the first few minutes of the game. We want to be consistently going at them. The rest of the game we really focused on that which I thought was good." – CU forward Monica Burich
"We lost that game on a last second fade away jumper out of bounds. Every possession of tonight's game I was thinking, 'don't even let them get close to three points because this girl will hit a fadeaway and we don't need that again.' We just relied on the team in everything that we did. We prepared a ton for CSU and I wasn't too worried but obviously last year's game was on everybody's mind." – Leonard on last season's 64-63 loss at CSU
NEXT UP: The Buffs are off until next Saturday when they play at Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena, Miss. Tipoff is 2 p.m. MST.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
The Rams did, but only briefly.
With sophomore Kennedy Leonard scoring a career-best 31 points and teammates like senior Haley Smith controlling the backboards, No. 18 CU rolled over CSU 74-56 on Thursday night at the Coors Events Center.
Leonard, a guard from Southlake, Texas, got 19 of her total in the first half – including 13 in the first quarter – to help the Buffs (9-0) rally from a 6-0 deficit, take control and put away the Rams (5-4).
Despite a cut on the tip of her index finger of her shooting (right) hand, Leonard hit seven 3-pointers (11 attempts) and tied a school record (eighth time). They were the most by a CU player since Bianca Smith hit seven on Jan. 31, 2009. Leonard's previous career high was 26 points scored in CU's 2016-17 season-opening 83-62 win over Northern Colorado.
"They were going in, I don't know how, must have just been God's grace," Leonard said. "It was an interesting week with my shooting. I think I just shot it. My teammates got me open. Once you hit that first one, you're good to go, you just have to get your mind into the game.
"Luckily my shots went in and I had good passes from my teammates. They believed in me to make them . . . the shots haven't been going in. When they went in tonight it was a sigh of relief."
Payne knew the feeling. Her Buffs hadn't been tested at home since they defeated then-No. 15 Kentucky 79-69.
"Leading up to this game we've been talking to our team and different people about how our team needed to be tested," Payne said. "We needed to play a really good team like Colorado State . . . there haven't been too many games this year where we've been down and have had to fight back, so I'm proud of the way we responded."
CU's Thursday night win avenged a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to CSU last season in Fort Collins in which Leonard and CSU's Ellen Nystrom traded baskets in the final 90 seconds before Nystrom hit a game-winning jumper with 1.6 seconds to play.
Monica Burich (14 points) was the only other CU player in double figures while Smith collected a career-high 13 rebounds, helping the Buffs out-board the Rams 44-36, including 12-2 edge in offensive rebounds.
"Holding (CSU) to only two offensive rebounds is just effort," Payne said. "When they start (players) as big as they did and we're able to keep them to that number it's a testament to these guys' heart and desire to keep them off the glass."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs fell behind 6-0 and didn't get their first field goal until Leonard drained a 3-pointer with 8:02 remaining in the opening quarter. That brought CU within 7-5, and an Alexis Robinson jumper tied the score at 7-7 less than a minute later.
By quarter's end, with Leonard scoring 10 more points, the Buffs had opened a 25-21 lead and were looking to increase it. And they did – going up by double digits (31-21) by outscoring the Rams 6-0 to open the second quarter.
But CSU kept creeping back, pulling to within five points (37-32) on a conventional 3-point play by Callie Kaiser with 2:23 before the half, then to within three points (37-34) on two free throws by Myanne Hamm.
Leonard had an answer – two answers in fact. She closed out CU's first-half scoring with back-to-back treys, send the Buffs up 43-36 at the break and finishing the half with 19 points in 19 minutes.
Her 3-point shooting – 4-of-6 – kept CU ahead and afloat. Burich and Makenzie Ellis added a trey each, hitting their only first-half attempts to make the Buffs 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters.
The Rams, meanwhile, hit just one of their four first-half long-range tries but outshot the Buffs 67 percent (14-of-23) to 40 percent (15-of-34) from the field.
CSU opened the second half in a 2-3 zone, which appeared to be causing issues for CU until Leonard canned a 3-pointer from the left wing with 6:40 left in the period.
It was the Buffs' first field goal of the second half and pushed them ahead 46-38. A pair of Burich free throws a minute later restored the 10-point lead (48-38) and when Leonard knifed through the zone for a baseline layup, the Buffs had a 50-38 advantage – their largest of the night to that point.
More CU points were coming . . . Leonard's triple and Burich's pair of foul shots were on the front end of a 14-2 run that gave the Buffs a 17-point bulge (57-40) with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
It ended with CU comfortably up 57-45, leaving CSU to play catch up for the final period. The Rams couldn't do it.
TURNING POINT: Down 6-0 and giving up two layups, the Buffs calmed any opening nerves they might have had, tightened up their defense and loosed Leonard on the Rams. Her 13 points helped CU to a 25-21 lead that was never relinquished and grew as the night progressed.
CU STANDOUTS: Kennedy Leonard hit 9-of-17 from the field, including 7-of-11 3-pointers, and 6-of-11 free throws. She also had a game-best seven assists . . . . Monica Burch connected on 4-of-10 from the field, with 1-of-2 treys, and missed only one of her six free throw attempts . . . . Haley Smith collected a game-high 13 rebounds, which also was a career high.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs outrebounded the Rams 12-2 on the offensive glass and 44-36 overall . . . . CU limited CSU to only 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) shooting from beyond the arc while hitting 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) of its trey attempts . . . . The Buffs' eight turnovers were only one off their season-low of seven against Kentucky.
WHAT IT MEANS: After two runaway wins against overmatched opponents, the Buffs showed they could take it up a notch against a quality team and their instate rival.
NOTEWORTHY: CU had defeated its previous two opponents by an average of 43 points – 112-54 over Southeastern Louisiana, 85-56 over Idaho State . . . . CSU's roster has a decided Scandinavian flavor: It featured eight players from Sweden, Norway or Denmark. Three Swedes and one Norwegian started – along with Hannah Tvdry, of Seward, Neb. . . . The Buffs now have a couple of days off before beginning exams next week ... Leonard's 31 points were the most since Brittany Spears scored 36 against USC on March 27, 2011 ... her seven 3-point field goals tied the school record last achieverd on Jan. 31, 2009 by Bianca Smith against Nebraska ... it's the third time in CU history the Buffs have held their first nine opponents under 70 points (1992 and 2011).
QUOTEWORTHY: "Control the controllable is what we've been focusing on . . . but a win is a win. It's not about how many points I had or anything like that. We outplayed them and we won." – CU guard Kennedy Leonard
"I think one of our big things is we want to come to right away and be that assertive team. They beat us to it, they started strong so props to them. We had to make up for that the rest of the game. We don't want to do it just the first few minutes of the game. We want to be consistently going at them. The rest of the game we really focused on that which I thought was good." – CU forward Monica Burich
"We lost that game on a last second fade away jumper out of bounds. Every possession of tonight's game I was thinking, 'don't even let them get close to three points because this girl will hit a fadeaway and we don't need that again.' We just relied on the team in everything that we did. We prepared a ton for CSU and I wasn't too worried but obviously last year's game was on everybody's mind." – Leonard on last season's 64-63 loss at CSU
NEXT UP: The Buffs are off until next Saturday when they play at Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena, Miss. Tipoff is 2 p.m. MST.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Team Stats
CSU
COLO
FG%
.426
.388
3FG%
.143
.385
FT%
.615
.600
RB
36
44
TO
15
8
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
31
FGM
9
3FGM
7
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
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