Zoe Beard-Fails

Haley Smith and zoe beard-fails at oregon 2017

Photo by: Gary Breedlove

Photo by: Jivan West

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

zoe beard-fails vs. st. francis brooklyn 2016

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Photo by: Jivan West

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

Position:
Forward
Height:
6-1
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Herndon, Va.
High School:
Georgetown Day [Washington, D.C.]

2014-15 Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention
2015-16 Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention
2016-17 Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention

2016-17 (Senior): Beard-Fails played in 29 games and made two starts as a senior, averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds. She totaled 118 points, 73 rebounds, 16 steals and 13 blocked shots, while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and burying 8-of-16 3-point field goals. She also shot 76.5 percent at the free throw line. She helped the Buffs to a win over No. 15/19 Kentucky with eight points and five rebounds off the bench on Nov. 19. Beard-Fails had nine points, burying her first two 3-point attempts of the season, in a win over Idaho State on Dec. 3. She reached double figures for the first time on the season on Jan. 1, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds at No. 10 UCLA. She then scored a season-high 11 points on Jan. 15 against No. 13/12 Stanford, making 4-of-5 at the line and 3-of-5 from the floor. She earned two starts against Utah on Jan. 25 and Jan. 28, scoring four points in each game. Beard-Fails scored seven points to lead the Buffs to a win over Oregon on Feb. 19 on Senior Day. She also had 12 points and six rebounds in three WNIT games in March.

2015-16 (Junior): Played in 27 games with three starts. Beard-Fails averaged career-highs in both scoring at 3.8 points and rebounding with 2.9 per game. She was tied for third on the team with 33 offensive rebounds and recorded a .429 shooting percentage, third highest on the squad. She posted a season-high 12 points in back-to-back games against Northern Colorado (11/19) and at Kentucky (11/22). Beard-Fails was perfect from the free throw line in four contests, including a personal season-best 5-for-5 at Arizona State (1/15). Beard-Fails missed three games after suffering a concussion at Kentucky.

2014-15 (Sophomore): Saw action in 31 games, averaging 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds. Beard-Fails was second on the team in blocked shots with 16. She logged seven starts, five of them coming in December & January as the nonconference schedule ended and Pac-12 slate began. Beard-Fails had a career-night in one of those starts, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the nonconference finale against Long Beach State (12/30). She also played a career-most 31 minutes in that game, hitting 7-of-13 from the field. She did well from the line hitting just under 71 percent (36-of-51). In the Preseason WNIT quarterfinal against Western Kentucky (11/17) she established personal bests with eight free throws on 10 attempts. Beard-Fails was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the win over Wyoming (12/21).

2013-14 (Freshman): Played in 27 games as a first-year Buffalo, averaging just under three points per outing. She shot well on limited opportunities, hitting 52.8 percent from the field (28-of-53) as most of her offense came directly off the blocks. Her time on the court increased considerably down the stretch playing in 18 of the last 19 games including the final 10. She scored a career-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in just nine minutes in the regular season finale against USC (3/2). Beard-Fails scored just over half (17) of her points during the Pac-12 season (33) in the final five regular season games. She took that momentum into the postseason, with several solid performances. Beard-Fails established personal bests hitting 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the Pac-12 Tournament first round win over UCLA (3/6). Against TCU in the first round of the WNIT (3/19) she tied for the team lead in rebounds with six, a personal-best. In the second round against win over Southern Utah (3/22) Beard-Fails recorded three blocked shots, accounting for her season total.

High School: Beard-Fails is a 2013 graduate of Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. She averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds as a senior, guiding the Mighty Hoppers to a runner up finish at the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) state championship. She owns school single-game records for points (42), rebounds (27), free-throws made (22) and free-throws attempted (24). Beard-Fails was a 2013 Washington Post “All-Met” Third Team selection and named to the Independent School League All-Conference team. Additionally, she claimed the Alain-Ciaco Sportsmanship Award and was a McDonald’s All-America nominee. She averaged 26 points and nearly 18 rebounds as a sophomore for Georgetown Day in 2010-11, earning fourth team All-Met honors from the Washington Post. Beard-Fails played her freshman season at South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., where she averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds, earning first team all-district and second team all-region honors. CU was able to bring Beard-Fails from the east coast in part because she already knew current Buffaloes assistants LaTonya Watson, from her days at American University, and Kelly Rae Finley from her tenure at Harvard. Beard-Fails was rated the 51st forward in the nation by ESPN.com's Hoop Gurlz. She played club ball with the Boo Williams program, participating on the team that was the 2011 Nike National runner-up. Beard-Fails’ club experience also extended to national tournaments and camps at Michigan, Duke, Stanford and Tennessee. She participated in the USA U-16 Trials in 2011.

Academics: Beard-Fails is an Advertising major at Colorado and has earned honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic each of the last three seasons. Following her freshman year, she spent time with three different women in journalism, to learn about their careers. First was former Buffalo and Denver Fox 31 sports reporter/anchor Kami Carmann. Next she shadowed Nicole Jones, a former Virginia Tech basketball player and director of marketing for a real estate company in Washington, D.C. Finally, she observed Deidre Dyer, Fashion Editor of The Fader Magazine in New York City. She was the recipient of the Dean’s Student Award as a senior at Georgetown Day and was the commencement speaker at her high school graduation.

Personal: Born on June 3, 1995, in Fairfax, Va., she is the daughter of Stephen Fails and Anne Beard. She has two older siblings, Michael Fails and Briana Fails. She enjoys volunteering with Special Olympics programs. Beard-Fails has had over 30 pets during her life including a Boa Constrictor, Sugar Gliders (similar to a flying squirrel), two Moluccan Cockatoos and many more. She lists the biggest moment of her high school career was playing in the DCIAA State Championships at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.