Story by Jessica Steinberg, CU Sports Information Student Assistant:
BOULDER- Colorado sophomore Britney Blythe netted a career-high 12 points off of a career-best four 3-pointers, but it was not enough to lift the Buffaloes as they fell to No. 6 (AP)/5 (WBCA) ranked Baylor, 63-50, at the Coors Events/Conference Center Saturday afternoon.
The game was much closer than the final score read as the Buffs (8-5, 0-1 Big 12) trailed the Lady Bears (13-1, 1-0 Big 12) by only two points (50-48) with 7 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in both teams' first conference game of the season. Up until that point, the score had been tied eight times and the lead had changed six times.
But the Lady Bears pulled away in the last 6:52 of the game, going on a 13-2 run.
Right from the get-go, the game would prove to be very intense, and the speed of play quick, for both teams. In the first 4:16 of the game, the Buffs jumped ahead to a 10-6 lead off back-to-back jumpers by junior Bianca Smith and sophomore Brittany Spears, followed by Blythe's first trey of the night and another 3-pointer from Spears.
Colorado went into halftime trailing Baylor 35-28, but came out on fire after the half as they went on a 14-1 run over 5:57 to open the second half. Spears started this run with a layup 21 seconds into the half. That's when Blythe went into action nailing three consecutive 3-pointers and earning a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 3,273. Up until today's game, Blythe was only 5-for-33 from behind the arc in her career and 1-for-12 on the season. But she changed those numbers today as she went 4-for-6 from 3-point range, totals also serving as career highs for both 3-point shots and overall from the floor.
Smith followed Blythe's impressive performance with a 3-pointer of her own to give the Buffaloes their biggest lead of the game (42-37), but that's when the tables turned and Baylor followed solid Colorado play with a 12-2 run of their own over the next 3:32. This run brought Baylor ahead 49-44 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game and the Lady Bears would hold onto this lead until the final buzzer sounded.
The Buffaloes recorded six steals, two blocks, and forced 15 Baylor turnovers on the night, but their strong effort was not enough to stop the explosiveness down low of the Lady Bears who, led by junior Danielle Wilson (16 points), outscored CU 44-14 in the paint, including 18 second chance points and 14 points off fast breaks.
"Baylor's best offense is on second chance opportunities. A lot of their looks are not on what they ran, but on broken plays and missed shots," said CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. "We're not a front court team and that's where (Baylor) gets their points—in the paint."
Despite the outcome of the game, neither McConnell-Miller nor her players were upset with the team's effort. And they will look for the mental toughness the team showed against Baylor to carry them into the next stretch of games as they take on three more Big 12 South teams, all of which are currently ranked both in the Associated Press and WBCA Coaches polls.
CU will travel to take on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Wednesday Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowgirls (11-3, 0-1 Big 12) are currently ranked No. 21 (AP/WBCA), but suffered their first conference loss to No. 25 Iowa State on Saturday.
Quotes: Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller
General "I am extremely proud of them of the way they executed the game plan. I'm proud of the way they fought and their mental toughness. They grew and matured a lot today. They're becoming a team that is a lot easier and more fun to coach. It's exciting to know that one year ago you take away one player and you take away Colorado. Right now we have a lot of different players that can step up for us. The difference in the end of the game is that Baylor made the big time plays and shots. They took care of the basketball and we had a few unforced turnovers. Once you get to this place where you feel good about their performance, you have to keep going. You can't take steps back now. We have the players in place and a good rotation. If I could change one thing it would to go into the bench a little more."
On Second Half Shooting "I thought we were a little tight. I can name several shots that were some good looks, but we just didn't knock them down. I credit Baylor with making the big time shots, we just didn't."
On Being Outscored in the Paint "Baylor's best offense is on second chance opportunities. A lot of their looks are not out of what they ran, but on broken plays and missed shots. We did a great job of taking them out of their sets, but they were able to score once we took them out of their sets. We are not a front court team, and that's where they (Baylor) get their points- in the paint."
On Baylor's Defense "They completely denied our guards and wings. We weren't effective with our counters. We became a little stagnant and didn't react to what the defense was giving us."
On CU's Play Down the Stretch "I thought we pressed as a result of the score down the stretch. It is a result of never being in that position, having the ball in your hands with the game on the line. We grew as a team today. We are going to watch the film, and watch what we did wrong. I don't think the team is going to walk away too disappointed in their performance, but of course, with the outcome, we are all disappointed."
Colorado Players
Kara Richards, Sr., C ON HER PERFORMANCE- "I was looking at the stats and they said I was 3-8 [from the field], and for a post player that's not very good. I traveled a couple of times. I had six turnovers, but one thing that I think I Improved on was fouls. I think as a team we played better on defense. "
ON THE LOSS—"We weren't disappointed in our effort. I just wish we would have won."
Britney Blythe, So., G ON THREE-POINT SHOOTING— "I have been getting in the gym extra and shooting more after practice. Coach wanted me to contribute a little more and just let it flow. I also need to contribute more on the floor. I'm a point guard, and my job is to distribute the ball. I had some looks that didn't go down. Getting open looks isn't hard when I'm surrounded by the guards that we have. Spears and Smith drew a lot of the attention and I was able to get some open shots."
Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
General "Winning on the road is difficult. Our defense was very good. Our defense has been good all year. I just thought our defense guarded them. I am not sure that Colorado had what I would consider just open looks. They have some players who have not been shooting like they were shooting tonight. Particularly the point guard [Britney Blythe], but she didn't take easy shots. I thought we always were around the ball. Our defense was special. I just thought our defense was good. Down the stretch fatigue set it for both teams. Both were excited for the first game of the year and we got some transition buckets when fatigue set in and we kept pushing and pushing trying to get some cleaner shots than we were getting in the half court setting."
On Kara Richards and Danielle Wilson "Well she [Kara Richards] is a big presence on their team. She was the biggest player on the floor, and we got good position blocking her out. She was still able to get rebounds without fouling. I have got to go with the kid who is pretty big. If she [Danielle Wilson] fouled out, she fouled out. Our bench gave us everything they could. I felt they didn't get a lot of minutes, but I thought they were solid."
On Holding Colorado to One FG in the Last 4 Minutes "You score 22 points in a half, that doesn't just happen. That's people guarding. I am very proud of our defense. I thought that we were active. We got into the passing lanes. They couldn't just come down and run an offense and make a basket. We were very active in the passing lanes. We work on it [defense] every day. Every day, every day, every day, every day. You are going to have off night offensively, but you can always play defense. These kids will tell you, we wear it out in practice."
On Keeping the Ball Away from Spears "I thought (Jessica) Morrow was the best we had on the perimeter guarding. Morrow is about her size, maybe a tad smaller, but she has long range and long arms. If Spears takes a shot, at least she has got a kid with longer range contesting the shot more, so than any other player I have. I thought that Jessica Morrow's defense on Spears was good. That kid was the second leading scorer in the league and she had 14, so we kept her under her average. Morrow hit some big shots late in the lane there. When you ask a kid to do a lot on the defensive end, sometimes they struggle on the offensive end. I don't think she struggled. I think she just didn't get the ball."
On Starting the Conference on the Road with a Win "It's big. This league is tough. You are going to understand how important every win is when you are done with all 13 games. No one wants to start out on the road. But it was a good crowd. I wish Melissa Jones could have played more. MJ is one of our key players, but she didn't get as many minutes today. She starts for us sometimes. I am glad that Melissa Jones is at Baylor. She is going to be a Big-12 player before she leaves here." Baylor Players
Danielle Wilson, Jr., C ON WATCHING FROM THE BENCH -"It is (difficult), but at the same time when my teammates go in they are going to do the best they can. They are going to get open shots, rebounds, and do everything that I would do if I was in. It's nice to get a little breather, unlike last year when you didn't get a lot of breaks."
ON COMING BACK SLOWER AFTER THE BREAKS AND THE HALF–"It's not really normal, but you know once we pick it up, we are going to pick it up especially on the defensive end. Getting into the passing lanes, blocking shots, and things like that."
ON THE TEAM'S CONTINUED SUCCESS–"I'm really comfortable. Our bench is great this year. They just come out and they know what the coach expects of them."
Colorado-Baylor Notes
Baylor extends its win streak over Colorado to five games and takes over the series lead at 9-8
Baylor wins its seventh-straight game and in the process snaps Colorado's five-game winning streak.
Colorado falls to 5-3 at home and drops a game at the Coors Events Center for just the eighth time in the last 28 outings.
The Buffaloes are 0-2 against ranked teams this season and are 3-6 against ranked opponents since the 2007-08 season.
Colorado falls to 6-7 all time in Big 12 openers and 5-8 in its first Big 12 home game of the season. The Buffaloes drop to 3-4 when the overall Big 12 opener is played at home.
Sophomore point guard Britney Blythe scored a career-high 12 points, hitting her first four attempts from 3 point range before finishing 4-of-6. Entering today's game she had made just 1-of-12 from 3-point range this season and just 5-of-33 in her career. Blythe's previous career best in points was seven, achieved against Seton Hall and UMKC in back-to-back games in December. She also achieved personal highs in field goals made and attempted and 3-point field goals made and attempted.
Board improvement. Baylor entered today's game ranked No 1 in the nation in rebound margin at +16, averaging 47.0 boards per game. Colorado was the Big 12's last place team in rebound margin as its opponents were grabbing 3.7 more per game. The Buffaloes held their own in this game, playing even with Baylor much of the second half before the Lady Bears ended with a 41-36 advantage.
Senior center Kara Richards set a career high with 15 rebounds, her first double-digit output of the season, surpassing a 13-rebound effort against Missouri on Jan. 3, 2007. The 15 rebounds is also a team season high.
Sophomore Brittany Spears scored 14 points, surpassing 700 career points on her first bucket of the game (now with 713).
Colorado held Baylor without a 3-point field goal (0-of-6). It's the second time CU has kept opponent scoreless from 3-point range as the Buffs shut out UCF (0-of-6). Colorado, which entered the game ranked No. 15 in the NCAA in 3-point defense, has now allowed just 24.7 percent from 3-point range (46-of-186). |
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Buffs Fall To Baylor In Big 12 Opener
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