No. 3/2 Sooners Pull Away From Buffaloes In Second Half

By Jessica Steinberg, CU Sports Information Student Assistant BOULDER- Colorado sank a season-high 10 buckets from behind the 3-point arc, but it wasn't enough to stop the powerhouse No. 3 (AP)/2 (WBCA) ranked Oklahoma Sooners as the Buffaloes dropped their fourth straight Big 12 Conference game, 72-58, at the Coors Events/Conference Center Wednesday night. With the loss, Colorado falls to 8-8, 0-4 in the Big 12 while Oklahoma improves to 15-2 and remains atop the league standings undefeated at 4-0. This marks the Buffaloes first ever 0-4 start to conference play. Oklahoma was the fourth straight ranked Big 12 Southern Division opponent that Colorado has faced to open its league schedule. "We knew coming in what a tough stretch this was going to be," said CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. "A lot of teams at this point could have fallen apart and lost their confidence, but there isn't a player on this team that is headed in that direction. We need to get better as a team as a result of these four games." Despite the final outcome, Colorado held their own against Oklahoma in the first half thanks to consistent 3-point shooting (5-for-8, 62.5 percent) and solid defensive play, including six combined steals from Alyssa Fressle and Brittany Spears. The Buffs defense forced 17 Oklahoma turnovers, 11 of which came in the first half. Colorado was neck-in-neck with the Sooners throughout the first half. Bianca Smith started the Buffaloes off with back-to-back 3-pointers to put her team up 6-2 just 2 minutes, 53 seconds into the game. CU achieved its biggest lead of the game—7 points (12-5)—after Fressle sank a jumper at the 14:07 mark, but the Sooners followed with a 10-0 run in less than two minutes, edging ahead of the Buffs 17-13 with 9:04 left in the half. The Buffaloes hit the locker room at halftime tied with the Sooners 28-28 after Spears hit a trey with 38 seconds remaining on the clock. "At halftime we really felt like we could play with this team," said Spears. "We had a confidence that we could win this game." But being tied with Colorado was not good enough for the Sooners; so they stepped up at the beginning of the second half to pull away from the Buffs. Oklahoma stormed to their biggest lead of the game, a 16-point margin (51-35) 7:55 into the second half after a 20-2 run over 5:37. CU battled back, outscoring OU by six points over the next 3:33, to put themselves within 10 points with just over eight minutes remaining. But the Buffaloes just could not catch the Sooners as they held on to a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game. Spears led the Buffaloes with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, tying a career high, six rebounds and four steals. Smith added 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting behind the arc. Fressle tallied 12 points, four steals, and a block. Four Oklahoma players scored in double digits. All-American Courtney Paris led her team with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks. Freshman Whitney Hand contributed 13 points, while Danielle Robinson and Ashley Paris added 10 points of their own. Colorado hits the road for its next game at Missouri, scheduled for Saturday Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. MST. The Buffs will look to pick up their first conference win of the season as they travel to Columbia to face the 10-7 (1-3 Big 12) Tigers. The Tigers also suffered a loss Wednesday night at the hands of the No. 22 ranked Iowa State. Colorado-Oklahoma Notes Oklahoma extends its winning streak over Colorado to seven games and has claimed victory in 12 of the last 14 meetings. Colorado continues to lead the overall series 33-21. Oklahoma extends its overall win streak to 11 games while Colorado drops its fourth straight. No. 3(AP)/2 (WBCA) Oklahoma is the highest ranked team Colorado has played since hosting No. 2/2 LSU on Nov. 20, 2004. Colorado drops to 1-11 all-time against teams ranked in the nation's Top 3. Colorado's lone win against the Top 3 was a 61-60 decision over No. 2 Louisiana Tech on Jan. 3, 1989. Colorado drops to 0-5 against ranked teams in 2008-09 and has lost six straight dating back to last season. Its last win over a ranked team was a 73-68 win over No. 15/15 Kansas State on Feb. 23, 2008. Colorado drops to 0-4 in conference play for the first time in team history. CU had been 0-3 on five previous occasions, most recently in 2005. The Buffaloes endured the toughest opening stretch in the Big 12 this season as the only league team to open conference play with games against four ranked teams. It was also the first time CU had ever opened league play with four straight ranked teams. Colorado's 10 3-point field goals were a season high. The previous season best was eight achieved at Hawaii and in the season opener against UCF. Junior Bianca Smith was 5-of-8 from 3-point range tonight after hitting just 2-of-15 in the previous three games. She moved into a tie with Amy Palmer (1992-96) for 5th place on CU's all-time list for 3-point field goals made, now at 149. Sophomore Brittany Spears moved into ninth place on CU's all-time list for 3-pointers hitting 4-of-7 from downtown. She now has 86 in 50 career games as she passed La Shena Graham who had 84 from 1994-98. The four 3-pointers tied a career high, a mark she's now hit seven times in her career, the last was against Marquette in the 2008 WNIT semifinals. Colorado's bench was held scoreless for the second straight game and the third time in four Big 12 games. The Buffs have only four bench points in four Big 12 games, all four coming from freshman Julie Seabrook in the loss at Oklahoma State. Colorado-Oklahoma Quotes Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller General "We knew coming in what a tough stretch this was going to be. As a staff we've maintained our composure and our confidence in our players. They've really responded to that. There's not one day that we've come to practice and they didn't want to be coached. I credit that to the maturity of the team, and the maturity of Hannah, Bianca, and Kara in bringing some of the players along. A lot of teams at this point could have fallen apart and lost their confidence, but there isn't a player on this team that is headed in that direction. We need to get better as a team as a result of these four games." On the First Half "I thought we were executing extremely well. We were changing defenses and not allowing OU to get comfortable in any one thing. We were hooked up as far as who their drivers were and who their shooters were. The transition from offense to defense was the best we've had in a long time. Offensively we put in a couple new set to exploit some mismatches, and our players responded. We executed, found the open shooter, and knocked down shots." On the Second Half "We got tired, but they did too. I think their bench is a little bit deeper than ours, but I think we came out of the half with a little too much one-on-one. We executed efficiently in the first half, but in the first six minutes (of the second half) we got away from that." "We've got to execute and know what our strengths are. Our strengths are not one-on-one or breaking people down and pulling up for jump shots. Our strengths are utilizing everyone on the floor in a 30-second time frame. When we catch and drive and look for something that's not there, we're just not there. The message has got to get through. I sent each of them home with a tape of the Texas game and do a little report. Each of them came back and said too much one-on-one and too many broken plays. We're not executing what we're good at, but that will come with a little more maturity and understanding their own strengths." On Oklahoma's Paris twins "I was always wondering why Ashley didn't redshirt, but thank God. What's amazing is how the guards can find them. It does feel like they've been around forever." Colorado Players Kara Richards, Sr., C On Oklahoma's Offense -"It was tough, they are very difficult to guard. Their guards find [Courtney Paris] really well and she definitely knows how to use her body to get open shots; with her post moves, she has gotten really good." Biana Smith, Jr., G "I was trying to create plays, but they switched up their defense by moving Ashley Paris on Spears and [Carlee] Roethlisberger on me. But even still, we just got away from our execution. These last four games are the toughest we have played so far. Mentally, we have to keep playing and stay positive and continue to go forth. We need to take both the positive and the negative away and carry that over to our future opponents." Brittany Spears, So., F On Colorado's Confidence after the First Half "At halftime, we really felt like we could play with this team. We had a confidence that we could win this game, because we were tied. It's hard to come back from a 16-0 run, because they are a smart and experienced team." Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale General "I thought Colorado played great, I give them credit. They fought and they played hard and they shot well. They were 10-18 from 3; that's a pretty good night. We were fortunate that we had a run in the second half. That was enough to distance ourselves and hold on down the stretch." On Colorado's Bianca Smith "Well, we tried to stay a little bit closer to her. We knew we had to in the first half, but we played a little uninspired and played with a little more sense of urgency in the second. I think the biggest difference in play from half one to half two for us was that we sped the game up and got it going at a pace we are a little more comfortable with. We got some baskets in transition which we wanted to do early but didn't do a good job of." On Colorado's Zone Defense "Yeah, it just messed with our rhythm which is the reason you do it, that's exactly what it's for. We just had a hard time getting into things and part of that was a lack of aggression with the basketball. We didn't penetrate and force the issue and move the ball in the way we are capable of. We really wanted to settle, I just feel like we did the easy thing all night, well I shouldn't say all night because I thought we were much better in the second half. In the first half we just did the easy thing and settled for some things." On Halftime Score "No, just irritated and I say that with all due respect for Colorado. I felt like the reason the score was tied was due more to our lack of readiness than to how great Colorado played and I give them credit they were terrific but we weren't ready. We didn't execute our sets, even inbounds, we just weren't sharp." Oklahoma Players Courtney Paris, Sr., C GENERAL -"I started posting on people. I think when you get in a zone because they are in a zone you just stay in the middle open spots instead of posting. Coach said at halftime that we have to start working and getting on people to try and bury them." On Half Time Score "Like coach, I was irritated. I think when your tied up playing your best that's one thing, but when you're not doing the best you can that's a whole other thing." Whitney Hand, Fr., G/F On Change in Play from First to Second Half "I think it was just effort and I think our team as a whole wasn't ready for the first few intervals of the game. I think the second half we came out knowing that obviously we had to play better to beat [Colorado] so it was basically a difference of effort overall."