There are a few numbers that will remain ingrained in the minds of the CU women’s basketball team after Saturday’s loss to Texas Tech – some of them good, some of them bad and some of them downright ugly.
First, consider the good: The Buffaloes drained three 3-pointers in the first 5:04 of the game.
Senior forward Brittany Spears racked up the 30th double-double of her career with 11 rebounds and 12 points. She also became the second Buff to score 400 points in four consecutive seasons.
The bad: CU shot just 32.6 percent from the field and 31.6 from beyond the arc (making just 1 of 9 in the second half). The Buffs’ 44 points in the 72-44 loss were a season low.
The ugly: Colorado had a season-high 28 turnovers, the most since their 34 against Texas on Jan. 13, 2007. Their 19 first-half turnovers were the most since a match-up against Nevada on Nov. 24, 2006.
The Lady Raiders’ full court press and 63.7 percent shooting were simply too much for the Buffs to overcome.
“Well we definitely got outplayed for most of that game,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “They were physical. They were quick, and our turnovers were obviously a huge part of that game; we just didn’t handle the ball like we needed to.”
Spears said she believes the Buffs were rushing and not playing at their own pace.
“I don’t think it was anything that they did,” Spears said. “It was mostly us. We turned the ball over too many times and they got too many points off of turnovers.”
Texas Tech scored 32 points off of turnovers, and led by as much as 30 points with 5:21 remaining in the game.
A 12-0 Lady Raiders run gave Texas Tech the momentum they needed to carry the rest of the game.
The Buffs went into the locker room down 37-21, but never got close to making a comeback when they returned to the court.
“Usually we make the change,” sophomore guard Chucky Jeffery said. “We were trying, but it just gets tough when you throw one and everybody is like, ‘Well we have to try something else,’ and then somebody tries to break it by themselves and tries something different. We just weren’t on the same page, and it is hard to break a press when everybody is not focused on one thing.”
Coach Lappe said having a small bench was a disadvantage in this past week’s practices.
“You can’t simulate, especially with only eight players in practice,” Lappe said. “Especially when you have assistant coaches practicing against your team, it’s not what Texas Tech is like. All the credit to my assistants, but they can’t provide the speed, they can’t provide the size, they can’t provide the strength and that’s where our depth really hurts us, not having 15 players, but not having a strong second five to really get after your first five.”
With six games remaining in the season, the 12-11 (3-7 Big 12) Buffs are still hoping for a berth in the post-season and an appearance at the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Coach Lappe said she and her staff have discussed how important consistency is during the month of February for the Buffs to separate themselves from the pack.
“We know that we need to win to make the postseason,” Spears said. “I think everybody knows that we have to keep going out and playing hard and get some wins so we can get to the postseason.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
