Despite fading in the second half, the University of Colorado women’s basketball team at least kept it close early on in their game against No. 7 Oregon State Friday night, ultimately losing 66-44.
The Buffs played tough defense in the first half against the Beavers, the Pac-12’s top ranked team, allowing only 26 points from Oregon State on 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Colorado turned on the pressure in the half as well, causing 10 Oregon State turnovers. The Buffs looked to their starting frontcourt to provide an offensive spark. In the first, half forwards senior Jen Reese and junior Jamee Swan had 14 points in the Buffaloes 16-6 run in the half’s final eight minutes. They sent the game into halftime with a tie at 26-26. Reese led all scorers in the first half with 13 points.
“We were defending really well, we were making them take tough shots,” Colorado head coach Linda Lappe said. “Everything that they did in the first half was tough. We forced them into 10 turnovers. They had five assists to 10 turnovers and that’s not like them at all.”
Oregon State, who has only one loss in the Pac-12 this season, took control in the second half. The Beavers turned that first half 5-to-10 assist to turnover ratio into an 11-to-4 mark in the second period. After the Buffaloes successfully stymied the Beavers offense in the first half, Oregon State shot 63 percent from the field in the second. Colorado managed only 18 points in the second half, and the Buffs missed their last 12 field goal attempts.
“We couldn’t get our shots to fall in the second half,” Reese said, “especially in the last five minutes.”
In the game, Oregon State outrebounded Colorado by a wide margin of 41 to 28, and also amassed 44.4 percent on 3-point shots, making an impressive eight of 18 attempts. Colorado only made two 3-pointers in the game on seven attempts.
“As disappointing as the loss is, we always have a main goal and I think we got a lot better today and a lot closer to our goal,” Swan said.
The Buffaloes fall to 11-15 for the 2014-15 season, and in the Pac-12 they are now 4-11.
Colorado plays its final home game of the regular season on Sunday, when they host Oregon, with tipoff at 2 p.m.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter @samrouthier
