Contact CUIndependent Sports Writer Jake Mauff at Jacob.Mauff@colorado.edu
The Colorado Buffaloes (5-15) lost to the No. 15 UCLA Bruins (15-5) by a score of 82-64 Saturday night at Coors Events Center. A conference win continues to elude the Buffs nine games into conference play. It was the Buffs’ tenth straight loss.
It was going to be a tough fight all night if the Buffs wanted to pull off the upset. The game didn’t turn out that way, but there may have been some good things to come from this game.
The Colorado showed signs of improvement from recent weeks as three players scored in double-digits for the Buffs. Junior forward Haley Smith led the team in every offensive category with 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. This included an impressive nine-for-nine from the free throw line. It also include, however, four-for-12 shooting from the field.
“I just knew coming into the game that I needed to be aggressive,” Smith said. “Being able to get to the line more, which is something I’ve struggled in doing.”
Senior center Jamee Swan was second on the team with 16 points and tied for second in rebounds with five. The sole senior on the team seems to be regaining her form from injury. She also had two blocks and two steals. All of this came in 25 minutes of play. Smith, by comparison, played 33 minutes.
Free throws became somewhat of a plus in the game. The team took 23 shots from the charity stripe, making 18. Those fouls did come with a sour side.
“I thought that we did a lot of good things in that game,” head coach Linda Lappe said, “but it really came down to rebounds, turnovers and fouls.”
It’s hard to argue with the coach’s logic as the Buffs were called for 25 personal fouls. Freshman forward Makenzie Ellis fouled out after 21 minutes of play. Three other Buffs joined her with four fouls, including Swan. A plethora of fouls led to 42 free throw attempts by the Bruins, of which 31 were made.
However, there may be some more good news; if playing basketball doesn’t work, the team can start a bakery. Colorado had 23 turnovers, 18 in the first half alone. UCLA capitalized with 25 points off of these turnovers. The Buffs only forced 12 takeaways and scored 15 points off of them.
Colorado was beaten soundly on the offensive glass. The team allowed 18 such boards to UCLA, allowing the other team grab offensive boards allows the team to take more shots. Generally, if a team takes more shots, they have a better chance of winning. UCLA used these Colorado mistakes to their favor.
Defensive wasn’t a strong suit for the Buffs either, especially compared to the stingy Bruins defense. UCLA put full court pressure on Colorado and played tight man coverage. This led to the aforementioned 23 turnovers, including 16 UCLA steals.
Junior forward Lauren Huggins sat out due to a concussion. She is listed as day-to-day. Sophomore center Zoe Correal joined the starting lineup in lieu of Huggins’ absence. It was a rather quiet night for her, as she had zero points, three rebounds and four fouls.
Colorado will look to turn things around against USC on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST at Coors Event Center.
