Women's Basketball Ready For Challenges Ahead

Colorado women's basketball held its first full practice of the 2014-15 season today at the Coors Events Center. As head coach Linda Lappe begins her fifth season on the bench, we preview the 41st edition of the Colorado Buffaloes.

Every new season brings its own unique set of challenges. A year ago Colorado was coming off an NCAA Tournament berth, but injuries and some heart-breaking near misses left the Buffaloes just short of making a return trip to the Big Dance, although a fourth straight winning season (19-15) and a modest run in the Postseason WNIT set a foundation to build upon.

Colorado will be able to rely on a solid senior class that has played a lot of minutes as well as some talented younger players. The bulk of this program has experienced a good level of success, with all returners playing in some sort of postseason play over the last three years.

“We need to have the commitment to continue to work on our individual game on the offensive side, and our overall strength and fitness,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “I feel like we’re a really strong team right now, just looking at us in the weight room, and I really think that will translate onto the court as we begin practice.

“We need to improve our leadership and our defense. Normally, we’re a good defensive team, but that wasn’t the case at times last year. We need to have that leadership on the floor in those late game situations, to execute plays, and to get stops on the defensive end.”

Colorado has already been presented with one significant challenge. Junior forward Arielle Roberson, last year’s leading scorer and rebounder, will miss the season with a torn ACL in her left knee suffered in a routine drill during individual workouts just a week before the start of fall practice.

While her contributions will certainly be missed the Buffaloes have good depth in the front court and will look to a number of players to fill that void.

“Anytime there is an injury there is an opportunity for another player to step up,” Lappe said. “We’ll have the time with practice for players to seize that opportunity.”

Junior Jamee Swan could have a big year for Colorado and her play will be critical even more so with the loss of Roberson. Swan led Colorado in both field-goal percentage (.505) and blocked shots (36) while ranking third in rebounding (5.3 rpg). She had flashes of dominance, including a 25-point outburst against Washington, and a 20-point, 13-rebound effort against No. 4 Stanford.

“Jamee is going to be key for us,” Lappe said. “She’s already played a major role for us and now as a junior, she needs to continue to evolve into a bigger inside presence. We’re going to rely on our rebounding and athleticism at the rim.”

Senior forward Jen Reese was second in scoring and rebounding for the Buffaloes before missing the final seven games with a shoulder injury. She finished just a fraction behind Roberson for the scoring lead at 12 per game while hitting 48 percent from the field and pulling down nearly six rebounds per contest.

Sophomore forward Zoe Beard-Fails has entered fall practice in great shape. She had spurts of success in limited time as a freshman, and has improved her strength and quickness in the offseason.

A pair of newcomers will add depth, especially if the Buffaloes show a big lineup. Sophomore center Bri Watts, didn’t play in a game last year, but a year of conditioning and practice with the program should help. Freshman center Zoe Correal averaged 11.2 points and 8.2 rebounds for her Salesian High School team that made it to the state title game in California’s top division.

“(Zoe Correal) has been impressive with her ability to learn and also compete,” Lappe said. “She never quits and does everything at 110 percent. We still need to work with her on her skill set, but our fans will enjoy seeing her resolve to get things done.”

Colorado’s other early season storyline comes in the back court, specifically at the point guard position. The Buffaloes are excited about the prospects of true freshman Brecca Thomas, who had a storied career at The Kinkaid School in the Houston area, but also realize the transition at that position from high school to the Pac-12 is a tough one. Fortunately, senior Lexy Kresl will be able to help ease that process.

Though, naturally, more of a shooting guard, Kresl has played plenty of minutes at the point for Colorado, with a good deal of success. Kresl had an outstanding nonconference season as a junior; she was named the MVP of the Omni Classic, averaging 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. She also had fantastic game in one of the nation’s toughest venues, scoring 17 points with eight rebounds at No. 7 Louisville.

The growth in her all-around game is what has been the most beneficial to the Buffaloes. She led Colorado in assists and was third in steals as a junior. And, let’s not forget, she can shoot. Kresl enters her senior year 10th in career 3-pointers with 124 and is a career 84 percent shooter from the free throw line.

All this allows the Buffaloes to be patient with Thomas, although the ideal situation may be to have them on the court at the same time. Thomas was a four-year All-South Zone and All-South Preparatory Conference selection, helping her team to a pair of SPC championships. She averaged 18.6 points, 5.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 3.4 rebounds for The Kinkaid School as a senior and was ranked the 25th best point guard in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz.

“Brecca will have to have a lot of reps from the get go and I’ve really liked what I’ve seen so far from her and what she’s been able to do,” Lappe said. “She becomes more prepared every single day. The good thing for her is we have Lexy who played a lot at the point for us last year and can be in that spot as well, but the best thing for Lexy and our team is to be able to utilize her at the 2-guard a lot more.”

The backcourt is strong and has the ability to extend the floor with numerous players. Colorado is eagerly anticipating the return of senior Jasmine Sborov who really started to come into her own last year during the preseason before a foot injury abruptly ended her season prematurely after 14 games.

Sborov had averaged 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds prior to her injury and was beginning to showcase the hard work she had put in on her shot in the previous offseason. She had extended her game past the 3-point line, hitting a solid 37 percent from beyond the arc. Sborov also shot 72 percent from the free line and iced road games against Colorado State and Wyoming from the stripe.

“Jas has made tremendous strides in her career, from the time she was a freshman to now,” Lappe said. “I know she’s looking forward to being out there with her teammates and really playing for them.”

When Sborov went down, someone had to take her place. Much like the Buffaloes will have to do with Roberson’s absence, someone had to step up and last year it was Haley Smith, then a true freshman. Despite some natural bumps, Smith got better and better as the season went along pitching just under three points and four rebounds per game. Now a year later, her experience makes Colorado that much deeper on the wing.

“Haley is a prime example of a player that stepped into a role that was void once another player was injured,” Lappe said. “Haley was able to step in and be that wing for us that was just steady. When you think of Haley, she’s someone that is tough, consistent and we’re going to rely on those same things this year with a little additional load on her shoulders to score and defend multiple positions.”

Colorado’s guard play also benefits from long-range shooter Lauren Huggins, who ranked among the Pac-12’s most accurate 3-point shooters last year, hitting on 36 percent. Sophomore Desiree Harris will also give Colorado minutes; a smart, quick, off-guard that can shoot from outside and also drive into the lane to either score or distribute.

Possibly the ‘X-Factor’ for the Buffaloes is freshman guard Alina Hartmann, from Bamberg, Germany; Colorado’s first European player in six years. Hartmann is a veteran of several very successful German junior national teams, including the U20 team that placed first at the 2014 European Championships for Women this past August, where she averaged 8.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She played club basketball for DJK Brose Bamberg in the German 1st Division, averaging 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds while hitting 43 percent from the field in 22 games in 2013-14.

“Alina played with her German National team this summer, came in here and raised the standard in a lot of ways,” Lappe said. “She’s in fantastic shape, the best of our freshmen, and competes with our returners for that title. Alina has such a high level of intensity, has a great sense of urgency and is a sponge in what she’s told, although sometimes she doesn’t really understand it, she watches, and is very perceptive, and imitates whatever she sees in front of her on the floor and will do exactly what we are trying to get done.”

Colorado has a challenging nonconference schedule, especially on the road. The Buffaloes will see both the SEC (at Missouri) at Big Ten (at Iowa) with potential games with perennial power Penn State or defending Big 12 Champion West Virginia in the Postseason WNIT. Colorado has its early Pac-12 work cut out for them, starting with a road trip to defending Pac-12 Champion Stanford and California. Five of the Buffaloes’ first eight Pac-12 games are on the road, but similar to two years ago, Colorado has six of its final 10 at home, hopefully providing the momentum for another postseason run.