Head coach Linda Lappe discusses expectations of the upcoming season. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
Head coach Linda Lappe: Heading into her fifth year as the head coach at Colorado, Linda Lappe has already established a tradition of winning at CU. All four of Lappe’s teams at Colorado have posted records over .500. This feat is even more impressive considering that Lappe’s second season came after Colorado’s conference transition from the Big 12 to the Pac-12. Colorado actually managed two more wins in that 2011-12 season in a new conference than during the previous year.
Lappe’s career at Colorado began in 1998 as a member of the women’s basketball team, and from 1998-2003 she was a part of Colorado teams that made three different trips to the NCAA tournament. As this tweet from the Colorado women’s basketball official Twitter also points out, she managed a triple-double in her first career game for the Buffaloes. As a coach, she had stints as an assistant coach at Drake (2003-06) and Colorado State (2006-07) before she became the head coach of Metro State in Denver in 2007. After three years that saw Metro State post top-three finishes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Lappe was announced as the head coach of Colorado ahead of the 2010-11 season.
A trademark of Lappe’s teams at CU has been tough team defense, something that was apparent in Colorado’s status last season, ranking fourth in the Pac-12 in points allowed and third in scoring margin. This year Lappe will look to get Colorado back in the NCAA tournament, a feat that they accomplished two years ago but fell short of last year, instead making an impressive run to the WNIT Postseason Tournament quarterfinals.
Assistant Coaches
“We have a great staff with a lot of energy,” Lappe said at last week’s Colorado basketball media day. “We have teachers who love to teach the game. They’re passionate about teaching the game and they really inspire our players to want to learn the game and really inspire them to want to get better and to put in extra work and do all of those things.”
Assistant coach Jenni Benningfield (right) and head coach Linda Lappe (left) direct their players through drills and plays in preparation for the upcoming women’s basketball season. (Alexandra Greenwood/CU Independent)
Jenni Benningfield: Benningfield, the former director of operations for Colorado women’s basketball, joined Lappe’s coaching staff as an assistant this season. A veteran of the WNBA, she played for the Indiana Fever in 2005. Before playing in the WNBA, Benningfield played college basketball at Vanderbilt from 2000-2004. Benningfield previously served as the head coach for two high school girls’ varsity basketball teams in the area, first for Nederland in 2010-11, then for Pomona High School (in Arvada) in 2011-12.
Assistant coach Kelly Rae Finley instructs freshman Alina Hartmann (20) in preparation for the upcoming games. (Alexandra Greenwood/CU Independent)
Kelly Rae Finley: Finley, a former basketball player at Colorado State (we forgive you, Kelly), returns for her third year as an assistant coach at CU. Prior to coaching at Colorado, Finley was an assistant coach at Harvard University from 2008-12. Finley is the recruiting coordinator for CU, a position she also held at Harvard. Prior to playing for Colorado State from 2005-08, Finley played her first year of college basketball at Northwestern. One of Finley’s seasons at CSU actually saw her play for Lappe, who was on CSU’s staff for the 2006-07 season.
Assistant coach Jamie Carey watches how the Buffs team runs through their drills during practice. (Alexandra Greenwood/CU Independent)
Jamie Carey: Carey, who is in her first year as an assistant coach at Colorado, brings with her experience from USA Basketball as well as the WNBA. Carey worked with USA Basketball from 2010-14, when she was the assistant director of the women’s USA national team. Prior to her time with USA Basketball, Carey established a career as a point guard in high school, college and professionally that is prolific.
Carey attended high school in Thornton, Colorado, where in 1999 she was awarded Gatorade’s Female Basketball Player of the Year award in Colorado and at the national level. A successful college career spanning two colleges, first Stanford from 1999-2002 and later Texas from 2002-2005, saw Carey take home awards such as the NCAA Woman of the Year in 2005 and the Jim Valvano Comeback Player of the Year in 2004. After college, Carey played in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun from 2005-08.
Like Benningfield, Carey has experience as a head coach at the high school level in Colorado. She was the coach at Legacy High School from 2008-10, and at Sand Creek High School from 2011-14. As a former point guard at the professional level, Carey brings an expertise that, as Lappe notes, has helped with the development of freshman point guard Brecca Thomas.
“Anybody can teach point guards skills and Jamie does a great job with that,” Lappe said. “But she also teaches the mentality. She teaches Brecca how to step onto the court, get your shoulders back, get your heads up. She wants our point guards to have the most confidence of anyone on the floor and bring it every day.”
As our week-long Colorado preview nears its end, don’t forget to keep checking CUIndependent.com as we preview the upcoming seasons for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The men’s team start their season off Friday at 6 p.m. against Drexel, while the women’s team squares off against North Dakota Saturday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the preseason WNIT. Both games are at home in the Coors Events Center.
Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu. Follow him on twitter @samrouthier.
