It was a picture perfect ending in the Buffs’ final home game this season and more significantly, the final game at the Coors Events Center for seniors Lexy Kresl, Jen Reese, and Jasmine Sborov.
After a sloppy start to the first half, the University of Colorado women’s basketball team fought back and beat Oregon 84-69.
The first ten minutes of the game were ugly. The Buffs gave up some easy offensive rebounds to the Ducks and struggled offensively themselves. They seemed unable to find an answer for junior forward Jillian Alleyne, who scored a game high 21 points.
Sborov commented on the slow start after the game, saying “we talked during timeouts and just kept talking about changing our mindsets and attacking. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, so we knew we had to come in with an aggressive, attacking, defensive rebound-oriented game.”
With about 12 minutes left in the first half, the Buffs were down by 13 and it seemed that it was only going to get worse. But the Buffs mounted a furious comeback to take a 38-36 lead by halftime.
During the opening minutes of the second half, the lead changed a few times, but it was evident that the Buffs were focused and playing as a unit. They started to pick apart the Ducks’ defense and take bigger and bigger leads.
Colorado’s seniors all posted double digit point totals in their final regular season home games. Kresl dropped a team high 16 points, Reese had 15, and Sborov scored 13. They were aided by junior forward Jamee Swan, who contributed 15 points herself.
After the game, Kresl, Reese, and Sborov delivered very touching speeches on the court. They thanked the coaches, their teammates, their parents, etc. but it was clear just how much the University of Colorado and the women’s basketball team means to them.
“(Tonight was) the last time we stepped out on our home floor- it was just a special moment between us three and Coach Lappe,” Kresl said. “She just couldn’t stop telling us how proud of us she was.”
When asked about how surreal of a feeling it was to have played their final game at Coors Events Center, all three had the same reaction. They all had a very deep, reflective looks on their faces and even so, they only answered in a few words such as “unreal” and “it’s a crazy feeling.”
With the win, the Buffs improve to 12-15 on the season and 5-11 in Pac-12 play, which will put them in ninth place in the conference. They head to Arizona for their final two games of the regular season, and face Arizona this Friday in Tucson. Tipoff is at 6 pm.
Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Justin Guerriero at Justin.Guerriero@colorado.edu.
