Colorado freshman guard Haley Smith drives past an Arizona defender during a 68-47 win on Jan. 24, 2014. (Nigel Amstock/CU Independent)
At last Wednesday’s Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Media Day in San Francisco, the University of Colorado was ranked 10th out of 12 in the Pac-12 preseason coaches’ poll.
That’s not very good.
But with the beginning of their preseason schedule still ahead of them, head coach Linda Lappe’s Buffaloes can use the poll as motivation rather than predestination for the upcoming season.
“It was hard to rank the teams, because you look down the board and one through 12 are all really talented,” Lappe said at Media Day. “Every single night will be tough.”
Colorado was 6-12 in the Pac-12 last season, earning them the ninth spot in the conference (albeit with the same conference record as No. 10 Oregon). When compared to their 13-3 non-conference record from 2013-14, that certainly sheds a harsh light on the Buffaloes’ chances of making some noise in the conference this season. But you don’t need to look hard to find some hope for the Buffs in their upcoming 2014-15 campaign.
Last year the conference schedule intersected with injury season for Colorado, with then-senior guard Brittany Wilson, senior guard Jasmine Sborov, senior guard Lexy Kresl and senior forward Jen Reese among those missing games with injuries against Pac-12 opponents. Junior forward Arielle Roberson may already be out for the entire upcoming season, but Colorado has the benefit of this preseason and the upcoming non-conference schedule to overcome that loss.
It is hard to imagine the Buffs running into injury trouble to the degree they did last year during Pac-12 play. A healthier team undoubtedly leads to a more consistent team, which is something Colorado desperately needs after managing only one back-to-back win streak during their conference schedule last season.
Injuries aside, last season’s losses were tough, yet evenly matched. Again and again Colorado fell victim to last-minute deficits. Six different conference losses were by six points or less, with another being only seven. In games like the 57-55 loss to the University of California on Jan. 10, a single possession for either team might have changed that match up from an L to a W for Colorado. Also note that Cal went on to place in the Pac-12 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. From that game alone, it is clear that there is more than meets the eye statistically for this Colorado team.
If Colorado can find a way to string together consecutive wins in conference play this season, there is no question that they will far exceed their expected ranking in the preseason coaches’ poll. All it might take is the few lucky bounces that the Buffs never got last season.
Colorado’s preseason schedule is right around the corner, beginning with their exhibition at home against Colorado State-Pueblo on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Contact CUIndependent Staff Writer Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter @samrouthier.
