Contact Cu Independent Sports Editor Sam Routhier at samuel.routhier@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter @samrouthier
The Colorado sports information department announced this morning that Colorado women’s basketball head coach Linda Lappe has left the position after almost six years in the role. According to the press release, the decision was reached mutually after discussion between Lappe and Colorado athletic director Rick George.
Lappe’s departure from the program follows a dismal season for the Buffaloes, in which the team had a 7-26 record overall, and a 2-16 mark in conference play. Colorado was winless on the road this season, with an 0-13 record overall in games played outside of Boulder.
The 2015-16 season was the culmination of a three-year slide from the Buffaloes’ 2012-13 season that featured a 25-7 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. Colorado’s record suffered in each subsequent season, with a 19-15 overall record in 2013-14, and a 15-17 mark in 2014-15.
A main reason for the team’s struggle in recent years was a lack of veteran presence. The 2014-15 team featured only five upperclassmen, one of whom, Arielle Roberson, missed the season with an ACL tear and chose to transfer to West Virginia for her final season of college eligibility.
This year, Colorado’s roster was further devoid of veteran experience, as senior forward Jamee Swan was the only senior on the entire roster. Swan and junior forward Haley Smith were the team’s only consistent upperclassman starters, with junior guard Lauren Huggins and junior forward Zoe Beard-Fails the only other upperclassmen with significant rotation roles.
Freshmen guards Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson each started 20 or more games, and sophomore guard Brecca Thomas and freshman forward Makenzie Ellis each appeared in 30 games and averaged at least 16 minutes per game.
In her five years as head coach of Colorado, Lappe’s teams amassed a 105-92 record.
Lappe is a Colorado alumna and played for the women’s basketball team between 1998 and 2003. Before taking the head coaching job at CU, Lappe was the head coach at Metro State in Denver from 2007 through 2010, and an assistant at Colorado State and Drake.
