Long Beach State Defeats Colorado 62-56

Colorado women's basketball closed out non-conference play with a 62-54 loss to a rugged Long Beach State.

Long Beach State pressured CU into 25 turnovers with an active and athletic zone defense.  The 49ers led by as much as 13 points, but the Buffs fought back before LBSU sunk their free throws to end the game.

"You gotta give it to Long Beach State, they are now 13-1 for a reason. They're tough and they make key plays when they need to," said Coach Linda Lappe.

The Buffs committed a season-high of 25 turnovers with the absence of their starting point guard Lexy Kresl.  However, the Buffs post play was able to keep them in the game.

Forwards Jamee Swan and Zoe Beard-Fails scored 15 and 14 points respectively.  Jen Reese also added nine points.  All three Buff post players made key plays down the stretch to put the Buffs within striking distance.  But in the end, Colorado could not overcome a slow offensive start.

"I think part of it was them, but also part of it was us. The way we handled their aggressiveness; we didn't attack it when we needed to attack it," commented Lappe on the reasons for her team's struggles against Long Beach's aggressive zone defense.

Colorado ends non-conference play with a 7-4 record, and they open Pac-12 play on a road trip with games at No. 15 Stanford on January 3 and California on January 5.