Colorado Falters Early, Loses 90-84 To UCLA

Colorado went down big early to UCLA, but they were able to storm back into the game before ultimately falling to the Bruins 90-84.

Colorado went down by 21 points in the first 12 minutes of the game, but through a career-high 30 points from Jen Reese and a fast-paced offense the Buffaloes made a close game of it. In the end, the slow start doomed CU.

"I really liked the fight in our team, I liked how we competed. It was just the matter of a slow start," said Coach Linda Lappe on the loss.

UCLA shot an impressive 60.6% from the field in the first half, and they had five different players score in double digits.

After going down by 21 points, CU settled into the game in large part due to point guard Lexy Kresl's play to counteract UCLA's zone defense.  Kresl finished with 13 points.

Jen Reese led the team in scoring and was able to score her 1,000^th point in her college career. Reese and Haley Smith, who scored 19 points, found open spots in UCLA's zone to provide the scoring in the Buff's comeback.

"They (UCLA) were having trouble guarding us in the middle, so we had some of those easy points," said Smith.

A controversial charge call against Jamee Swan gave momentum back to the Bruins, and they were able to see off the game.

"I very easily could have called a time out, so I'll take the blame for that," said Lappe.

The loss puts CU at 7-8 on the season and 0-4 in Pac-12 play.  However, Lappe is confident that her team will be able to turn it around and go on a run after her team's second half performance.

"We finally found our groove. It was fun to see our players step up and make big plays," said Lappe.