The University of Colorado men’s basketball team will go to Austin, Texas on Friday, March 22  to compete against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  The Buffs will enter the tournament as a No. 10 seed and the Illini have been selected as a No. 7 seed.

Xavier Johnson goes up for a layup past Arizona’s Soloman Hill on Thursday, March 14 at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. (Kai Casey/CU Independent File)

The Buffs finished the regular season with a 21-11 record after competing well in a tough Pac-12 conference.  They fell to Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament last week, 79-69.

The Fighting Illini ended with a 22-12 overall record in the regular season, and lost to Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten conference tournament.

Looking forward to Friday’s matchup, the Buffs should walk away with the decisive victory provided that they can prevent Illinois from lighting up from the 3-point range.  The Buffs can accomplish this feat if they play tight man-on-man defense and don’t give Illinois any opportunities to shoot from behind the arc.

After Illinois’ starting center left for the NBA last year, their performance in postseason play has significantly decreased.  If the Buffs can maintain the strong defense that they’ve had over the majority of the season, they should be able to push past this weakness in the Illini’s offense and come out with the win.

The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Miami-Pacific game, which will most likely be Miami.  After a stunning 27-point victory over Duke midway through the season, the Miami Hurricanes have climbed through the rankings and proven themselves as one of the nation’s top teams.

If the Buffs defeat Illinois and advance to the second round to face Miami, their NCAA appearance may end there.  Miami will be a tough team to beat, especially at this early stage of the tournament.  Anything can happen, though, they don’t call it “March Madness” for nothing.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

For senior guard Chucky Jeffery, basketball is not just a game, but a way of life. Sports have always been a huge part of her life. She played football for eight years as a child, but settled down with basketball when she realized that her dream was to play for the WNBA.

After her explosive career as a guard at Colorado, her dream is within reach.

“I think I just learned how to manage the game a little bit better—finding my opportunities to score, knowing when I need to go get a rebound or picking up defensively to help my team get into a better position to win the game,” Jeffery said.

(Video courtesy Rose Heaphy/Sports Mag)

As a senior, Jeffery carried her team. They finished the regular season 24-5 overall and 13-5 in Pac-12 conference play. She started every game this season and posted some impressive statistics. She achieved 380 points, 241 rebounds, 112 assists, 63 steals and 12 blocks. She was also named to the all-conference Pac-12 team for the second straight season.

The Buffaloes were ranked nationally for the majority of the season and ended up at No. 18 in the NCAA. They head to Seattle on Thursday to compete for the Pac-12 title, and Jeffery is confident that the team can run away with the victory.

“With our winning streak, we have a lot of confidence right now and we’re going to try to keep that going through the Pac-12,” Jeffery said. ”It’s going to be important for us in the NCAA tournament especially, where we already have a little bit of confidence with it being here, home in our own gym. I think that’s going to help us out a lot and playing teams like Stanford and [California] early on in the season helped us a lot. I think that’s one of the main reasons why we’re on one of these winning streaks is because we played tough, competitive teams early on. We know what it takes to win games, but then it’s also a downside to that to where we might not play to our potential against a certain opponent. If we have to see them again, we know what it’s going to take.”

Regardless of the team’s performance in the Pac-12 conference tournament, the Buffs will automatically advance to the NCAA tournament as a result of their outstanding regular season record and accomplishments.

When asked if she thinks the team can pull off some upsets and make a run in the NCAA tournament this year, Jeffery was confident.

“Definitely, I think we have the weapons, I think we have the players,” she said. “Thank goodness we’re staying healthy. We have enough players, we have the depth and we compete. I think we’re a good team, as long as we go out and execute, we can go out and make a huge run in this tournament.”

By the end of her college career, Jeffery became the first women’s basketball player in CU school history to accomplish 800 rebounds, 400 assists and 1,400 points. She did not stop there. Before the post-season of her final year in college, she had achieved 908 rebounds, 470 assists and 1,598 points in all.

Jeffery said a career in the WNBA is one of her dreams.

“I don’t necessarily know if I’m going to get drafted, but I definitely feel that I could have a shot at being in the WNBA,” she said. “That’s one of my dreams. That’s going to be huge, so that will be a big day for me.”

If she does get drafted this year, it does not matter to her where she ends up.

“I’m not a picky person,” she said. “Anywhere that a coach or a team is going to take me, I’m going to go. I would probably to go to Phoenix or L.A., somewhere where it’s really nice weather. I don’t like the cold too much, but like I said, where it’s a good team and where I can fit in well, I’d be more than happy to join.”

Jeffery is not done with college hoops yet, though. The team heads to Seattle this weekend to start the Pac-12 tournament. After getting a first round bye, Colorado awaits the winner of Oregon and Washington and will play in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament Friday night in Seattle.

Editor’s note: The Buffs lost to Stanford in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

No. 4 seed Colorado fell to No. 1 seed Stanford on Saturday after the Cardinal rallied in the second half to defeat the Buffs 61-47.

The Buffaloes got off to a good start in the first half after freshman forward Arielle Roberson scored a two-point jumper 11 seconds into the game. They maintained a small lead for the first 6 minutes of play until Stanford’s Mikaela Ruef tied the game with a free throw at the 13:49 mark, bringing the score to 7-7.

Junior guard Ashley Wilson makes her way down the court on a fast break against Washington State on Feb. 22, 2013. On Saturday, the Buffs lost to Stanford to end their run in the Pac-12 tournament. (Amy Leder/CU Independent File)

After exceptional offensive and defensive efforts by both teams, the game went back and forth for the remainder of the half and ended with Colorado slightly on top at 28-27.

Going into the second half, Colorado immediately capitalized on a three-point jumper by sophomore guard Lexy Kresl. Stanford responded with a two-point basket and a pair of free throws to tie the score at 31 with 18:21 left to play.

The score remained close for the next 5 minutes until Sara James’ three-point jumper gave the Cardinal the push it needed to go on a 9-0 streak.  With 11 minutes left in the game, Stanford had gained a 45-36 lead over Colorado.

The Buffs shot 25 percent from the field in the second half and they could not recover from Stanford’s streak as their lead continued to grow. The Cardinal took advantage of its 50 percent shooting and increased the lead by as much as 15 points with 2 minutes remaining.

Stanford defeated Colorado 61-47 with a huge effort by Chiney Ogwumike, who scored 25 points and had 19 rebounds and had three blocks. Senior guard Chucky Jeffery led the Buffaloes with 19 points and three rebounds.

With this victory, the Cardinal will advance to the Pac-12 championship game against UCLA.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

The Buffs traveled to Vermont this week as they competed in the 60th annual NCAA Championship and contended well as a team in each race. They finished in first place and brought home a championship in the men’s 10-kilometer race.

After the first day of competition, the Buffs had fared well in their first set of races. The team finished in third place with 175.5 points behind defending champion Vermont University’s 227 and Denver University’s 210.5.

Freshman Brooke Wales took second place in the giant slalom with a 2:05.93 time after DU’s Kristine Haugen finished only a second ahead of her, earning a first-team All-America honors in the process. Freshman Thea Grosvold came in at tenth with 2:08.05 followed by fellow freshman Jessica Honkonen, who finished 16th at 2:08.33.

The three freshmen improved their seeds after the first race as Wales moved up to 5th, Honkonen moved up to 13th and Grosvold tied at 15th place. Wales tied 1991 skier Andreja Rojs with the best finish by a woman at CU in the first NCAA race of her college career.

The men had similar success in their giant slalom as freshman Henrik Gunnarsson and junior Andreas Haug both tied for 12th with a time of 2:03.97. With this finish, Haug advanced to a 23 seed whereas Gunnarsson moved up to the 20th spot.

The Buffs moved into second place on day two of the competition but couldn’t overcome Vermont, who extended its lead to 389 total points.  By the end of the day, the Buffs posted 368.5 and held an 18.5-point lead over third-place Utah, who finished with 350 points overall.

Sophomore Rune Oedegaard finished first in the men’s 10K classic at 26:00.20 and earned his first major championship victory of his college career. This marked the fourth time in school history that a Buffalo skier won a classical race in the NCAA.

Despite Oedegaard’s win, the Buffs had 91 points in the men’s team race but fell behind Alaska-Anchorage, who earned 108 points.

Senior Joanne Reid carried the women’s team with her fourth place finish at 15:44.20 in the 5K classical race. Freshman Maria Nordstrom followed in sixth place with a 16:03.30 time and senior Eliska Hajkova came in at 16th with a 16:24.50 time.

In the third day of the competition, the Buffs held on to their second place position but fell farther back from Vermont in the scoring. After the first six races of eight, Vermont led with 564 points and Colorado trailed with 510.

The Buffs dominated in the last day of the competition, thanks to an outstanding performance by the women in the 15K race and Oedegaard in the men’s 20K. For the women, Reid won with 27 seconds to spare before teammate Hajkova placed second behind her. Oedegaard finished second in the men’s race, losing by only 0.06 of a second.

The team overcame a 54-point deficit from the day before and ran away with their 19th NCAA title and their 7th since the sport went co-ed.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

If you’re an avid college basketball fan, then you probably look forward to March all year long. It’s that time of year again, let the madness begin.

The women’s Pac-12 basketball tournament kicks off on Thursday at the Key Arena in Seattle, Wash. and with so many teams close in record, it will be one of the most exciting conference tournaments of the year.

Find out what will happen in the women’s Pac-12 tournament according to the CUI. (Anne Rumbles/CU Independent File)

USC and Oregon State face off in the first game of the tournament at 1 p.m. on Thursday. Although the Trojans — 10-19 — and the Beavers –10-20– have nearly identical NCAA records, USC is favored based on their conference record. The Trojans have a 7-11 Pac-12 record while the Beavers managed only a 4-14.

Next is the Utah-Arizona matchup at 3:30 p.m., which probably will not be as close as the game before it. The Utes holds a better record overall at 17-12 (8-10 Pac-12) as opposed to the Wildcats at 12-17 (4-14 Pac-12) so the Utes are heavily favored to win this contest.

Washington State takes on Arizona State later that night, in what should be a close game. The Cougars have a slightly better record in Pac-12 play at 6-12 over the Sun Devils’ 5-13. Washington State has gone cold after ending the season with a 5-game losing streak though, so the momentum will most likely be in Arizona State’s favor on Thursday night.

The women will end the night with a matchup between Washington and Oregon with Washington coming in as the favorite to win. The Huskies currently stand at fifth place in the Pac-12 with an 11-7 record in conference play and a 19-10 record overall. The Ducks currently sit in last place in the Pac-12 with a 2-16 record in the conference and a 4-26 record overall. Washington will be expected to win but anything can happen in the postseason.

Day two of the tournament will bring more excitement as the top four seeds start play. First up we’ll see the winner of the USC-Oregon game take on the No. 2 seed, California.

There’s no denying that Cal is one of the best teams in the nation after being ranked number five in the AP poll this week, making them the easy choice to win this game and a favorite to win the tournament.

Next, the winner of the Utah-Arizona game will face No. 3 UCLA.  The Bruins finished the season 14-4 in the Pac-12 and 23-6 overall, which is extraordinary compared to Utah’s record in both fields. UCLA will be heavily favored in this matchup.

After that No. 1 Stanford will take on the winner of the Arizona State-Washington game from the day before. Although ASU will likely advance to the second round, Stanford is the best team in the Pac-12 this year.

Finally, No. 4 Colorado will battle the winner of the Washington-Oregon game. CU had an explosive season after finishing 24-5 and they will be the slight favorite to beat the Huskies or Ducks in the second round.

If the favorites prevail in the first two rounds, Cal and UCLA will face each other, followed by Colorado and Stanford. After finishing the regular season with 14- and 15-game win streaks, Stanford and California are favored to come out on top.

The battle for the Pac-12 title will be extremely close and could go to any of the top four teams, but Cal and Stanford are the favorites to win it all. Although the records of the two teams are nearly identical in the conference and in the NCAA, Cal has Layshia Clarendon on their side. The senior guard averages 15.6 points per game overall and 17.6 points per game in conference play, and is a candidate for the Pac-12 player of the year. She is also contending for the women’s basketball player of the year and Naismith awards.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

The Colorado ski team increased their lead throughout the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships in Bozeman, Montana over the weekend and went home with a decisive 905.5-point victory.

On Friday, the women’s team swept the 5-kilometer classic Nordic race with senior Joanne Reid in first place at 16:35.9, senior Eliska Hajkova in second place at 16:45.5 and freshman Maria Nordstroem at 16:51.9.

This marked the first time in school history that a women’s Nordic team has finished with a 1-2-3 sweep in any event since the addition of women’s skiing in 1983. And they didn’t stop there.

The women snagged their second straight 1-2-3 sweep in the 15-kilometer race on Saturday with Hajkova coming in at first, Reid at second and Nordstroem at third.

After her phenomenal performance in the 5K race and in turn her eighth win in nine races, Reid was recognized as the Rocky Mountain Women’s Nordic Most Valuable Skier.

At the end of the first day, the women’s team won by a margin of 141-90, largely in thanks to their 5K Nordic sweep.  Utah claimed the men’s 10-kilometer race with a score of 125, only 11 points over the Buffs men’s team, who finished Friday with 114.

The Buffs finished the first day with 255 points to Utah’s 215 and widened that 40-point lead to 86 the second day, finishing Saturday with 711 points.

Utah’s men’s team claimed the second-day victory  for the 20-kilometer race after four of their skiers placed in the top five with the exception of CU’s junior Rune Oedegaard, who finished second.

After a difficult giant slalom challenge, the men’s team had two skiers finish in the top ten with junior Andreas Haug taking fifth place at 1:39.47 and freshman Cameron Smith taking eighth in 1:39.80.  First place went to New Mexico’s Christopher Acosta, who finished in 1:38.39.

The women achieved a similar feat in their giant slalom race with freshman Brooke Wales coming in fourth place at 1:40.75 and freshman Jessica Honkonen coming in at ninth with 1:41.65.  The race marked the fourth time that Wales has finished in the top five this season and the eighth time that Honkonen has finished in the top ten.

Although Sunday’s races didn’t go as smoothly for the Buffs, they managed to take advantage of Saturday’s 86-point cushion to pull out a win at the meet, scoring 905.5 points overall.

The men’s slalom team finished with two skiers in the top ten with Haug in seventh at 1:51.32 and with Smith in tenth at 1:51.54.

Honkonen led the women’s slalom race for CU after finishing in fourth place at 1:39.35 followed by freshman Thea Grosvold, who came in ninth at 1:40.68.

This victory marked the 12th time in coach Richard Rokos’ 23-year career at CU that the team has won the Rocky Mountain Championships. Under Rokos, the Buffs have won 60 of 139 meets, including six NCAA titles, and have come in second place 45 times.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

No. 20 Colorado women’s basketball hosted the Washington Huskies on Sunday afternoon, senior day for the Buffs, as they honored senior guards Chucky Jeffery and Meagan and Brenna Malcolm-Peck.

They couldn’t have asked for a better final game after a thrilling comeback by the Huskies tested Colorado’s offense and defense. The Buffs managed to pull out a victory with a final score of 68-61.

Senior Chucky Jeffery looks toward the basket as she makes her way across the court during the Buffs’ game against Stanford. The team defeated University of Washington on Sunday 68-61. (Amy Leder/CU Independent)

By the end of her college career at home, Jeffery became the first CU women’s basketball player in history to reach over 1,500 points, 800 rebounds, and 300 assists. By the end of Sunday’s game, those statistics stood at 1,729 points, 1,123 rebounds and 357 assists.

Freshman forward Arielle Roberson helped the Buffs to an early lead Sunday when she sunk a 3-point basket in the first 27 seconds of play, but Washington quickly closed the gap with two free throws made by Jazmine Davis.

The Buffs’ offense slowed down and Aminah Williams of Washington grabbed two consecutive layups to increase the Huskies’ lead by four. After a pair of layups by Jeffery and sophomore forward Jen Reese, Colorado regained the lead with 15:18 left in the half.

The lead shifted back and forth mid-first half until a two-point jumper by freshman guard Kyleesha Weston gave the women the push they needed to finish the half with a 19-8 run in the final ten minutes. Colorado led 36-25 at the half.

Jeffery left the game with an ankle injury in the first minute of play in the second half. Washington took advantage of her absence by going on a 6-0 run until Roberson stepped up and scored three consecutive baskets to force Washington to take a timeout.

When the teams returned to the court, Washington’s Kristi Kingma responded to Roberson’s streak with a streak of her own, scoring eight points in under three minutes. Kingma’s contribution along with a three-point jumper by Mercedes Wetmore pushed the Huskies to within one point of the Buffs.

The women pulled ahead, though, when Jeffery returned and helped increase the lead by nine points.

Washington came back again and cut CU’s lead to two points with just under three minutes left in the game after a two-point jumper by Davis, bringing the score to 59-57.

Despite a big Washington comeback in the second half, Colorado was able to pull out a 68-61 victory after going on a 9-4 run to finish out the game.

“I’d have to give Washington a lot of credit, they kept fighting, they kept coming back at us in the second half,” Head Coach Linda Lappe said.  “We knew they would. They can score the basketball, and they can score in bunches.  At the same time, though, I liked how our team stepped up and never gave up the lead. Every time they made a run and got it close, I felt that we responded in a great way.”

Senior Kristi Kingma led Washington with 19 points with the help of senior Aminah Williams, junior Talia Walton and sophomore Mercedes Wetmore.  Roberson led Colorado with 16 points and was aided by Jen Reese’s 11 points and Brittany Wilson’s 13.

Jeffery finished her final home game with an outstanding 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists, earning her 29th career double-double and her 9th of the season.

Chucky Jeffery along with the Malcolm-Peck twins will definitely be missed by the team and by the fans.

“I’ve played behind [Chucky], she’s been a great leader,” junior guard Brittany Wilson said.

The Buffs head to Oregon next weekend to take on Oregon on Friday and Oregon State University on Sunday.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

The CU men’s basketball team took on the Utah Utes at home on Thursday night in their second meeting of the season but this time the game had a very different outcome. The Buffs beat the Utes 60-50.

In their first match at Utah, Colorado lost by 3 points after coming back from a 22-point deficit midway through the second half. In Thursday’s rematch, the momentum shifted in Colorado’s favor.

Utah started the game with a 2-3 zone defense and Colorado utilized a man-on-man formation, which proved difficult for the Buffs without the help of starting center Josh Scott.

Coach Boyle benched the 6’10″ freshman forward after he suffered a concussion during Saturday’s home game against Arizona State.  With Scott’s absence, the sizable height difference in the paint was an obstacle for CU as they fought to keep Utah’s 6’10″ center Jason Washburn away from the basket.

After a back-and-forth first half, the score remained close with almost equally matched shooting and defense. At the 9:40 mark in the first half, Colorado freshman forward Xavier Johnson scored a 3-point basket to tie the game at 17, but Utah wasn’t about to give up just yet.

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The Utes went on a 9-4 run until the Buffs responded a 9-2 run themsleves. With 1:22 remaining in the half, Colorado regained the lead off of a 3-point bucket by Spencer Dinwiddie, who added to their advantage by sinking a crucial free throw with 5 seconds left on the clock.

The second half picked up right where the first half left off with a very tight-knit game until the Buffs offense significantly increased.

“Our pressure defense really got us going; we created some offense with our defense.” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. After an 8-3 run during the first four minutes of play, the Utes were forced to call a timeout, but that didn’t stop the Buffs from dominating the Utes in the next 4 minutes.

Askia Booker’s layup with 12:22 remaining in the game gave Colorado their biggest lead at 47-36. Utah responded narrowing the lead with Jordan Loveridge’s layup to 5 points with 6:26 left on the clock. CU dominated the Utes 9-4 for the rest of the game and finished with a ten point lead.

“We won this game in the second half, holding them to 31% and out rebounding them by 8,” Boyle Said.

Junior forward Andre Roberson, who currently leads the NCAA in rebounding, earned his 1,000th career rebound among his 11 boards on the night making him the second-best rebounder in CU history behind Stephane Pelle, who had 1,054 rebounds in his time at Colorado.

“Andre Roberson is the best defender in America. He’s without a doubt the best defender in the Pac 12.” Coach Boyle noted.

Spencer Dinwiddie lead the Buffs with 13 points and was aided by an additional 12 from Sabatino Chen and 10 from Andre Roberson. Loveridge carried Utah with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

The Buffs will take the next few days off before heading to California to face the Stanford Cardinals on February 27th.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.

The University of Colorado women’s tennis team traveled to Santa Barbara, Calif., on Friday to take on the Loyola Marymount Lions and complete a four-game road trip in their seventh match of the season. The Buffs advanced to a record of 4-3 after defeating the Lions 6-1 this weekend.

Julyette Steur returns the ball during a match against LSU on Jan. 22, 2012. Steur completed a two-set victory against LMU on Friday. (Kai Casey/CU Independent file)

With the help of a combined five wins by the doubles teams Julyette Steur and Erin Sanders, and Winde Janssens and Carla Manzi Tenorio, CU earned the doubles point at Loyola Marymount. While Steur and Sanders won their fourth game straight, Janssens and Tenorio continued an incredible seven-game winning streak for this spring and remain undefeated in doubles play.

The girls dominated in individual play as Julyette Steur, Dhany Quevedo and Mazy Watrous all completed two-set victories. For the first time during her career at CU, freshman Quevedo completed a match without losing a single game. Freshman Watrous earned her first win of the season after defeating Marymount’s Lisa Piller 6-1, 6-0.

Junior Winde Janssens beat Tory Parravi 7-6, 6-4 and continues to keep her record nearly flawless with the exception of one loss in doubles play earlier this spring. Senior Erin Sanders claimed a victory in a tough battle against Miya Jin to advance her career total to 5-5 in three-set matches.

The team will take the next week off before hosting Northern Arizona at the Millennium Hotel Harvest House in Boulder at 10 a.m. on Monday. Following the home match, the Buffs will travel to Laramie to take on the University of Wyoming at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.noe@colorado.edu.