Colorado women’s basketball preview: Washington
FRIDAY: Colorado (9-8, 2-4 Pac-12) at Washington (14-4, 3-3), 8 p.m., at Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle.
BROADCAST: Television – Pac-12 Networks. Radio — KKZN (760 AM).
COACHES: Colorado — Linda Lappe (fifth year, 92-60; 142-96 career). Washington — Mike Neighbors (second year, 34-18).
PROBABLE STARTERS: Colorado — G Lexy Kresl, 5-11, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.0 apg); G Jasmine Sborov, 5-11, Sr. (6.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg); G Haley Smith, 6-1, So. (11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg); F Jen Reese, 6-2, Sr. (14.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg); F Jamee Swan, 6-2, Jr. (12.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg). Washington — G Kelsey Plum, 5-8, So. (24.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg;); G Brianna Ruiz, 5-10, Fr. (5.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg); F Jazmine Davis, 5-7, Sr. (15.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.8 apg); F Talia Walton, 6-2, Jr. (13.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg); F Aminah Williams, 6-0 Sr. (9.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg).
NOTABLE: CU has won two straight for the first time since early December. …The Buffs are 2-4 on the road. …CU is committing 18 turnovers per game but is allowing opponents to shoot just 28 percent from behind the 3-point line. …The Buffs held Utah to 54 points last time out. It was the first time they have held an opponent under 62 points since a mid-December game at Missouri. …Washington coach Mike Neighbors was a CU assistant coach under Kathy McConnell-Miller. …Washington guards Kelsey Plum and Jazmine Davis were both named to the preseason Naismith Award watch list. Plum was named to the Wooden Award midseason top 20 on Wednesday. …The Huskies are 5-1 at home and they average 78.8 points per game while allowing opponents 65.4 points per game.
When Linda Lappe first saw Haley Smith playing basketball in high school, she recognized raw talent and a player with skill, but she wasn’t seeing a star – at least not yet.
One word summed up Smith but it was a summation Lappe believed in enough to offer a scholarship to the 6-foot-1 wing.
Potential.
“I remember in high school I hated that word potential because it meant that you weren’t there yet, but now it’s a more positive term, definitely,” said Smith, a sophomore on the Colorado women’s basketball team coached by Lappe. “When people see potential, especially with the coaching staff, it means they’re going to push me to reach that new level. I think it’s really cool to be able to hear that the potential has raised. It means we don’t have a ceiling. We can just keep pushing and getting better and then move on to the next thing.”
Smith is blossoming into quite a player midway through her second season in Boulder. She is playing with an unmistakable confidence that wasn’t there when she was thrust into a starting role in the second half of her freshman year because of injuries to teammates.
She is the Buffs’ third-leading scorer and rebounder heading into this week’s road trip back home to Washington where she grew up. Smith is a product of Sammamish, Wash., and is only the second player in the history of the CU women’s program to hail from that state. The Buffs take a two-game winning streak into a game at Washington on Friday (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and then travel to play at Washington State on Sunday.
While Lappe used to think of Smith in terms of potential, now she uses a different word more often than not to describe the sophomore.
Consistent
Lappe said Smith worked hard in offseason to get into better shape and become stronger. She also worked on developing a better outside shot. All of those efforts are coming together to produce a player who not only looks like she belongs at the Pac-12 level, but one who looks capable of thriving here.
Smith is averaging 11 points and six rebounds per game, more than doubling her output at this time last season.
“I’ve just tried recently to try to let the game come to me,” Smith said. “There was a couple games when I just tried to force it too much and it didn’t feel easy. I think that’s not really when basketball is the most fun and when you’re the most successful. Recently, I’ve been working on just playing and just letting it come.”
Lappe said she has seen Smith raise her level of play on the defensive end in the past 10 games and is now trying to get her to drive and put the ball on the floor more within the offense. She has never had to coach the intangibles when it comes to Smith.
“Anytime there is a stoppage of play and anytime somebody does something well, Haley is the first one who gets over to that player and shows genuine excitement and enthusiasm,” Lappe said. “It’s not something you always see live, but it’s definitely something you always see in watching film. It’s her developing into a leader.”
Last week at Utah early in the second half, Smith lost the shoe on her right foot and played through it on an offensive and defensive possession before a stoppage in play allowed her to regroup. Smith has garnered a lot of attention for how she didn’t seem to be fazed by her missing shoe. The segment was featured on the Pac-12 Conference website earlier this week.
It’s not a surprise to those who know her that Smith remained focused in the moment. She is one of the best students on the team and is majoring in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in biomedical engineering. She hopes to help design and build better prosthetics for people in the future.
Last fall she and some of her classmates in an engineering projects class designed a machine for the Longmont Fire Department that would help firefighters pull hoses around corners more easily.
“It was a really fun, rewarding experience,” Smith said.
Lappe said she still sees Smith as a player with a high ceiling and someone who has a long way to go to reach her potential. She said that doesn’t mean Smith hasn’t already come a long way. Rather, the improvement Smith has made now has Lappe thinking she got a steal when she decided to continue recruiting that player she first saw back in high school.
“What she’s going to be able to do by the time she’s a senior is pretty scary,” Lappe said.
Kyle Ringo: ringok@dailycamera.com, on Twitter: @kyleringo
