Colorado
12-0,1-0Pac-12
Utah
7-5,0-1Pac-12
Sherrod Shines in Pac-12 Opener
December 29, 2019 | Women's Basketball
CU improves to 12-0 on the season
SALT LAKE CITY — The streak continued for the Colorado women's basketball team on Sunday. The Buffaloes held on in the fourth quarter, picking up the 80-70 win over Utah to start the Pac-12 season.
The win for the Buffs marks the 12th of the season, matching last year's total for the entire season. It also marks CU's first road win since beating Utah, 69-65, on Feb. 1, 2018.
Four Buffs hit double figures on the day. Freshman Jaylyn Sherrod had her best game as a Buffs. She recorded her first double-double, finishing with 19 points and 10 assists. The 5-foot-7 point guard also fought for seven rebounds. Mya Hollingshed hit key 3-pointers down the stretch, helping her to 17 points. Emma Clarke and Aubrey Knight finished with 14 and 10, respectively.
The Buffs never trailed in the contest and shot 48.3 percent (29-60) for the game. The Buffs opened the game shooting 57.1 percent (8-14) in the first quarter, helping the team establish an early cushion. Utah finished the day shooting 43.9 percent (25-57).
The Buffs were unable to solve Utah's Lola Pendande. She was 9-for-9 at the end of the third quarter, finishing with a game-high 20 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs used the deep ball to their advantage early on. CU started 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Clarke started it off hitting CU's opening 3. Charlotte Whittaker, Hollingshed and Sherrod all hit from distance, helping Colorado to a 12-0 run and a 19-6 lead. The Utes fought back with a 9-0 run of their own to cut the CU lead to four, but baskets from Hollingshed and Sherrod but the Buffs back on track before the quarter's end, 23-15.
Annika Jank hit back-to-back jumpers and Knight got a putback layup in the early moments of the second quarter, giving CU a 12-point advantage, 29-17. The Utes shot 41.2 percent (7-17) in the period and used a 7-0 run midway through the quarter to get back within four, 32-28. Clarke and Hollingshed answered back for the Buffs scoring in the front end of a 10-2 close to the half, giving Colorado a 42-30 lead at the break.
Colorado extended its lead to 16, 46-30, in the early minutes of the third quarter. That's when Utes got hot. Utah outscored the Buffs 28-19 in the period, shooting 64.7 percent (11-17). Utah was able to put together separate runs, slimming the CU lead down to one, 53-52, with 2:14 on the clock. The Buffs responded with an 8-2 run over the next 1:03 to extend the lead back to seven, 61-54. Utah's pressure in the final seconds led to a 4-0 run, cutting the Colorado lead back to three, 61-58.
Utah tied the game at 63 inside the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. The Buffs dug their heels in and delivered down the stretch. Colorado opened the final quarter 4-of-5 shooting and held Utah to just 1-for-5. CU used an 11-2 run, with key contributions from Tuitele, Sherrod and Clarke, to get back in control 74-65. CU shot 70.0 percent in the final period (7-10) and finished the quarter on a 17-7 run. Sherrod commanded most of the attention in the quarter, scoring seven points and hitting 3-fo-4 free throws in the frame.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado dominated the rebound column on Sunday. The Buffs outboarded the Utes, 40-27. CU led 9-0 in second-chance points at the half and finished with the 13-7 edge.
NOTES: CU's 12-0 start is the first since the 2011-12 season…it is also CU's first 1-0 start to the Pac-12 season since 2011-12...Colorado hit 8's and shot 47.1 percent from deep…The buffs scored 21 points off Utah's turnovers…the Buffs now have nine wins over 10 points or more…CU Scored 19 points in each of the second, third and fourth quarters.
NEXT UP: The Buffs continue on the road for their next two games. Colorado will be at No. 2 Oregon on Friday and No. 3 Oregon State on Sunday.
QUOTES
Head Coach JR Payne
On Colorado's ability to fight
"I just love that that's what our team makeup is. We've always wanted to have those teams that just never quit, never stop and never stop competing. That's not easy to do in this conference when everyone is so good and so well-coached. This game was no different. I'm really proud of how resilient we were."
On answering Utah's third quarter
"I think the New Orleans tournament really helped prepare us for these kinds of games. We were down. We knew Utah's been down in some games and has come back every single time to make it a game or win. We knew they were going to make a run we knew it would be with 3-points because that's really what they do. We just stayed together and we executed down the stretch when we needed to. I thought our young players, managed the clock pretty well at the end of the game."
On Jaylyn Sherrod
"It's interesting. Jaylyn watched so many Pac 12 games last year as a high school kid that she's prepared for this. She's totally fearless. She's excited. She's a type of person that rises to the challenge and she certainly did that tonight."
On matching last year's win total
"The interesting thing is every single night we have something to prove. No one thought that we would be in a position to be successful like we have been so far. I think that chip on our shoulder is large enough to continue to fight and continue to compete throughout Pac-12 play."
