Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
1-0,0-0Pac-12
New Mexico State
0-1,0-0WAC
Miller's Career-Day Leads Buffs in Opener
November 07, 2022 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – Senior Quay Miller made the most of her first career start in a Colorado uniform on Monday. The reigning Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year totaled career-highs in points (22) and rebounds (17) in the Buffaloes' season-opening 85-55 win over New Mexico State at the CU Events Center.
"I wouldn't say anything got into me," Miller said about her performance. "We prepare [the same]. My coaches and teammates feed me the confidence to go do what I did. I don't think it was anything special about this game. I just did what we prepared for all week."
The Buffs shot 57.4% on the afternoon and went 50% (6-12) from behind the 3-point line. Miller and freshman Jada Wynn each made two 3's to lead the charge.
"We're really happy with the outcome," head coach JR Payne said after the win. "I'm happy with how we played. Sometimes you win and you think we have so much to work on, and of course, we have lots to work on still – but I'm really proud of how we've played. We tried some different lineups and people executed. In that second quarter, we didn't play very well, but our bounce back after the second half I thought showed growth very quickly. Overall, great start to the season."
Senior Jaylyn Sherrod was CU's only other scorer to hit double figures (11) as the team dished out 19 assists to 11 different contributors. All 13 players were able to get into the contest, helping the bench outscore NMSU 27-6.
"I want everyone to play every minute of every game," Payne added. "If there was a way I could get everybody to play 30 minutes a night I would love that. Everyone obviously played today and everyone seemed prepared to play and came in and contributed. I thought these guys [Miller and Sherrod] did a great job of keeping us calm and keeping us in the action. The new players came in and brought great energy and it's going to take some time to figure out a really clean rotation but I thought everybody played really well today."
New Mexico State had three players in double figures, led by Soufia Inoussa's 15-point effort.
How it Happened
The Aggies put the Buffs on their heels at the start of the afternoon. NMSU opened the first 3:41 with a 6-0 run as the CU missed its first four shots at the start.
Aaronette Vonleh got the scoring started for Colorado, closing the Aggies' run and turning the tables on the day. The Buffs went on a 21-0 run over the next five and half minutes, capped off by a Frida Formann triple. Miller totaled nine points in the run and the Buffs' defense locked down the opposing basket, holding the Aggies to 0-for-6 shooting in the stretch.
"I feel like every first game of the season, people have jitters in general," Sherrod noted. "I think that we had that but I think we came together well. I think we all stuck together. We didn't get too frantic about it. It was just staying together as a team and knowing that it happens; teams go on runs. It's just how we respond at the end of the day."
The Aggies outscored the Buffs 20-15 in the second quarter to get back to within eight, 36-28, at the half. CU turned the ball over seven times in the frame, leading to 12 NMSU points.
"We definitely will watch that second quarter and really try to evaluate what exactly went wrong," Payne explained. " Where could we have sort of stopped the bleeding and things like that? But they're [NMSU] a really good, scrappy, gritty team. I think during that stretch, we had a few turnovers, a couple of uncontested 3s and just got kind of discombobulated. I thought the second half we really tried to prioritize spacing, keeping things clean offensively and when we did that, I thought we got much better looks when we were able to open it up again."
Sherrod and Miller accounted for the first two baskets to open the third quarter, getting CU's lead back up to 12. NMSU got back within 11 with just under three minutes to play in the quarter, 49-38, but that would be the closest they would get the rest of the day.
The Buffs slammed the door shut with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter that grew CU's advantage to 72-47. Colorado got 11 of its 29 four-quarter points from off the bench and dominated in the paint with 16 points in the closing quarter.
Up Next
The Buffs will host Jackson State on Saturday (2 p.m. MT) to open the Preseason WNIT.
Notes
Miller's 17 rebounds were the most since Mya Hollingshed had 17 against Arizona State (1/22/21)…It was Miller's second-career double-double at CU…The Buffs are now 44-5 all-time in season openers…CU is 35-1 all-time in the month of November under Coach Payne…Monday' was CU's first 30-point win since beating Southern Utah by 34 (12/7/21)…CU's +18 rebounding margin (46-28) was its best since +20 against Air Force (11/28/20).
Quotes
Quay Miller
On her starting role
"I just do what JR needs me to do. Start, come off the bench, not play, play the whole game. I just do what my coach asks of me.
On becoming a leader on the team
"Being a senior and having so many new players -- I am just trying to be a leader and set the tone, set the tempo and show them the type of basketball we play in practice and games."
Jaylyn Sherrod
On how the team is meshing together
"I think we went into the game very focused. I think we leaned on our preparation. We didn't really know the [other] team. But just before the game, Coach JR said to focus on what we can do and focus on our game. I think everybody took that approach. It was just fun to get out there, get up and down and see the team mesh together."
