Colorado
15-4,5-2Pac-12
Stanford
19-2,7-1Pac-12
Slow Start Dooms Buffs At No. 4 Cardinal
January 22, 2023 | Women's Basketball
STANFORD, Calif.—If not for a four-minute stretch in the first quarter, the No. 24 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team played even with the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal on their home floor, falling 62-49 Sunday here at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford shot a blistering 53.8% in the first quarter but less than 25% for the remainder of the game as a defensive battle emerged in the second half.
"Early, we were just giving up pretty good looks to the best shooter in the country," CU Coach JR Payne said of Stanford's Hannah Jump, who finished with a game-high 21 points. "After the first quarter, the rest of the game is a one-point game. I thought our defense was pretty good all night, and our offense was pretty bad all night. To play as poor as we did offensively, it speaks to how much our defense can keep us in games."
Jaylyn Sherrod (16 points, five rebounds, three steals), Quay Miller (14 points, nine rebounds) and Aaronette Vonleh (13 points, 10 rebounds) accounted for 42 of the Buffs' 49 points in the game.
"The start is so important when you're on the road," Sherrod said. "Stanford is the type of team that will capitalize on every mistake you make. But I told the team, this is a learning experience, and we have nothing to hang our heads about. We can't get into the habit of losing, great teams learn how to recover."
After Frida Formann hit a 3-pointer just over two-and-a-half minutes into the game to tie it 4-4, the Cardinal had a 12-0 run to take a 16-4 lead over a four-minute span and that 10- to 12-point advantage seemed to be the difference the remainder of the game. The Buffs trailed 18-8 after the first quarter and by 12 at halftime, 36-24, after a 5-0 run in the final seconds of the half.
The third quarter was a defensive battle, Stanford outscoring the Buffs 10-7 and the Buffs did win the fourth quarter, 18-16 for the 62-49 final score.
Jump was joined by Haley Jones leading the Cardinal, who had 11 points and 18 rebounds, and Cameron Brink with 14 points and six blocks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams played it close out of the gate, and with it tied 4-4, Stanford used the 12-0 run to take a 16-4 advantage. Miller got going a little at the end of the quarter, scoring four points as the Buffs outscored the Cardinal 4-2 over the final two-and-a-half minutes of the quarter. The Buffs shot just 3-of-15 from the field in the quarter, 20 percent, to a 53.8 percentage for the Cardinal.
In the second quarter, the Cardinal scored another 18 points, but the Buffs doubled their output from eight to 16 points to make it a 12-point advantage at the break. The Buffs' defense picked up a bit, holding Stanford to 40% from the field in the second quarter while the Buffs improved to 46.7%. Sherrod and Vonleh each scored six points and Miller four.
The Buffs then locked down on defense the in the second half, holding the Cardinal to 21.4% from the field, just 6-of-28, but the Cardinal did hit 13-of-18 free throws in the half. But the Buffs offense couldn't close the gap, never making the score closer than 10 points, which they did with under three minutes to play with a Sherrod 3-pointer after a 7-0 run.
Sherrod scored 10 of her points in the second half, Miller and Vonleh each had six, and the rest of the team totaled three points after halftime.
KEY MOMENT
After Formann tied the game at 4-4, Stanford's ensuing 12-0 run featured three buckets off of CU turnovers and two 3-pointers to push the lead to double figures where it remained for the rest of the game.
UP NEXT
The Buffs host the L.A. schools this week at the CU Events Center, with No. 9 UCLA visiting Boulder Friday at 7 p.m. followed by USC Sunday at noon. Both games will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. The UCLA game will be CU's Play4Kay game for breast cancer awareness and the Sunday game will be CU's National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
"I love competing in the Pac," Sherrod said. "There are so many different matchups every week. Last year we swept the LA schools."
NOTES
Sunday marked Vonleh's first career double-double...The Buffs fall to 0-14 all-time at Maples Pavilion...CU's 49 points were the fewest scored this season (51 at Tennessee) and the fewest since its 45 last season against Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament...Colorado's bench accounted for one point, the fewest CU's bench has scored since totaling zero points against UAB (Dec. 20, 2019)...Miller's 18 FGA were the most by a Buff this season...Sherrod recorded just one assist, giving her 398 in her career...Vonleh fouled out for the third consecutive game.
