Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
13-3,3-1Pac-12
Utah
14-1,3-1Pac-12
Colorado Upsets No. 8 Utah
January 06, 2023 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – The day began with four remaining undefeated Division I basketball teams and ended with three.
Colorado (13-3, 3-1 Pac-12) shocked No. 8 Utah at the CU Events Center with a 77-67 win on Friday. The upset avenged CU's 27-point loss at Utah and pushed the Buffaloes' win streak to five in a row. The win also marks Colorado's first over a top-10 opponent since defeating No. 1 Stanford back on Jan. 17, 2021.
"What a game I am incredibly proud of our team," head coach JR Payne exclaimed after the win. "It was a total team effort. So many people had such a huge impact at different times of the game, whether early or late. We had some foul trouble and people came in and did their job and helped us maintain our place. Some big possessions were late. Our defensive effort was tremendous. We wanted to be disruptive and made them work for their points. I think for every possession. They had to work for it, which was what we wanted to do. So just super proud of our group tonight."
Junior Frida Formann totaled a game-high 20 points, going 4-for-6 from the 3-point line. Senior Jaylyn Sherrod stepped up in the clutch for the Buffs, finishing with 16 points and seven assists. Sophomore Aaronette Vonleh and senior Quay Miller also played big roles in the win with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Buffs keyed in on Utah's Alissa Pili, who scored 25 points in the team's first meeting. Pili had just five points at the end of the third quarter and finished with 14 on the night. The Buffs also flipped the script on the Utes, who scored 44 points in the paint at Utah. This time around it was Colorado with 46 points in the paint, holding Utah to just 24.
"We tried to be as disruptive as possible and play different angles on ball screens," Payne said of the team's defense. "They play so pretty. Their basketball offensively is so smooth and free-flowing, and we just wanted to limit their comfort on the offensive end of the floor. And we did that well."
Colorado took the lead midway through the second quarter and never relinquished it. CU's lead hit 14 in the fourth quarter and the Buffs held on as Utah cut the advantage to as few as four down the stretch.
Utah (14-1, 3-1 Pac-12) had four players finish in double figures, led by Jenna Johnson. She totaled all 17 of her points in the second half.
How It Happened
Things were slow going in the first ten minutes for both teams. Neither team was able to hold onto the ball, combining for 15 turnovers in the quarter. Utah's first six points of the night were directly off CU turnovers. The Utes closed the quarter with eight of their 12 points off CU turnovers, while Formann contributed to five of CU's opening 10 points.
The Buffs tied the game at 13 early in the second quarter thanks to an and-1 from Sherrod. The senior guard had CU's first five points of the quarter and dished off to Jada Wynn who hit go-ahead 3 that gave CU its first lead of the night at 18-15. The Utes came back with a 3 of their own to tie the game back up at 18-18 with 5:32 to go play. The Buffs took the lead again, 20-18 when Kindyll Wetta took the ball away from Isabel Palmer and Brianna McLeod finished the play on the glass.
The Utes cut the CU lead down to one, 24-23, inside two minutes to go, but two more 3's from Formann – including one at the buzzer gave the Buffs a 31-24 lead at the half.
"I think it was really out of just executing our play," Formann commented on her 3-point shooting. "As I said before, we have good chemistry and when I'm open my teammates know so I usually get it at the right time. I think today I had a lot of shots that were in rhythm. Easy shots for me because they were passed to me at the right time and that's just good team play."
Miller and Vonleh helped get CU going in the third quarter, accounting for the team's first eight points out of the half to put CU in front 39-26. Colorado shot a game-high 71.4% (10-14) in the quarter with Vonleh totaling 10 points in the period on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting. 20 of CU's 23 points in the frame came inside the paint, helping the Buffs take a 54-44 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Sherrod scored the first four points of the final quarter and Formann drilled her fourth 3 of the night to give CU its largest lead of the night, 60-46, with 7:05 to play. The Buffs had to dig in deep for that point on as Utah went on a 15-5 run over the next four minutes to get back within four, 65-61. Pili had all seven of her fourth-quarter points and Gianna Kneepkens went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the run.
"I think we were good at really staying together," Formann added. "Especially in our huddles on the court. It was just one possession at a time, we have to get to stop. We kept focusing on what was ahead of us. I think we have a really good group with good chemistry to be able to go through these kind of moments right now."
Utah shot 10 of its 19 free-throw attempts in the final quarter but committed the game's final four turnovers. Three of Sherrod's five steals came inside the final 1:15 to help secure the win.
"I think going into this game we knew the game plan was to be tough and be gritty," Sherrod noted. "I think we function our best when we're like that. I think early on we just needed to all settle down but once we settled down and started to execute better I think it worked out in our favor."
Turning Point
The Buffs held a 69-64 lead with 1:55 to play in the fourth quarter when Sherrod had a shot blocked by Kennedy McQueen. Instead of Utah going back up the quarter with a chance to get back to within one, Sherrod swiped the ball away from McQueen under the basket and went back up for a layup, extending Colorado's lead to 71-64.
"I don't think I recognized it at the time," Sherrod recalled. "I just knew I was open and it was a layup. I just had my shot blocked, but you have to keep playing, it happens. I've got my shot blocked a lot, but I'm not going to stop. I think that mentality to keep going and keep pushing – it works out in the end."
Up Next
The Buffs will have a week off and return to action next Friday, Jan. 13, hosting Arizona (7 p.m.). It will be Halloween night, with fans encouraged to come in costume and festive Friday the 13th stations will be along the concourse.
Notes
Friday's win was the 16th against a top-10 program in team history…It was CU's ninth win over a top-25 program under head coach JR Payne…Colorado evened the all-time series against Utah, 21-21…Sherrod had her sixth game with more than five assists this season (fourth consecutive)…Utah's 21 turnovers tied for the second most by the Utes this season…The Utes' 67 points were the second-lowest output this season (61 at Washington)…Nine Colorado players played more than 10 minutes…Miller fouled out for the second time this season...Vonleh has scored 10+ points in 11 straight games.
Quotes
Jaylyn Sherrod
On being more aggressive
"The coaching staff was really on me about pushing the ball in transition. I think this year I was kind of hesitant more in transition. They were always telling me to be aggressive because when I pushed the ball I created a lot of things either for myself or for my teammates. So, going into the game knowing that was the plan, that's something that I just kept in the back of my mind. When I saw number one on Utah (Isabel Palmer) guarding me and she had four fouls, I wanted to keep pressing that because I knew either she couldn't foul or it would draw and I could dump it down to the post."
Frida Formann
On beating unbeaten Utah
"Oh, it feels great. We knew we could be Utah and it was just really good to execute our game plan so well. I feel like we really made them so uncomfortable the whole game. That's just we love that stuff. That was really good."
Utah head coach Lynne Roberts
On CU's defensive pressure
"Yes. That's what I'm talking about [Colorado's physicality]. It's hard for officials -- and I'm not blaming them. I think it's hard when a team does that for 40 minutes. You just kind of get used to it. That's not a criticism. I think it was just physicality and we played tentative and on our back foot [during] that first half. We just couldn't get stops in the third quarter. We shot 70% in the third quarter. We were good in the third and fourth [quarters] in terms of scoring but just couldn't get stops."
On what was said between her and JR Payne after the game
"Yeah, just that they beat us. They outplayed us. They out-coached us. It's a good win for them. But she's a good person. I always wish her well."
