Saturday, November 18
Dallas, Texas
7:00 PM
Colorado
4-0,0-0Pac-12
84
at
69
SMU
3-1,0-0AAC
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
18
26
20
20
84
SMU
13
23
16
17
69
Photo by: Will Insull
No. 5 Colorado Tames Mustangs
November 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball
CU improves to 4-0
DALLAS – The stars shined bright for No. 5 Colorado in its first road win of the season at Moody Coliseum. Three Buffaloes totaled double figures in Saturday night's 84-69 win over SMU.
Colorado improved to 4-0 on the season. All four wins have been by double-digit margins.
Junior center Aaronette Vonleh led Colorado with 23 points, hitting 10-for-15 from the field. Graduate Quay Miller recorded her second-consecutive double-double finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate Jaylyn Sherrod ended her night with 18 points and four assists, becoming just the fourth player in CU history to have over 1,000 career points and 500 career assists.
Colorado trailed for just 30 seconds on the night but the game was never in hand until the Buffs opened up an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
"I just retweeted something and it said 'we battled tonight,' and it truly was a battle," head coach JR Payne noted. "I can't think of any other word. It was a really physical, really tough game. This was a tough one to come into SMU and get the win. I'm really proud of how we competed tonight."
The Buffs never trailed in the second half and limited SMU to just eight field goals in the final 20 minutes. CU struggled from 3-point distance, closing the night 5-for-23 from deep, but made up for it with 46 points in the paint.
CU kept its streak of 20 or more assists alive on Saturday, handing out 21 on 31 field goals. Junior Kindyll Wetta had a game-high five helpers.
"I think part of [our success] is just great connectivity with our team," Payne added. "We really trust each other and that's really important when you're in tough games on the road. When we trust that someone is going to deliver the pass on time and on target. We trust someone's going to have the right screening angel or box out on a free-throw line or execute defensively. All those things come down to being ultimately very connected which is why I think we play good basketball together."
SMU (3-1) was led by Tiara Young and her 30 points.
How it happened
The night started slowly, with both teams shooting 6-for-16 in the opening quarter. CU built a five-point cushion late into the period with Vonleh registering her eighth point of the night. The Colorado center shot 3-for-4 in the quarter and capped a 6-0 run to close the quarter with CU ahead 18-13.
The building caught fire in the second quarter with CU starting 8-for-8, but SMU kept close early in the quarter with an equally hot 5-for-5 open. The Buffs lead hit nine off a Vonleh layup midway through the quarter and she hit a free-throw with under five minutes to play to claim a 10-point lead, 35-25.
The Mustangs responded with an 11-2 run that cut the CU lead down to one, 37-35. Colorado fired back with a 7-0 run with five points from Frida Formann to close the half with a 44-36 lead.
CU started the third quarter 0-for-4 from the field but broke the slump with a mid-range bank shot off of the glass from Vonleh to claim a 10-point lead, 48-38. The Buffs hit just 6-for-20 in the period with three of the makes coming from Miller. She hit 3-of-5 from behind the arc, extending CU's lead to 15 before the end of the quarter.
"I kept hearing my teammates and coaches telling me to shoot and they created those open shots for me," Miller explained. "I had to just shoot."
SMU cut the CU lead to eight early in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as they would get. CU shot 57.1% in the final quarter and held SMU without a field goal for nearly six minutes down the final stretch. A Sherrod layup with 2:45 put an exclamation on the night, giving CU an 80-65 lead.
Key moment
The Mustangs got within eight points, 48-40, with 7:15 to play in the third quarter. Miller drilled the first of her 3-pointers in the quarter and Sherrod followed with a hard drive to the basket, getting the and-1 call to push the Buffs' lead back to 13 in a total of 53 seconds.
"I thought it was huge," Payne recalled. "Not just for the points, but for the momentum that kind of swung in our favor. It was a big shot for Quay and then the steal the and-1 – we're always energetic on a play that that. It was great to see."
Up Next
Colorado will make a quick return to Boulder before jetting off to the Paradise Jam Classic on Monday. CU will play Cincinnati, Kentucky and No. 14 NC State in back-to-back-to-back contests, starting with the Bearcats on Thursday.
Notes
The Buffs are off to a 4-0 start for the fifth time under Coach Payne…CU has now scored 80+ points in all four games…The last time CU had four consecutive games with 20+ assists was Feb. 10-19, 1995 (25, 27, 25, 30)…Tameiya Sadler closed with six points to give her 505 in her career…Colorado had a season-high five blocks…Formann had a career-high three blocks.
Quotes
Head coach JR Payne
On unselfish play – "Quay is a great player. The great thing about being a great player on a really good team is that there are lots of great players. The Best thing is that it's a lot of great players who are very unselfish. Tonight was not Frida's night. She was 1-for-7 but that one was a big one. But it's the next player up. Next woman up as far as doing their job and being able to knock down big shots and find ways to contribute. Frida wasn't hitting shots, but she was a phenomenal screener and got Netty [Vonleh] looks at the basket. It was just a good, total team effort tonight."
On Miller's rebounding – "It's the one thing that has really sparked her. On offense, there are always ways to contribute and if your shots aren't falling, find a way to get a rebound and get to the free-throw line. But Quay is great. I think she's one of the best forwards around. She's going to be able to score. She's going to be able to rebound. I thought she did a great job defensively tonight on some versatile perimeter players and things like that."
Graduate Quay Miller
On answering SMU runs – "We knew that it was going to be a game of runs and we needed to be able to answer when they had an answer. We had to be better in everything that we did. That was really our game plan, to be excellent.
Colorado improved to 4-0 on the season. All four wins have been by double-digit margins.
Junior center Aaronette Vonleh led Colorado with 23 points, hitting 10-for-15 from the field. Graduate Quay Miller recorded her second-consecutive double-double finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate Jaylyn Sherrod ended her night with 18 points and four assists, becoming just the fourth player in CU history to have over 1,000 career points and 500 career assists.
Colorado trailed for just 30 seconds on the night but the game was never in hand until the Buffs opened up an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
"I just retweeted something and it said 'we battled tonight,' and it truly was a battle," head coach JR Payne noted. "I can't think of any other word. It was a really physical, really tough game. This was a tough one to come into SMU and get the win. I'm really proud of how we competed tonight."
The Buffs never trailed in the second half and limited SMU to just eight field goals in the final 20 minutes. CU struggled from 3-point distance, closing the night 5-for-23 from deep, but made up for it with 46 points in the paint.
CU kept its streak of 20 or more assists alive on Saturday, handing out 21 on 31 field goals. Junior Kindyll Wetta had a game-high five helpers.
"I think part of [our success] is just great connectivity with our team," Payne added. "We really trust each other and that's really important when you're in tough games on the road. When we trust that someone is going to deliver the pass on time and on target. We trust someone's going to have the right screening angel or box out on a free-throw line or execute defensively. All those things come down to being ultimately very connected which is why I think we play good basketball together."
SMU (3-1) was led by Tiara Young and her 30 points.
How it happened
The night started slowly, with both teams shooting 6-for-16 in the opening quarter. CU built a five-point cushion late into the period with Vonleh registering her eighth point of the night. The Colorado center shot 3-for-4 in the quarter and capped a 6-0 run to close the quarter with CU ahead 18-13.
The building caught fire in the second quarter with CU starting 8-for-8, but SMU kept close early in the quarter with an equally hot 5-for-5 open. The Buffs lead hit nine off a Vonleh layup midway through the quarter and she hit a free-throw with under five minutes to play to claim a 10-point lead, 35-25.
The Mustangs responded with an 11-2 run that cut the CU lead down to one, 37-35. Colorado fired back with a 7-0 run with five points from Frida Formann to close the half with a 44-36 lead.
CU started the third quarter 0-for-4 from the field but broke the slump with a mid-range bank shot off of the glass from Vonleh to claim a 10-point lead, 48-38. The Buffs hit just 6-for-20 in the period with three of the makes coming from Miller. She hit 3-of-5 from behind the arc, extending CU's lead to 15 before the end of the quarter.
"I kept hearing my teammates and coaches telling me to shoot and they created those open shots for me," Miller explained. "I had to just shoot."
SMU cut the CU lead to eight early in the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as they would get. CU shot 57.1% in the final quarter and held SMU without a field goal for nearly six minutes down the final stretch. A Sherrod layup with 2:45 put an exclamation on the night, giving CU an 80-65 lead.
Key moment
The Mustangs got within eight points, 48-40, with 7:15 to play in the third quarter. Miller drilled the first of her 3-pointers in the quarter and Sherrod followed with a hard drive to the basket, getting the and-1 call to push the Buffs' lead back to 13 in a total of 53 seconds.
"I thought it was huge," Payne recalled. "Not just for the points, but for the momentum that kind of swung in our favor. It was a big shot for Quay and then the steal the and-1 – we're always energetic on a play that that. It was great to see."
Up Next
Colorado will make a quick return to Boulder before jetting off to the Paradise Jam Classic on Monday. CU will play Cincinnati, Kentucky and No. 14 NC State in back-to-back-to-back contests, starting with the Bearcats on Thursday.
Notes
The Buffs are off to a 4-0 start for the fifth time under Coach Payne…CU has now scored 80+ points in all four games…The last time CU had four consecutive games with 20+ assists was Feb. 10-19, 1995 (25, 27, 25, 30)…Tameiya Sadler closed with six points to give her 505 in her career…Colorado had a season-high five blocks…Formann had a career-high three blocks.
Quotes
Head coach JR Payne
On unselfish play – "Quay is a great player. The great thing about being a great player on a really good team is that there are lots of great players. The Best thing is that it's a lot of great players who are very unselfish. Tonight was not Frida's night. She was 1-for-7 but that one was a big one. But it's the next player up. Next woman up as far as doing their job and being able to knock down big shots and find ways to contribute. Frida wasn't hitting shots, but she was a phenomenal screener and got Netty [Vonleh] looks at the basket. It was just a good, total team effort tonight."
On Miller's rebounding – "It's the one thing that has really sparked her. On offense, there are always ways to contribute and if your shots aren't falling, find a way to get a rebound and get to the free-throw line. But Quay is great. I think she's one of the best forwards around. She's going to be able to score. She's going to be able to rebound. I thought she did a great job defensively tonight on some versatile perimeter players and things like that."
Graduate Quay Miller
On answering SMU runs – "We knew that it was going to be a game of runs and we needed to be able to answer when they had an answer. We had to be better in everything that we did. That was really our game plan, to be excellent.
Team Stats
CU
SMU
FG%
.492
.440
3FG%
.217
.375
FT%
.895
.792
RB
34
29
TO
11
15
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
G
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