Colorado
21-6,11-4Pac-12
Arizona
21-6,11-5Pac-12
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No. 18 Arizona Tops No. 21 Colorado
February 19, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Buffs struggled offensively throughout the day
TUCSON, Ariz. – The No. 21 Colorado women's basketball team fell 61-42 to the No. 18 Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center on Sunday, snapping a five-game winning streak for the Buffaloes.
Colorado (21-6, 12-4 Pac-12) had its struggles in Tucson continue, having not won at UofA since the 2014-15 season. The Buffaloes struggled with turnovers and couldn't get shots to fall throughout the afternoon.
The Buffs suffered long scoring runs made by the Wildcats (21-6, 11-5 Pac-12) in the first and third quarters which proved to be more than Colorado could come back from. Offensively, CU scored just 42 points, its lowest output in a game since Feb. 13, 2016 (37 at Arizona State).
"They're a really good defensive team," Head coach JR Payne expressed. "Typically Colorado and Arizona are two of the best defensive teams in the league. So they do defend. We just have to go back and watch the film and figure it out. I thought in the first half we got a lot of great looks right at the rim. We missed a lot of layups early and free throws, things that we normally make."
The Buffs committed 20 total turnovers which resulted in 10 points off those turnovers for Arizona. Colorado also had a rough day shooting from the field, making just 15-of-53 shots (28.3%). From three-point range, CU shot just 8.3%, making 1 of 12 threes.
"Both teams had 10 points off turnovers, so the turnovers weren't necessarily contributing to their scoring, it was just keeping us from scoring," Payne said. "So debilitating in that way just felt very jumbled from beginning to end. Our effort was fine. Our effort was there but just no rhythm, no sync."
Tameiya Sadler led the Buffs in points with 12 off the bench. She was the only Buff to make a 3-pointer in the game and also had three rebounds and three steals. Another bright spot for Colorado was Quay Miller who recorded a double-double made up of 10 points and 10 boards. Miller had two steals on the defensive end.
"I feel like it's very big for me, but JR always had that confidence throughout the beginning of the year regardless," said Sadler. "She kept pushing me to be the player that she knew I can be. I think this weekend it was just me feeding into the confidence that she was giving me."
The Buffs can't dwell on the loss with a short week and No. 3 Stanford upcoming.
"You have to have a pretty short memory, whether you play great or don't play great because the next game is going to come very quickly. So it's important that we learn from it and move on," said Payne.
The Colorado women's basketball team will travel back to Boulder for its two final games of the regular season. The Buffaloes will face off against Stanford on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. MT, before hosting California on Saturday (Noon).
How It Happened
For the first six minutes of the game, Colorado held a lead before Arizona tied it at 10-10 with 3:30 to go in the quarter. The 3-pointer to tie it for the Wildcats was the start of a 10-0 run to put Arizona up 17-10 heading into the second.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 11 at 21-10 within the first minute of the second quarter. CU started the quarter shooting 0-for-6 from the field.
Arizona kept an 11-point lead throughout the quarter and held the Buffs scoreless in the final 2:53 of the second to take a 31-20 lead at the half.
Colorado committed 11 turnovers in the half with seven coming in the second quarter. The Buffs had the fewest first-half field goals (8) this season since only converting five at Tennessee.
The Buffs came within eight points in the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Sadler, making it 33-25. From that point on it was all Arizona as the Wildcats went on a 15-2 run in the final 5:44 of the quarter. Colorado trailed 48-27 heading into the fourth.
CU came out fast in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-1 run and forcing an Arizona timeout. The Buffs trailed 49-37 with 6:33 left to play. Colorado started to slow down on offense as the Wildcats put an end to its momentum.
The Wildcats pulled away once again, outscoring the Buffs 12-5 to close it out and win 61-42.
Key Moment
When the Buffs cut their deficit to eight points in the third quarter, Arizona responded with a 15-0 run, taking its largest lead of the game at 48-25.
Notes
Colorado continues to lead the all-time series 19-10…CU's last win at Arizona was Feb. 27, 2015 (66-51)…Miller's double-double was her eighth of the season (12th career)…CU's 28.3 FG% was its lowest of the season…CU's 20 first-half points tied for second fewest in a half this season (had 14 in the first half at Tennessee)...Formann went 0-for-7 from 3-point distance, snapping a 15-game streak with at least one 3FGM…CU made only three field goals in the third quarter, its fewest since making two in the second and fourth quarters at Utah (Dec. 14).