Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, November 27
St. George, UT
1 p.m.
Colorado
6-1,0-0Big 12
85
at
73
Utah Tech
3-4,0-0WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
30
17
16
22
85
Utah Tech
21
18
18
16
73
Photo by: Serena Rodriguez
Smith's Career-Day Leads Buffs Past Trailblazers
November 27, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Colorado picks up its fourth straight win
ST. GEORGE, Utah – Colorado fifth-year guard Sara-Rose Smith poured in a career-high 21 points and secured her first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds in the Buffaloes' 85-73 win at Utah Tech on Wednesday.
The second-year Buff was one of four players to finish in double figures. Grad transfer Lior Garzon, who scored a career-high 28 points against Utah State, followed up with a 19-point afternoon. Jade Masogayo registered 13 points, and Frida Formann rounded things out with 10.
"I don't want to say it was luck because that's what we work on," said Smith, who went 3-for-4 from 3-point range. "We're putting up shots all week. When you're working on that part of your game, you hope that they start dropping. I guess I was just feeling it a little bit."
Colorado (6-1) has now won its last four games by double-digit spreads. The Buffs hit 10 3-pointers at Utah Tech, matching its season-high of 10 last time out against Utah State. Colorado has hit 39 triples over the last four games, averaging almost 10 per contest.
The Buffs opened the afternoon with a 30-point first quarter, marking the team's highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Buffs built a 15-point lead in the quarter and led by nine after the first. The game settled back down after the furious pace in the first 10 minutes and was a three-point game throughout the remaining three quarters.
"I'm sure it [the first quarter] was entertaining, but I did not like it," head coach JR Payne explained about controlling the pace of play. "You kind of feel like you don't really have much control of what's happening. I love how we were shooting with confidence and we were making shots. All of that was awesome. But when we start to get tired, we really drop pretty significantly. It's just learning. We have to recognize when a couple of our players are tied on the floor. Maybe there's a sub at the table, but we don't get a stop in play for a minute and a half. We can't just keep racing for those 90 seconds. Recognize that we're tired. Let's slow down. Let's call something and execute it. I think I can help our point guards do well there."
The Colorado bench was quiet by this season's standards. The Buffs had five players come in in relief, combining for a season-low 14 points. Ny Diew led the bench corps with eight points.
Utah Tech (3-4) had four players in double figures. Aaliyah Ibarra led the Trailblazers with 15 points off the bench. Tech, who ranked fifth in the NCAA with 11.5 3-pointers per game to start Wednesday, finished just 9-for-25.
How it Happened
Colorado jumped on the Trailblazers early on in the contest. Smith scored 11 of CU's first 13 points. The Aussie was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point distance in the quarter. Diew hit two more 3s for the Buffs in the quarter and helped Colorado build a 22-7 lead. Utah Tech battled back, hitting four 3s of its own in the quarter to cut the CU lead to 28-21. Kindyll Wetta wrapped up the quarter with a steal of a UTU inbound under the basket and beat the buzzer to give CU the 9-point lead, 30-21.
Tech started the second quarter with a 5-0 run to narrow the CU lead to four points, 30-26. The Buffs, who shot 52.2% in the first quarter, cooled off with a 0-for-7 start in the second. CU's shooting picked up following the slow start, hitting three of its next four shots to maintain the lead. Garzon and Formann combined for a late 8-0 run, and the Buffs carried that same advantage, 47-39, into the break.
CU's lead hit 11 at the start of the third quarter, with Formann draining her second 3 of the day. UTU turned the ball over four times in the opening minutes of the quarter, but the Buffs couldn't capitalize, hitting just 1-for-5 from the field early in the quarter. The Blazers cut the CU lead down to four, 53-49, by the midway mark, before a Formann jumper sparked an 8-0 run to push the Buffs' lead back up to 12. Tech closed the quarter on an 8-2 run, sliming the deficit to six, 63-57.
The CU offense stood firm in the final quarter, hitting 64.3% (9-14) from the floor. All of CU's attempts came from inside the 3-point line in the quarter, starting with Smith getting back on the board after a scoreless third quarter to initiate a 6-0 start to the period. Smith and Garzon both scored six points in the quarter, and the CU lead hit 14 points in the final two minutes to finish off the Trailblazers.
Up next
The Buffs kick off a season-long five-game homestand on Saturday, hosting No. 24 Louisville at 1 p.m. MT.
Notes
Smith's double-double was the eighth of her career and second at CU…Formann made her first start of the season and the 106th of her career…Wetta had eight assists on Wednesday, giving her five or more in five games this season…Smith's 10 rebounds give her 464 in her career…CU scored a season-high 40 points in the paint and has now scored 30 or more in the paint each game this season...The Buffs improved to 2-0 all-time against Utah Tech…The win was No. 149 for Coach Payne at CU.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On getting better – "There's so many things that we're going to continue to improve. The important thing is to study it and then improve it. That's the whole point of the preseason to continue to get better and better and just be real honest with ourselves about where we need to improve. What can we actually attack and get better and then do that."
On the team's depth – "I think we can utilize our depth more than we did today. I don't think we need too many games where we have three or four people close to 30 minutes. Just another area to continue to improve."
On Louisville on Saturday – "I think the biggest difference is they're really athletic at every position. We've seen athleticism but haven't seen 6-2, big, strong, athletic yet. I'm more comfortable playing teams like a Louisville or a Kansas with just bigger bodies that are a little more similar because it's hard to play five guards and chase them around the 3-point line. We'll be excited, though, to match up with them."
On returning to the Southern Utah area – "The athletic director here [at Utah Tech] was the AD that hired me at Southern Utah and gave me my first opportunity. I love this area. I love teams like this, because we were that team that was going to be tough and gritty and play as hard as they can for 40 minutes. I appreciate and value those types of basketball players."
The second-year Buff was one of four players to finish in double figures. Grad transfer Lior Garzon, who scored a career-high 28 points against Utah State, followed up with a 19-point afternoon. Jade Masogayo registered 13 points, and Frida Formann rounded things out with 10.
"I don't want to say it was luck because that's what we work on," said Smith, who went 3-for-4 from 3-point range. "We're putting up shots all week. When you're working on that part of your game, you hope that they start dropping. I guess I was just feeling it a little bit."
Colorado (6-1) has now won its last four games by double-digit spreads. The Buffs hit 10 3-pointers at Utah Tech, matching its season-high of 10 last time out against Utah State. Colorado has hit 39 triples over the last four games, averaging almost 10 per contest.
The Buffs opened the afternoon with a 30-point first quarter, marking the team's highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Buffs built a 15-point lead in the quarter and led by nine after the first. The game settled back down after the furious pace in the first 10 minutes and was a three-point game throughout the remaining three quarters.
"I'm sure it [the first quarter] was entertaining, but I did not like it," head coach JR Payne explained about controlling the pace of play. "You kind of feel like you don't really have much control of what's happening. I love how we were shooting with confidence and we were making shots. All of that was awesome. But when we start to get tired, we really drop pretty significantly. It's just learning. We have to recognize when a couple of our players are tied on the floor. Maybe there's a sub at the table, but we don't get a stop in play for a minute and a half. We can't just keep racing for those 90 seconds. Recognize that we're tired. Let's slow down. Let's call something and execute it. I think I can help our point guards do well there."
The Colorado bench was quiet by this season's standards. The Buffs had five players come in in relief, combining for a season-low 14 points. Ny Diew led the bench corps with eight points.
Utah Tech (3-4) had four players in double figures. Aaliyah Ibarra led the Trailblazers with 15 points off the bench. Tech, who ranked fifth in the NCAA with 11.5 3-pointers per game to start Wednesday, finished just 9-for-25.
How it Happened
Colorado jumped on the Trailblazers early on in the contest. Smith scored 11 of CU's first 13 points. The Aussie was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point distance in the quarter. Diew hit two more 3s for the Buffs in the quarter and helped Colorado build a 22-7 lead. Utah Tech battled back, hitting four 3s of its own in the quarter to cut the CU lead to 28-21. Kindyll Wetta wrapped up the quarter with a steal of a UTU inbound under the basket and beat the buzzer to give CU the 9-point lead, 30-21.
Tech started the second quarter with a 5-0 run to narrow the CU lead to four points, 30-26. The Buffs, who shot 52.2% in the first quarter, cooled off with a 0-for-7 start in the second. CU's shooting picked up following the slow start, hitting three of its next four shots to maintain the lead. Garzon and Formann combined for a late 8-0 run, and the Buffs carried that same advantage, 47-39, into the break.
CU's lead hit 11 at the start of the third quarter, with Formann draining her second 3 of the day. UTU turned the ball over four times in the opening minutes of the quarter, but the Buffs couldn't capitalize, hitting just 1-for-5 from the field early in the quarter. The Blazers cut the CU lead down to four, 53-49, by the midway mark, before a Formann jumper sparked an 8-0 run to push the Buffs' lead back up to 12. Tech closed the quarter on an 8-2 run, sliming the deficit to six, 63-57.
The CU offense stood firm in the final quarter, hitting 64.3% (9-14) from the floor. All of CU's attempts came from inside the 3-point line in the quarter, starting with Smith getting back on the board after a scoreless third quarter to initiate a 6-0 start to the period. Smith and Garzon both scored six points in the quarter, and the CU lead hit 14 points in the final two minutes to finish off the Trailblazers.
Up next
The Buffs kick off a season-long five-game homestand on Saturday, hosting No. 24 Louisville at 1 p.m. MT.
Notes
Smith's double-double was the eighth of her career and second at CU…Formann made her first start of the season and the 106th of her career…Wetta had eight assists on Wednesday, giving her five or more in five games this season…Smith's 10 rebounds give her 464 in her career…CU scored a season-high 40 points in the paint and has now scored 30 or more in the paint each game this season...The Buffs improved to 2-0 all-time against Utah Tech…The win was No. 149 for Coach Payne at CU.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On getting better – "There's so many things that we're going to continue to improve. The important thing is to study it and then improve it. That's the whole point of the preseason to continue to get better and better and just be real honest with ourselves about where we need to improve. What can we actually attack and get better and then do that."
On the team's depth – "I think we can utilize our depth more than we did today. I don't think we need too many games where we have three or four people close to 30 minutes. Just another area to continue to improve."
On Louisville on Saturday – "I think the biggest difference is they're really athletic at every position. We've seen athleticism but haven't seen 6-2, big, strong, athletic yet. I'm more comfortable playing teams like a Louisville or a Kansas with just bigger bodies that are a little more similar because it's hard to play five guards and chase them around the 3-point line. We'll be excited, though, to match up with them."
On returning to the Southern Utah area – "The athletic director here [at Utah Tech] was the AD that hired me at Southern Utah and gave me my first opportunity. I love this area. I love teams like this, because we were that team that was going to be tough and gritty and play as hard as they can for 40 minutes. I appreciate and value those types of basketball players."
Team Stats
CU
UTTECH
FG%
.459
.433
3FG%
.417
.360
FT%
.700
.800
RB
39
37
TO
12
18
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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