TUCSON - Arizona vs Colorado
Written by: Colin Wagner | CU Athletic Communications Associate
No. 5 Colorado survived its first road conference game of the season after defeating Arizona 75-74 Friday night in a hostile environment at the McKale Memorial Center.
"This is a basketball town," head coach JR Payne stated after the win. "We're good friends with Tommy Lloyd so we follow Arizona basketball pretty closely and they love their basketball. They're very knowledgeable basketball people. They know when to cheer and when to get crazy. When to get loud and I think that they have a real home-court advantage with that."
Despite the noise, the Buffaloes (12-1, 2-0 Pac-12) put together a fourth-quarter comeback for the second straight game to beat the Wildcats (9-5, 1-1 Pac-12) by just one point. Colorado has outscored its last two opponents by a combined 21 points in the fourth quarter after outscoring Arizona by seven (23-16) in the fourth tonight.
Quay Miller showed up for the Buffs while the team struggled to find its way early on. Miller had nine of her 14 points in the first quarter and was just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
"I thought Quay [Miller] really carried us early," said Payne. "She was on the glass, finishing inside and shooting a couple of nice 3s. I mean she was just playing like Quay, she's a great player and experienced."
Aaronette Vonleh came through in the clutch, following a quiet first half. She led the Buffs' big fourth quarter with six points, finishing with 11 points to go with her seven rebounds and four assists.
Jaylyn Sherrod continued to have the hot hand, finishing with a team-high 18 points and recording four assists and four steals.
Colorado capped off the game, shooting 64.3% (9-14) in the final period and outscored Arizona 18-6 in the paint.
"We just stuck together," Sherrod explained. "I said coming out for the fourth quarter that we got to stick together. We know that that is a hard environment to play in. We've never won here before [as a group]. We already knew the fans were into it and that's their sixth man. We just had to stick together and that's what I told the group."
The Buffaloes dominated the glass as they outrebounded the Wildcats 41 to 21 while 17 of their 41 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Colorado's turnovers kept Arizona in the game, however, the veteran core for the Black and Gold got the job done down the stretch on the road.
The Buffs will head up the road to Tempe on Sunday, taking on Arizona State on Sunday.
"I think the biggest thing is resting, fueling, hydrating and resting," Payne stated. "Our team does a really good job with their mental preparation so I think that they can learn a scout, they can learn a new team, they can study their tendencies and digest them and really know who Arizona State is without even taking a physical breath."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs took a 38-36 lead at the half but saw the advantage disappear in the third quarter. Arizona shot 69.2% (9-13) from the field and outscored the Buffs 22-14 in the frame to take a 58-52 lead into the fourth.
Arizona hit the first basket of the fourth quarter to complete a 12-0 run and give the Wildcats their largest lead of the night at 50-52.
The Buffs responded with a 9-2 run closed out by an AND1 player from Sara-Rose Smith that cut the Arizona lead down to one, 62-61.
The Wildcats answered back with a Jada Williams 3-pointer to go back up by four, 65-61. But Colorado continued to chip away, tying and then taking a 69-67 lead with an 8-2 spurt led by Vonleh's back-to-back layups.
It was a tie game before Arizona regained the lead on a 3-pointer approaching the two-minute mark.
Sherrod was able to cash in on the free throw after the AND-1 layup to put the Buffs up 74-72 with under two minutes to play.
Colorado's defense dug its heels in and came up with stops down the stretch as CU denied Arizona on two chances for the game-winner.
Miller started hot making her first two shots and scoring Colorado's first five points. Later in the quarter, the Buffs found themselves with an 8-2 lead, but Arizona kept it close coming back within just two at 14-12.
Colorado gave itself a seven-point cushion before the Wildcats scored the final two baskets of the quarter. CU led 19-16 going into the second quarter.
With 6:03 remaining in the first half, Maddie Nolan hit a 3-pointer to put the Buffs back up by seven. Arizona responded quickly with eight unanswered points to take its first lead of the game.
It was a 34-34 tie before Tameiya Sadler knocked down a three-pointer to give Colorado the lead at the half.
KEY MOMENT
Sherrod converted on an AND-1 layup to put the Buffs up 74-72 with under 1:30 remaining in the game. Following the free throw, she stole the ball and forced a foul, hitting one of two from the line to go up 75-72 with 1:22 to play.