ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – The No. 3-ranked Colorado women's basketball team faced another tough challenge this week, having to play three games in three days in the Paradise Jam Classic.
They won their first two contests against Cincinnati and Kentucky before dropping the last to No. 10 North Carolina State. The loss ended CU's undefeated season hopes after just seven games.
In the opener against Cincinnati on Thursday, the Buffs cruised by a score of 77-60.
This win was due to an extremely efficient shooting effort, as Colorado shot 53.3% from the field. Senior guard Tameiya Sadler led the team in scoring with a season-high 15 points, while juniors Kindyll Wetta and Aaronette Vonleh added 14 and 13, respectively.
While point guard Jaylyn Sherrod was somewhat limited (six points and five assists), CU played as a team to keep their distance from the Bearcats. They dominated around the basket, notching 48 points in the paint and 20 points off of 13 offensive rebounds. Power forward Quay Miller led the black and gold with eight boards, three of which were offensive.
The Buffs built up a 25-point lead to end the third quarter, though let their foot off of the accelerator a bit in the fourth. This led to a 13-2 Cincinnati run to cut the lead to 14, but a Sadler bucket and Maddie Nolan three ended any hopes of a miraculous comeback.
"I thought we played great for three quarters, which is fine," said head coach JR Payne after the win. "The goal is always to play great for four quarters and all 40 minutes. There are definitely some areas to improve there in the last quarter."
On Friday, the Buffs indeed played great for all four quarters, thoroughly outmatching the Kentucky Wildcats in the second game of their back-to-back-to-back. They won by an outrageous final score of 96-53.
Vonleh led the squad this time with 19 points, with four other Buffs scoring double-digit figures (Sherrod, Wetta, Miller, and Sadler). Sara-Rose Smith led CU with seven rebounds.
After trailing 14-11 with 4:33 left in the first quarter, the Buffs went on a torrential 14-0 run and never looked back. They followed up their efficient showing vs. Cincinnati with an even more impressive tally, shooting 59.7% from the field as a team and 41.7% from the three-point line. CU also compiled 22 assists, its sixth straight game with 20 or more to start the season.
"Our assist numbers per field goal are really high which we haven't had in the past," Payne commented following the win. "We've had good offense and obviously really good defense over the years but the sharing of the ball and being able to make the extra pass, being able to finish and things like that are growing our assist numbers, which we love to see."
Colorado outscored Kentucky 51-19 in the second half to come away with the dominant victory that pushed their record to 6-0 on the season. This set the stage for a marquee matchup against No. 10 NC State, who had also started their campaign with six consecutive wins.
While many expected this battle of unbeatens to come down to the wire, the Buffaloes simply did not bring their "A game" for the first time all season, ultimately losing 78-60.
From the opening tip, the Buffs looked uncharacteristically poor, especially on offense. After their efficient shooting numbers in the first two games of Paradise Jam, they shot just 32.8% from the field for the game.
Their 60 points were by far the least they had scored all season, scoring just six points through one quarter and 40 through the first three. They also had a season-high 18 turnovers and a season-low 11 assists.
After a dismal opening period, CU trailed the Wolfpack 22-6. The ice-cold start dug Colorado into a hole they could not get out of, as they outscored NC State in both the second and fourth quarters but still lost by 18.
Jaylyn Sherrod led the way with 20 points, though half of them came in the final quarter when the game was all but out of reach. Frida Formann was a bright spot on offense as well, netting 14 points on just nine shots.
"Anytime you play a really good team, you're going to learn something, good or bad – usually both. I think this game was no different," said Payne after the loss. "We need to really learn from the mistakes and I think our team does that well."
For the Wolfpack, they move to 7-0 with already two wins against top three-ranked teams after their upset of No. 2 UConn on Nov. 12. Against the Buffs, senior center River Baldwin led the way with a career-high 24 points, along with eight rebounds. She also limited Aaronette Vonleh to just five points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Overall, Colorado ran out of gas and into trouble in paradise, suffering their first loss of the 2023 season. The loss may drop CU's current No. 3 ranking in this week's Associated Press poll, but their dominant victories to start the Paradise Jam Classic should certainly keep the black and gold among the top 10 teams in the country going forward.
The Buffs return to Boulder this Tuesday to take on the Boston University Terriers. Tip-off from the CU Events Center is set for 6 p.m. MST.
Cover photo by CUBuffsWBB/X
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