LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Despite a 15 minute-stretch of play that saw the 11th-ranked Colorado women's basketball team shoot a ridiculous 16-for-17 from the field at the Galen Center, foul trouble and a 42-point performance by JuJu Watkins of the No. 7 USC Trojans (21-4, 11-4) sunk CU for their third straight loss, 87-81.
The defeat drops Colorado's record to 20-6 and 10-5 in conference play. Shockingly, they now sit on the same number of Pac-12 losses as last season (five) and are a loss away from matching 2022-23's overall loss total. Chances of earning a number one seed in March's NCAA Tournament, still looking bright as recently as two weeks ago, have all but met their demise.
For the red-hot Trojans, this win is their seventh in a row as they now sit just a game back of first place in the Pac-12 following No. 3 Stanford's shocking loss to Arizona. They have now extended the Buffs' losing streak against top 25-ranked conference opponents in true road games to 60.
Friday night was truly a wild, wacky affair between two Pac-12 heavyweights. The Trojans started out on the right foot by shooting the lights out, going 10-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half and leading for all but four minutes of it. Despite their efficiency and a 47-34 lead with a minute and 47 seconds left in the half, a three-point barrage from Quay Miller, Maddie Nolan, and Jaylyn Sherrod brought the similarly hot-shooting Buffs within four heading into the locker room.
Watkins, the country's second-leading scorer (28.1 points/game) who was mostly contained by CU guard Kindyll Wetta in the two teams' last matchup, fared much better on her home floor, scoring 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting in the opening two periods.
Wetta logged just her second career start likely due to the tall task of Watkins, but picked up two fouls in the game's opening 51 seconds. This foul trouble became a theme as the contest wore on, as four of Colorado's five starters finished the game with four or more fouls, giving Watkins 18 total free throws on the night that she would make every one of.
"We've had games where everybody is in foul trouble." Buffs head coach JR Payne noted after the loss. "That was definitely sort of a gut punch when your best defender is out fifty seconds into the game."
CU saw five players finish with double-figures in the scoring column, led by junior center Aaronette Vonleh with 18. Miller added 12, while Sherrod, Nolan, and Wetta all pitched in 11. With the exception of Frida Formann (1-for-7), every Buff shot over 50% from the field.
On the contrary, the Trojans saw just four players score the basketball all night. Watkins combined with senior guard McKenzie Forbes for 68 (78.1%) of USC's 87 points. The duo also combined with Kayla Padilla, another senior, for a sweltering 13-of-18 clip from beyond the arc.
Despite this massive struggle in defending the perimeter, Colorado's persistence and smooth offensive flow eventually garnered them an 11-0 run to open the second half, along with a four-point lead midway through the third quarter.
From that point on until there were four minutes and six seconds left in the fourth, however, the Trojans outscored the Buffaloes 31 to 12. Both Sherrod and Vonleh fouled out in the opening five minutes (5:03) of the period, dimming any true hope of a late CU comeback.
"In some of our other losses – if we had played like that, we wouldn't have lost," Payne mentioned. "Our competition was great. Our effort was great. The foul trouble certainly hindered us, but I thought we played good basketball. You can learn and continue to improve but there are so many good things we can take from tonight's game."
Friday night saw both teams combine for just 42 rebounds, the lowest in the history of the Colorado program. Efficient offense, along with 53 free throw attempts and 35 turnovers between the Buffs and Trojans, created a hyper-competitive yet somewhat sloppy atmosphere despite the high-scoring numbers.
The black and gold's three consecutive losses have them in a skittish spot as March rapidly approaches despite their historically excellent start to the regular season, still two games behind first place in the conference with one last top-25 test lying ahead.
On Monday night, CU will attempt to both exercise their road demons and enact revenge on the No. 12 UCLA Bruins (21-5, 10-5). Their final true road contest in the Pac-12 era tips off at 7 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPN2, the Buffs' first game on national TV since the upset win over LSU that kicked off this incredible whirlwind of a season.
Cover photo by CUBuffsWBB/X
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