WATCH: Harrison Simeon recaps Colorado's big home win over No. 6 USC.
BOULDER – A thrilling weekend at the CU Events Center came to an even more thrilling conclusion Sunday afternoon, as the third-ranked Colorado women's basketball team bounced back from Friday's loss to No. 5 UCLA to defeat the No. 6 USC Trojans, 63-59.
The gutsy, nip and tuck victory was the third by the Buffs this season against a top-10 opponent, beating No. 1 LSU in the season opener and No. 8 Stanford on Jan. 14. It was also their fourth against top-12 teams, opening conference play with a win over Utah on Dec. 30.
In the closing seconds, senior Trojan guard McKenzie Forbes drove to the basket on CU's Quay Miller, getting a step and attempting what would have been a game-tying layup, but it just rimmed out. Colorado center Aaronette Vonleh then corralled the rebound, getting fouled and burying two free throws with a second left to seal the win.
"When you win a close game, you lean on that later in the year," explained Buffs head coach JR Payne. "You remember what it felt like to secure a defensive rebound when they were gonna come to the glass, things like that."
Miller had herself an excellent day, leading Colorado with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 39 minutes. She logged her seventh double-double of the season, her fourth since the start of conference play.
"Habits and confidence," Miller revealed of what drove her performance. "When you have that, there's nobody that can tell you not to shoot the ball or do what you need to do to go off."
Point guard Jaylyn Sherrod also left her usual high-octane imprints on the contest, racking up 17 points. She may have only had one assist, but it was perhaps the most important of the day for CU. Trapped under the basket by two Trojan defenders, she found Vonleh under the basket for the go-ahead score with 51 seconds left.
To start the game, USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins was unstoppable. Colorado's initial defensive strategy was to switch on every screen set by USC for the nation's second-leading scorer (26.5 points per game entering Sunday), but it had little effect. She scored 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the first quarter, and her scoring gravity allowed teammate involvement to put the Trojans in control early on.
How could the Buffs contain one of the country's top talents? It all started with junior guard Kindyll Wetta.
Wetta hounded Watkins, disrupting the Trojans' offensive attack that ran through the freshman. Rather than allowing switches and mismatches, CU stuck Wetta on Watkins and denied her clean looks, forcing a 0-for-5 second period and just 2-for-12 shooting for the rest of the game.
"I just want the world to know that Kindyll Wetta is the best defender in America," exclaimed Payne, locking her eyes on the camera. "She is tough, she is fearless, she has cat-quick hands, she's disruptive, she can guard without fouling, she's totally annoying on defense to her opponent."
The havoc Wetta and the rest of the Buffs' defense created also triggered frustration, as Watkins fouled out with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter on an emphatic charge drawn by Sherrod.
However, the Buffs still dealt with timely threes from Trojan guards Taylor Bigby and Kayla Padilla down the stretch. USC's offense struggled mightily with Watkins off the floor but still forced enough CU mistakes to bring the game down to the wire.
"They're number six in the country for a reason," said Payne of dealing with the Trojans without Watkins. "They have a lot of fifth-year veterans that have played a ton of basketball, so people outside of us might've thought, 'Oh great, we got it,' [but] we knew that they had enough pieces that could still win the game."
Another huge key to the Buffs' win was rebounding. Still playing without top rebounder Sara-Rose Smith (concussion) and struggling mightily Friday night against UCLA, Colorado won the battle on the boards, 37-27.
"I think it was just desire to not let that happen again," noted Payne. "We watch the film, we learn from it, we try to implement the changes, and I think our team did a really good of that, collectively."
In addition, another record-setting crowd packed the CU Events Center on Sunday afternoon. 8,474 fans made up the third-largest audience for the black and gold in the last 29 years. After Friday night's crowd was the largest in program history, their impact was once again felt throughout the contest.
The Buffs' win improves their record to 16-2, 6-1 in Pac-12 play. The Trojans, meanwhile, have now lost three of their last six games after starting the season 10-0.
CU now heads on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest for the next two weeks, starting on Friday against the Oregon State Beavers (15-3, 4-3 in conference play). Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. MT.
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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