BOULDER – After the Colorado women’s basketball team’s win against the Cal Golden Bears on Friday night, head coach JR Payne expressed her gratitude for her squad’s ability to share the love and even out the stat sheet. Sunday afternoon against the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal, the No. 5 Buffs were back at it as they stayed undefeated at home and in Pac-12 play – improving to 15-1, 5-0 in the Pac-12.
“Super proud of our team, of course,” Payne said after the game, “but also our community. They really showed out today and I think it was a great experience. I’m hoping we’ll continue to build on that. So fun to play in front of a crowd like that.”
There were 9,111 fans in attendance for the heated Pac-12 matchup, the ninth-largest crowd in program history.
Led by their defense, Colorado held Stanford to their lowest shooting percentage all year (33.9%) and forced the Cardinal to turn the ball over a season-high 18 times. Cameron Brink, a projected lottery pick in this year’s WNBA draft, was also held to just 12 points in one of her lowest-scoring games of the season.
“Be disruptive,” Payne said when asked about the Buffs’ defense. “The stat sheet in that regard is really telling of us executing our gameplan.”
While the Buffs’ defense dominated nearly the whole game, they originally started slowly as Brink and her front court counterpart Kiki Iriafen scored Stanford’s first 14 points of the contest as they built a slight lead over CU. With Aaronette Vonleh receiving two early fouls before heading to the bench, Colorado needed to respond. And they did.
Across the final one minute and 36 seconds of the first quarter, Colorado outscored Stanford 9-3 to go up 18-17 heading into the second. The energy shift change occurred after Maddie Nolan, who finished with 12 points, nailed a triple to get the CU Events Center on their feet. The Buffs also broke out their trapping zone, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half.
With the CUEC shaking, the Buffs came out of the second quarter gates blazing as they hit three 3-pointers to build a 28-20 lead. Stanford didn’t falter, however, as they responded with an 8-0 run to knot the game at 28 each with Iriafen leading the charge. When the Cardinal needed an answer, they looked in the direction of Iriafen all game as she finished with a game-high 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Like clockwork, though, Nolan netted her second 3-pointer of the contest to end the run with two minutes left in the half. A few moments later, Kindyll Wetta threw up a half-court heave to beat the buzzer, leaving the Colorado faithful in a frenzy as CU’s fifth 3-pointer of the quarter swished through the net. Heading into halftime, the Buffs were up 36-30.
“To be honest, I usually don’t look at the clock,” Wetta said about the shot. “But I heard it this time. I was like, ‘Okay, well I gotta shoot it.’ And then it felt good coming off, so it went in.”
With eight Buffs on the board at the half and Jaylyn Sherrod leading with nine points (finished with a team-high 13), the third quarter blew the top off an already loud CUEC.
Colorado outscored Stanford 22-11 in the third, featuring a 20-2 run jumpstarted by a 3-pointer and an and-one by Frida Formann. Quay Miller added five of her team-high 13 points in the quarter while Nolan, Wetta, and Sherrod continued their stellar play.
By the final quarter, Colorado enjoyed a 58-41 lead. However, the No. 8 team in the nation wasn’t quite finished.
The Cardinal hit four 3-pointers and outscored the Buffs 18-13 in their final run of the game, even getting within six with 54 seconds left to play. But, it was too little, too late as Sherrod got loose on a fast break, hitting a layup before settling into Stephen Curry’s iconic “night, night” celebration and officially putting Stanford to rest.
Colorado went on to win 71-59, led by Sherrod’s 13 points and four steals, Miller’s double-double, and crucial plays by the rest of the team.
With one of their biggest challenges of the regular season now put away, the Buffs look ahead to the No. 2 UCLA Bruins who come to town on Friday (Jan. 19). Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT at the CUEC.
“Every game is going to feel like life or death – we have to win it,” Payne said about UCLA. “This one wasn’t any different and Friday will feel the same.”
Cover photo by Roberto Patrick Gerra/Sko Buffs Sports
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