ST. GEORGE, Utah – On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Colorado Buffaloes (6-1) found individual performances to be grateful for to pick up an 85-73 win over the Utah Tech Trailblazers (3-4).
In the final road game of CU’s non-conference schedule, a smooth offensive flow was enough to overpower the Trailblazers despite a subpar defensive performance. Wednesday marked the third time the Buffaloes have eclipsed 80 points this season.
A 10-for-24 (41.7%) day from beyond the arc also flashed promise, as the return of guard Frida Formann to the starting lineup helped to open up space on the floor for the Buffs after weeks of a somewhat clogged and stale offensive repertoire.
Formann wasn’t what won Colorado the contest, however. It was Sara-Rose Smith’s turn to shine, as the senior dropped a career-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
The returning forward added 10 rebounds and three steals to her stellar day, as well as scoring 11 of the Buffaloes’ first 13 points en route to the highest-scoring quarter of the team’s season (30). She splashed down three of her four 3-point tries.
"I don't want to say it was luck because that's what we work on," Smith mentioned. "We're putting up shots all week. When you're working on that part of your game, you hope that they start dropping. I guess I was just feeling it a little bit."
CU had five players in double figures for scoring, as Lior Garzon aided the squad down the stretch with 19 points of her own. Junior forward Jade Masogayo logged 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks.
Point guard Kindyll Wetta continued her playmaking prowess with a team-high eight assists, leading another excellent day of ball movement by the Buffs (22 total assists).
Despite greatness on the offensive end, knocking off Utah Tech of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) was no pushover. The Trailblazers never fell out of striking distance through a balanced scoring effort, led by 15 points from junior guard Aaliyah Ibarra off the bench. Another junior in the backcourt, Chardonnay Hartley, added 14 points and 10 dimes to help the Blazers nearly eclipse the Buffaloes with 21 team assists.
This season, the black and gold haven’t been able to outrebound opponents as well as they have in years past, and Wednesday was no exception. Utah Tech lagged behind Colorado by just three in the battle on the boards (37 to 34). CU was also flustered a bit with 19 personal fouls.
While the Trailblazers performed admirably to keep up, the Buffs once again were repaid in their trust of veteran leadership and were the ones who blazed the trail, leading the entire afternoon to take home another victory.
"I love how we were shooting with confidence, and we were making shots," head coach JR Payne said postgame. "All of that was awesome. But when we start to get tired, we really drop pretty significantly. It's just learning."
Hatches will have to be battered down on the defensive end and mistakes will have to be limited, but Colorado moves forward off four consecutive wins into its season’s biggest test thus far. The No. 24 Louisville Cardinals (4-2) are hosted in Boulder on Saturday, with tip-off set for 1:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+). The game kicks off CU's longest homestand of the 2024-25 campaign.
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