Colorado
9-1,0-0Pac-12
UT Arlington
1-8,0-2WAC
No. 8 Colorado Takes Down UT Arlington
December 05, 2023 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – No. 8 Colorado took care of business in a 95-74 victory over UT Arlington at the CU Events Center on Tuesday.
2,673 fans were in attendance for the Tuesday afternoon affair with a majority of them being from local area schools participating in the team's Field Trip Day.
Frida Formann led the offensive attack, scoring 20 of her 23 points and hitting six 3s in the first half. Her first-half 3s set a CU record for the most in a half and she added another 3-pointer in the third quarter, tying the school record of seven made 3s in a game for the second time this season. Quay Miller had a great performance as well, recording a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She shot 63.6% from the field and had three steals on the defensive end.
Jaylyn Sherrod matched Miller with a double-double performance herself. Sherrod had 11 points while setting a new career-high in assists with 13. The 13 assists tie former Kennedy Leonard for fourth most in a game by a Buff. Leonard matched the feat three times throughout her career. The Buffs totaled 28 assists on 37 mad baskets on the afternoon.
"Throughout the season, you're trying to get better, every day you're trying to be better," head coach JR Payne stated. "As coaches, we're kind of wired to look at the weaknesses or look at the areas that we can improve, but I'm also smart enough to be able to celebrate the really great things that we did as well. I'm proud of lots of things on the stat sheet and excited for some opportunity to focus on ourselves in the next couple of weeks."
It took one quarter for the Buffaloes (9-1) to get things going against the Mavericks (1-8, 0-2 WAC) as both teams found themselves in a six-point game after the first. Colorado responded by outscoring UT Arlington 22-13 in the second quarter and the Buffs didn't look back from there.
The Buffs used their size and speed to their advantage on Tuesday. Colorado was plus-16 in rebounding and had 13 fastbreak points.
CU now has a short break before they play Northern Colorado on Thursday, Dec. 21 in the last non-conference game of the regular season.
"It's been a really tough preseason," Payne said after the game. "We intentionally scheduled a really tough preseason, knowing that these guys can handle it. But congrats to them for being able to learn a new scout every other day, be able to make adjustments, be able to be in lots of different states and airplanes. What they have done in the first month of the season has not been easy, but they continue to work. They continue to have each other's back and I think that's the sign of a great team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs started the game on an 11-5 run early in the first quarter. UT Arlington then knocked down a 3-pointer to trail by just three. From there, Colorado scored six unanswered to take a 17-8 lead with 6:04 remaining in the quarter.
Two 3s from the Mavericks followed by two free throws brought them within four at 23-27 approaching the end of the first. Vonleh ended the quarter with a layup for the Buffs to put CU up 29-23 heading into the second.
Scoring was slow in the second quarter as the Buffs outscored UT Arlington 9-4 in the first 5:08. Back-to-back six-point scoring runs by Colorado gave the Buffs a 48-32 lead with just over a minute to go in the half. Formann put an exclamation mark on the quarter, hitting her sixth 3 of the night to go up 51-36 at the break.
The Buffs started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to force a quick UT Arlington timeout. Later in the quarter, back-to-back three-pointers from Maddie Nolan aided a 10-0 run that gave Colorado a commanding 70-43 lead.
Colorado called off the offensive in the fourth quarter, allowing the bench to get some well-earned minutes. UTA outscored CU 19-18 in the final frame, but the game was well out of reach.
KEY MOMENT
The Buffs went on two separate six-point scoring runs in the second quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 12-5 in the full stretch. The two runs put the Buffs up 16, 48-32, and helped them to go into halftime with a 51-36 lead.
NOTES
Colorado is now 1-0 all-time vs UT Arlington … Colorado shot 50% from the field in the first three quarters (55.0, 50.0, 52.9) ... CU's 29-point first quarter was its best opening quarter of the season (Prev. 26, Le Moyne) ... All 10 games of the season have been decided by 10 or more points ... Two players had double-doubles, Miller (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Sherrod (11 points, 13 assists) for the first time since November 29, 2017 against North Dakota State … Formann now has the most 3-pointers in a half by a Colorado player with six (It was previously five seven times with the last time being Emma Clarke against Denver on Dec.12, 2019) … Formann also tied the Colorado single game 3-point record with seven 3s (This is the ninth time a player has made seven threes in a game) ... Formann now has 213 career 3-pointers and trails Manyd Nightingale (224) for fourth all-time … Sherrod set a new career high in assists with 13, nine of which came in the first half (Her previous career high was 11 assists against NJIT on Nov. 10, 2019)...Her double-double was the first points and assists since she had 19 points and 10 assists at Utah on Dec. 29, 2019.
UP NEXT
The Buffs have a two-week break before taking on Northern Colorado on Thursday, Dec. 21 at noon in their last game before conference play begins.
