Buffs knock off Mustangs on road
Colorado certainly didn’t expect to waltz into SMU’S Moody Coliseum and come away with an easy win.
The Buffaloes got exactly what they expected on Saturday night, as they had to scratch and claw to beat the host Mustangs, 84- 69 to remain undefeated on the season.
“It was truly a battle,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I can’t think of any other word. It was a really physical, really tough game. I mean, this was a tough one to come into SMU and get the win, so really proud of how we competed tonight.”
The No. 5-ranked Buffs (4- 0) got 23 points from Aaronette Vonleh and 18 apiece from Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod.
Those veterans and others, including Tameiya Sadler, Frida Formann and Kindyll Wetta repeatedly stepped up when SMU (31) made a charge.
CU never trailed after taking a 14-13 lead with 3 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first quarter, but never really got comfortable and SMU kept battling. Tiara Young had a career-high 30 points to keep her team in it all night.
“We just knew that this was going to be a game of runs and just being able to answer whenever they had an answer and to just be better in everything that we did,” said Miller, who also had 10 rebounds in posting her second straight double- double. “And that was really just our game plan, just to be excellent — or try to be.”
SMU pulled within 3736 late in the first half, but Formann scored five of her seven points in a 15-second span to spark a 7- 0 CU run to close the half.
Then, after SMU pulled within eight early in the third, Miller hit a 3-pointer and Sherrod got a steal, layup and foul, completing a three-point play to push the lead to 54- 40.
“I thought it was huge, not just for the points, but for the momentum that really kind of swung in our favor,” Payne said of that sequence. “A big shot from Quay and then, yeah, the steal and andone, we’re always very energetic on a play like that. So it was great to see.”
A 7- 0 surge by SMU cut CU’S lead to 64- 56 early in the fourth, but the Buffs went on a 12- 5 run over the next three minutes to put the game away.
The Buffs finished with just 11 turnovers and held the Mustangs to 40% shooting in the second half.
“I knew that our defense was good because we won the game,” Miller said. “Anytime the game is going in our favor is because our defense is just going so well.”
Notable
With four assists, Sherrod is at exactly 500 for her career. She’s just the fourth player in CU history to reach that milestone. … The Buffs finished with 21 assists and have had at least 20 in all four games this season. … CU was just 5-of-23 (21.7%) from 3-point range, but was 26- of- 40 (65%) inside the arc and 17- of-19 (89.5%) at the free throw line. … Under Payne,
the Buffs are now 67-7 in regular season non-conference games, including 21-5 on the road.