BUFFS BULLY DUCKS
CU finds groove, dominates Oregon in Pac-12 tournament
LAS VEGAS >> Certainly, the Colorado women’s basketball team could have pointed to a number of fundamental reasons why it struggled down the stretch of the regular season.
The offense sputtered at times, the defense was lacking other times. Too many miscues or missed shots plagued the Buffs, who limped into the Pac12 tournament with a 1-5 mark in the past six games.
What the 18th-ranked Buffs really missed, however, was some peace.
“I think we’ve been on a hard stretch, and we’ve all really tried to think about things we can do better, like really just trying to improve and that’s not a very peaceful process,” CU guard Frida Formann said. “But I think, just, we also know that to play well, we need to be confident, we need to believe in what we can do and our team philosophy. So I think that’s what we mean by being at peace with who we are.”
Fifth-seeded CU must have been at peace on Wednesday, because it destroyed 12th-seeded Oregon, 79-30, in the opening game of the Pac-12 tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Buffs will take on 13thranked and fourth-seeded Oregon
State on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Brushing aside the recent struggles, the Buffs orchestrated the most dominant win in the history of the Pac-10/12 tournament. The 49-point margin of victory shattered the previous record of 41 by Stanford over California in 2005. CU also held Oregon to the lowest point total and lowest field goal percentage (.189) by any team in tournament history.
Formann led all scorers with 17 points, while Quay Miller (10 points) and Jaylyn Sherrod (nine points, eight assists) set the tone from the start.
“I’m just really happy with how we played, of course,” CU
head coach JR Payne said. “We had a great week of practice. A lot of people keep asking us, ‘Well, how are you guys doing?’ And my thought is we’re in a great place. We’re in as good a place as we’ve been. Maybe we just like to be an underdog. We are the underdog now. We love that. That’s comfortable. We feel good about how we played. We feel good about just where we are.”
It took some work to get there, though, because the Buffs (22-8) weren’t in that place just a few days ago when they lost in the home finale to Washington State on Saturday.
Wednesday was a much different version of the Buffs, who looked like the team that started 20-3 this season.
“I don’t know if that’s why,” Payne said of taking the underdog mindset. “But, man, we had a great week of practice. Like, we are mission-focused. We are locked in and we feel really good about just where we are and what we can do.”
Miller, who went 0-for- 16 from the floor with two points in two games in this tournament last year, hit her first three shots Wednesday and had eight points in the first four minutes, sparking CU to a 13-2 start.
“I really just go out there and try to have the best energy that I can,” Miller said. “I think that when my teammates see that type of energy, they feed off of it and that gets them going, but it also gets me going, as well.
“So to see light and joy and, like, just difference in everybody’s spirit today, I think that’s what got me going. … Our spirit and synergy out there was really great.”
CU led 26-7 after one quarter and 38-11 at halftime. Oregon (11-21), which lost its 14th consecutive game, never threatened the Buffs, who continued to extend the lead even with the starters on the bench for much of the second half.
For the Buffs, this was exactly what they needed. Not just a win, but to be dominant in earning that win.
“I think it was important for all of us,” Formann said. “Also, I think we showed each other today that we’re all there, we’re all locked in, we’re all ready. Everyone contributed and I think that was just important for our overall unity and synergy and stuff like that. So I think we’re super ready and connected for tomorrow and in the rest of this tournament.”