Jones, Stanford survive Colorado in double OT
BOULDER, Colo. — This was Haley Jones’ take on playing a careerhigh 50 minutes at elevation: “It was fun,” the Stanford senior guard said.
Easy to see why. Jones scored 13 of her 23 points over the two overtime periods as the thirdranked Cardinal held off No. 21 Colorado 73-62 on Thursday night.
Jones also had 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Cardinal (27-3, 15-2 Pac-12), who remain on top of the conference standings with one game left on their regular season schedule. Stanford was picked to win the Pac-12 in the preseason poll.
Lauren Betts, who grew up in Colorado, sent the game into double overtime by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. She finished with 14 points.
Jones took control in the second overtime, helping the Cardinal outscore Colorado by a 13-2 margin. It was the first double OT game for Stanford since 2017.
“Feels great. A ‘W’ is a ‘W’ in my opinion, even though we have lots of things to work on,” Jones said. “We learned a lot, but it also proves that we’re very gritty and a tough team.”
Jaylyn Sherrod led Colorado (21-7, 12-5) with 19 points, including the game-tying basket with just under 30 seconds remaining in regulation. She briefly left the game in the fourth after appearing to turn her ankle. The Buffaloes, who trailed by as many as eight in the fourth, were missing their third-leading scorer, Frida Formann, due to an illness.
“What anyone who watched this game saw on full display wasn’t a bunch of superstars. It was a team that’s tough and gritty and fights and scraps for every single possession. That’s who we are,” said Colorado coach JR Payne, whose team shot 28.8 percent from the floor. “It really hurts to lose a game like this to Stanford, but incredibly proud of how we played.”
The usually sureshooting Cardinal missed their opening 15 shots and trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. They entered on short rest after beating UCLA on Monday.
The games between the Buffaloes and Cardinal are typically back-andforth. Entering Thursday, six of the last last 10 were decided by single digits, including two that went into overtime. This was another thriller.
“We kind of made it exciting for TV,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. “That’s a tournament team. Colorado has had a great season. … We can both get better because of a game like this.”
Cameron Brink fouled out in overtime after scoring 8 points. Her string of reaching double figures ended at 21 straight games.
Stanford didn’t score its first basket of the game until Brooke Demetre hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. But Colorado could only open up a 13-5 advantage. Missed opportunity? “They’re really hard to score against because they’re so big at every position,” Payne said. “So that makes it challenging.”
NO. 8 UTAH 101, CAL 76
Alissa Pili scored 26 points and Jenna Johnson added 21 to help the host Utes top the Golden Bears.
Returning from a sprained ankle that kept her out last game, Pili dominated her 26 minutes on the court as Utah built enough of a lead to allow her to get some extra rest.
Utah (24-3, 14-3 Pac-12) went 5-for-7 from behind the 3-point line and ran at every opportunity in the second half to break open a tight game.
Jayda Curry paced Cal (13-15, 4-13) with 28 points and Kemery Martin, a transfer from Utah, contributed 15.