Fast break
Why the Buffs won: Their defense was exceptional, holding Stanford to 33.9% shooting and forcing 18 turnovers. That poured into offense, including 22 fast-break points.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Kindyll Wetta: One of the better games of her career, as she had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
2. CU’s Quay Miller: Posted a third straight double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
3. Stanford’s Kiki Iriafen: Dominant all day, she had game highs in points (19) and rebounds (17).
Up next: On Friday, the Buffs’ home stand continues against No. 2 UCLA at the CU Events Center.
Colorado walk-on Sophie Gerber has wanted one of her teammates to pull off the “night night” celebration that NBA star Steph Curry has made famous.
So, when Jaylyn Sherrod raced past Stanford star Cameron Brink for a layup with 26.3 seconds to play on Sunday, she obliged. Sherrod put her hands to her face, pretending to go to sleep as she and the Buffaloes put Stanford to bed.
One of the biggest home games in Colorado women’s basketball history lived up to the hype and the fifth-ranked Buffaloes sent a raucous crowd home happy with a 71-59 victory against No. 8 Stanford at the CU Events Center on Sunday.
“(The celebration) was more so Sophie’s (idea),” said Sherrod, who scored 13 points, including that layup to put the Buffs up by eight. “You just want to support your teammates, too. She was hyped about it, so I just wanted to give her that moment.”
Sunday was quite a moment for all the Buffs (15-1, 5-0 Pac-12), who matched the best 16-game start in program history – the 1992-93 team also started 15-1 – and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cardinal (15-2, 4-1), while taking sole possession of first place in the conference. The Buffs have won nine in a row overall.
The first matchup of top-10 teams in nearly 30 years in Boulder drew 9,111 fans, the ninth-largest crowd ever for a CU women’s home game and the fourth-largest for a regular season game.
“Super proud of our team, of course, but also our community,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “They really showed out today and I think it was a great experience. I’m hoping we’ll continue to build on that. So fun to play in front of a crowd like that. … When we have that type of support and energy in the building, it makes a huge difference during those runs. So, proud of our team. We were totally ready. In one days’ notice we were ready and I think we came out and really played well today. Proud of our effort and excited to keep going.”
CU had five players score in double figures, including Quay Miller posting her third straight double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds). In addition to her 13 points, Sherrod added four assists and four steals.
Kindyll Wetta had a huge game, with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Maddie Nolan scored 12 points and Frida Formann had 10.
“Every night I think we come in here and we talk about somebody else that was really important and hit big shots and things like that,” Payne said.
There were plenty of big shots during a game-changing 20-2 run by the Buffs in the third quarter. Formann kick-started that run with six straight points and Nolan capped it with a 3-pointer that gave CU its biggest lead, 56-37, with 1:45 to play in the third quarter.
“We come back together, refocus … just make sure we’re all locked in on the same page so that no matter what we do, we’re all on the same page,” Payne said. “I thought we did that really well, whenever we had an opportunity to come together. A run like that, I didn’t even know it was that big of a run. You could feel the momentum but incredible to be able to sustain not just offensive scoring, but actually getting stops like that, as well is pretty remarkable.
Stanford didn’t go away, though. Kiki Iriafen (19 points, 17 rebounds) and Brink (12 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks) were sensational, helping the Cardinal chip away and pull within 65-59 with 55 seconds left. Sherrod’s layup sealed the deal a few moments later as CU closed the game with a 6-0 run.
“You just learn throughout your career about how important it is to end games,” Sherrod said. “We’ve lost some games to these guys because we didn’t make free throws, because we got caught up in the moment and we didn’t finish out. So I think you just learn through experience.
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, at the end of the day. I’ve been shooting layups for 20 years. It’s more just about executing and then just trusting your work and the process of what got you to that point.”
No. 5 Colorado 71, No. 8 Stanford 59
STANFORD (15-2, 4-1 Pac-12)
Lepolo 1-4 0-0 2, Bosgana 0-1 0-0 0, Brink 5-13 0-0 12, Jump 2-9 0-0 5, Iriafen 5-17 9-9 19, Agara 0-1 0-0 0, Clardy 0-0 0-0 0, Demetre 4-8 0-0 12, Harriel 3-6 1-1 9. Totals 20-59 10-10 59.
COLORADO (15-1, 5-0 Pac-12)
Vonleh 3-7 0-0 6, Miller 4-12 3-4 13, Sherrod 5-11 2-2 13, Formann 3-14 3-3 10, Nolan 4-7 1-1 12, Whittaker 1-2 0-0 3, Sadler 1-2 0-0 2, Wetta 4-5 3-4 12, McLeod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 12-14 71.
Stanford 17 13 11 18 – 59
Colorado 18 18 22 13 – 71
3-point goals – Stanford 9-26 (Demetre 4-8, Brink 2-6, Harriel 2-3, Jump 1-5, Iriafen 0-2, Lepolo 0-1, Agara 0-1), Colorado 9-21 (Nolan 3-5, Miller 2-3, Formann 1-8, Whittaker 1-2, Sherrod 1-1, Wetta 1-1, Vonleh 0-1). Rebounds – Stanford 42 (Iriafen 17), Colorado 33 (Miller 10). Assists – Stanford 13 (Lepolo 5), Colorado 18 (Wetta 5). Steals – Stanford 3 (Iriafen, Jump, Harriel 1), Colorado 11 (Sherrod, Wetta 4). Turnovers – Stanford 18, Colorado 11. Total fouls – Stanford 16, Colorado 18. Fouled out – Whittaker. Attendance – 9,111.