The Colorado women's basketball team had a long 15-day layoff before its final non-conference game in Boulder on Thursday, and it’s safe to say the Buffs weren’t firing on all cylinders out of the gates.
Northern Colorado scored the first 14 points before the Buffs settled in and bounced back, eventually cruising to a 78-56 victory.
“Really proud of our preseason,” Colorado coach JR Payne said postgame. “We had a lot of tough games, on the road, different things. Even a two-week break, as wonderful as it was, is a really difficult thing to navigate for a team. In 23 years of coaching, I’ve never had to navigate that before. I think we saw that in the first few minutes of the game, it was a little rusty, but definitely proud of how we sort of got rid of that and played really well for the most part. Definitely still areas to grow, but lots of great things that I saw on the floor tonight.”
Northern Colorado forward Delaynie Byrne came out on a mission, immediately splashing three 3-pointers to begin the game and put the Bears in front 9-0. Before you could blink, the Buffs were down double digits and had dug themselves a deep hole. But Quay Miller responded, settling CU in with six quick points and three rebounds to keep Colorado within striking distance after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Jaylyn Sherrod and the Colorado defense took over. The Buffs’ point guard was relentless on both ends of the floor, scoring 13 points in the second frame and igniting a fire in her team that would eventually push them over the top. Sherrod knocked down a pair of 3s to go with her signature downhill attacks to fuel the Colorado offense before the half.
On the other end, the Buffs ramped up the pressure and made the Bears offense, which had played very well in the opening part of the game, extremely uncomfortable. Northern Colorado turned the ball over nine times in the second quarter with a handful of those coming in the closing minutes, allowing the Buffs to take a 41-35 lead into the break.
“Everything, for us, aggressive is good. Everything that’s not aggressive is bad,” Payne said. “It seems silly, but it is honestly that true.”
After a choppy opening few minutes in the third quarter, the Buffs really began to wrestle control away from the Bears. CU established Aaronette Vonleh on the interior, Frida Formann and Maddie Nolan got going from the outside, and Colorado continued to force turnovers at will to pull away. By the end of the third, the Buffs had stretched their lead at 17 and they would never look back.
By the end of the game, the Bears had turned the ball over 28 times, succumbing to the Buffs’ pressure time and time again in the second half. The Buffs also dominated in the paint, scoring 48 points inside to the Bears’ 14.
Sherrod led the way for the Buffs with 16 points, all of them coming in the first half. The second half was controlled by Vonleh, who finished with 14 points and a career-high four blocks, and Tameiya Sadler, who was a monster on both ends. The Washington transfer finished the afternoon with 10 points and five steals. Kindyll Wetta also had an excellent game off the bench, notching 11 points and a team-high six assists.
For the Bears, Byrne slowed down after her hot start, but still finished with a game-high 21 points. Seneca Hackley shared the load with Byrne scoring the ball, putting in 15. The Bears’ starters scored all of their points in this one, with the bench failing to contribute anything in the scoring column.
The Buffs will now break for the holidays before returning to Boulder for Pac-12 play. There’s no easing into the conference schedule for Payne’s group, as they will take on No. 11 Utah on Dec. 30. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. MST.
