CU Buffs’ Huge Second Half Fuels Much Needed Win

The Colorado Buffaloes’ women’s basketball team was in need of a reset. 

After losing six of their last seven games, and struggling mightily on the offensive end, the Buffs found their NCAA Tournament hopes dwindling away. A loss on Friday night dropped them to 3-6 in PAC-12 play, and they had one last chance to right the ship at home before heading out on a 4-game California road trip.

The Buffs trounced the visiting Washington Huskies 66-43 on Sunday afternoon, fueled by a dominant second half that looked different than the basketball they had been playing over the last few weeks. 

“I am really proud of how we played tonight,” said CU head coach JR Payne after the game. “We played really good basketball, I mean really good basketball. We defended, we competed, we executed, we kept our cool, we made adjustments. These guys made huge adjustments in the second half just based on how the game was being called. Just really incredible effort from so many people, physically, emotionally, mentally, just to pour in and just do the job.”

The first half looked like more of the same for the Buffs as they once again struggled to score points and hit shots, finishing the half shooting just 32 percent from the field and missing more than half of their free throws. The ball was sticking, the shots weren’t falling, and there was minimal rhythm for a team that had become accustomed to halves like this during their recent slide. 

However, as they usually do, CU hung tough on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and contesting shots despite trying to figure out how to work around Washington’s overpowering size on the interior, led by 6’9” center Nancy Mulkey. This strong defensive effort kept the game close and, despite their difficulty scoring points, brought the game to halftime tied at 23.

After a first half that saw her hit just one of her eight shots from the floor, Mya Hollingshed slashed to the rim for an easy layup before knocking down two triples, giving the Buffs a lead that they would never relinquish. 

“I went into halftime thinking to myself ‘I have to be more aggressive,’” Hollingshed said postgame. “They were already calling the game kind of tight, calling little touch fouls… I was just trying to adapt my game, trying to get to the rim a lot more, see the ball go through the hoop, and I think that’s what opened up my three.”

Hollingshed continued to tear the Huskies apart in the last 20 minutes, finishing with a game-high 20 points, with 17 of those coming after the intermission. 

Junior center and former Washington Husky Quay Miller also had a big night off the bench for Colorado, posting an efficient 18 points in just 19 minutes on the floor against her former team. 

“It always feels good to have a good game,” Miller said. “But especially against a program I just left, it definitely (feels good).”

Guards Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta spearheaded a Colorado defense that was relentless at the point of attack, forcing 21 Husky turnovers while only giving it away seven times on offense. Many of those forced turnovers fueled an 18-2 run in the final seven minutes that put the game away for the Buffs.

“Collectively, as a group, we decided that we needed to do a better job of doing something with those turnovers,” Payne said. “It’s great to steal the ball but you’ve gotta do something with it. Come down and score, come down and get a great possession, and I thought we did a much better job of that tonight.”

This win boosts the Buffs’ record to 15-6 on the season and likely keeps them squarely in the projected NCAA Tournament field. They now hit the road for a few weeks, starting with a date in Berkeley against Cal on Feb. 11 at 8:00 p.m.