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LAS VEGAS – After excelling after halftime all season, the Buffs came up just one run short in Friday night’s second half, falling to the Washington State Cougars 61-49 in the Pac-12 semifinals.
After a really rough first half that saw foul trouble, cold shooting, and plenty of sloppy turnovers, the Buffs had one more run in them during this conference season. A huge run to end the third quarter pulled CU back even, but the Cougars played an excellent final period to pull away and advance to Sunday’s championship game.
“Proud of our team for our fight that I think was clearly on display for a large part of the second half,” said Colorado head coach JR Payne postgame. “Disappointed with the outcome, disappointed with some things that we could’ve executed more effectively, you know, things that we really felt like we needed to do to win the game.”
The Buffs couldn’t find anything on the offensive end early on in the game, constantly searching for answers while battling a Cougars defense that was in-tune with everything they were trying to do. Washington State was excellent containing the Buffs’ perimeter players right from the opening tip, and held Colorado to just 3/15 shooting in the first quarter.
The Buffs hung in on defense early on in the game, but a quick spurt from Washington State to end the quarter gave them an early cushion. A jumper from backup big Jessica Clarke, followed by a three-pointer by Astera Tuhina that bounced around the rim in Kawhi Leonard-esque fashion before eventually dropping made the score 14-6 Cougars at the end of one.
Early in the second, Washington State really began to separate themselves. As the Buffs continued to get in their own way on the offensive end, Washington State capitalized, pushing their lead up to 14.
By the time intermission came around, the Buffs had mustered just 16 points and had already turned the ball over 11 times. Tayanna Jones was limited to just three minutes due to foul trouble in the opening half, and they had gotten absolutely nothing going from the perimeter. Center Aaronette Vonleh scored 10 of CU’s 16 points in the first two quarters.
“I thought they did a great job of defending offensive action,” said Payne. “Lanes were relatively clogged, I thought they did a great job of playing personnel. When you play a team three times, you know each other pretty well, their strengths and weaknesses, things like that. I thought they did a great job of identifying that and making it difficult for us.”
In the second half, however, the Buffs came storming back just like they have so many times this year. After falling behind by 16 points in the opening minutes of the half, the Buffs rallied over the ensuing eight minutes led by Vonleh, Jaylyn Sherrod, and Frida Formann. By the time the dust settled in the third quarter, CU had leveled the score with a 20-4 run, tying the game at 38.
The fourth quarter was a different story. A few minutes into the final period, senior forward Ula Motuga splashed home a three pointer to give Washington State a lead that they would never relinquish.
Later in the fourth, after a Sherrod layup that kept Colorado within striking distance, Motuga collected a rebound following a Vonleh block and knocked down a tough three to put the final dagger in the Buffs’ conference title hopes.
“Moments like that are momentum shifters, just when you’re expecting a play to go one way and it goes a different way,” said Vonleh.
Vonleh paced the Buffs on offense throughout the night, finishing with 18 points on a blistering 9-for-11 from the floor. Sherrod came alive in the second half as well, and finished the game with 13 points and six assists. Sherrod also passed the 1,000 point milestone for her career in the third quarter.
Quay Miller’s rough week in Vegas continued Friday in an 0-for-7, six turnover performance. The Buffs’ leading scorer missed all 16 of her shots over the course of the tournament.
“Quay has proven time and time again, she’s proven herself over 30 games that she’s one of the best players in this conference,” said Payne. “That speaks to her consistency. She definitely had a tough weekend, but I appreciate how she kept talking, she kept encouraging, she kept playing hard, she was on the glass… I wouldn’t expect this to continue to last, but definitely want to get her feeling well and ready to rock by tournament time.
On the Cougar side, they were led once again by star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who finished with 15 points, while center Bella Murekatete notched 12 points and eight rebounds.
Washington State will move on to their first conference title game in school history on Sunday afternoon, where they will take on fifth-seeded UCLA. The Bruins are coming off of a massive upset earlier Friday evening when they knocked off top-seeded Stanford 69-65. As a No. 7 seed, the Cougars are the lowest seed to ever appear in the Pac-12 title game.
Coming off of this disappointing loss, the Buffs will now turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament. They are currently projected to land in the four or five range on the seed line, and will officially learn their fate next Sunday, March 12 when the final bracket is announced. If the Buffs do indeed get a top-four seed, they will get to host the first two rounds of the tournament in Boulder.
