WOMENS BASKETBALL
Utah 77, Colorado 76
MATTHEW COLES
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY - Dasia Young scored 13 points and made a driving layup at the buzzer in her return after missing four games with a concussion, and No. 22 Utah beat eighth-ranked Colorado 77-76.
Alissa Pili scored 18 points to lead Utah (19-7, 9-5 Pac-12), and Inis Vieira had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. The Utes have won eight of 10.
Jaylyn Sherrod scored 15 points and Frida Formann had 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Buffaloes (20-5, 10-4) forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a thriller.
Formann’s steal and layup gave Colorado its first lead since the first quarter and Aaronette Vonleh, who had 14 points, put the Buffaloes up 76-75 with seconds to play before Young’s heroics.
With 50.7 seconds remaining, Kindyll Wetta made a layup off Sherrod’s steal to get the Buffaloes to 73-70, after Vonleh sparked the late surge with three straight baskets.
Sherrod stole it again with 43 seconds to go but then got hurt again in the scramble and had to be helped off the court.
The Utes led by as 18 points early in the third quarter before the Buffaloes offense came roaring to life. Sherrod’s jumper with 1:21 left in the third quarter capped a blistering run where the Buffaloes made 12 of 14 shots and trimmed the Utah lead to 57-50.
Young’s basket was the only Utah field goal in the final five minutes.
But Sherrod came up limping after a drive to the hoop and then was holding her left knee. Once she left the game, Vieira made two free throws and Kennady McQueen hit a 3-pointer to make it 62-50 going into the final quarter.
Both of these teams have been beating all opponents the last four weeks except Oregon State as both the Utes and Buffaloes were swept by the Beavers.
Pili had 11 points and Jenna Johnson added 10 in the first half to lift Utah to a 39-24 halftime lead — limiting the Buffaloes to their season low in first-half points.
Utah leveraged ball pressure and a collapsing interior defense to take an early cushion that benefitted the Utes when Colorado expended energy to make runs.
BIG PICTURE
Colorado: The Buffaloes were hoping to repeat their come-from-behind victory over Utah on Dec. 30 when they trailed by eight in the fourth quarter and won 76-65. This time around, Colorado had the offense efficiency but couldn’t get quite that last stop to complete the comeback.
Utah: The Utes are eyeing a late-season run to land in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed of better so the first and second round will be hosted in Salt Lake City like last season. Utah notched its third win against an AP Top 10 opponent to enhance its resume.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
February 16, 2024
