WOMENS BASKETBALL

Colorado 63, Southern Cal 59

BY PAT GRAHAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOULDER, Colo. - Aaronette Vonleh hit a go-ahead layup with under a minute remaining as No. 3 Colorado took advantage of Trojans standout JuJu Watkins fouling out to escape with a 63-59 over No. 6 Southern California.

The Buffaloes (16-2, 6-1 Pac-12) finished 2-1 over a difficult stretch of playing three straight against top-10 opponents. They beat No. 8 Stanford last Sunday before losing to fifth-ranked UCLA on Friday night in front of a record crowd.

This crowd was just as raucous, especially after Vonleh gave the Buffaloes a 58-56 lead.

Quay Miller scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Point guard Jaylyn Sherrod finished with 17 points and one big assist that set up Vonleh’s late basket.

Watkins scored 20 points before fouling out for the Trojans (13-3, 3-3), who were coming in off a 78-58 road loss to 20th-ranked Utah. Taylor Bigby had 14.

Leading 60-56 after a pair of free throws by Frida Formann, USC’s Kayla Padilla hit a 3-pointer with 15.3 seconds remaining to make it one-point game. Sherrod made one of two free throws.

McKenzie Forbes’ shot down low was off the mark and Vonleh hit two free throws to close out the win.

The pivotal moment in the game was when Watkins picked up her fourth foul and went to the bench with 8:17 remaining and Colorado leading 51-49. Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb rolled the dice, though, and brought Watkins back at 6:42 but Watkins quickly picked up her fifth on a charge call.

It was the first time this season Watkins has fouled out.

The Trojans led by as many as seven in the second quarter but went ice cold from the field. They were 1 of 13 on from the floor to close out the half as Colorado took a 32-30 lead into the break.

BIG PICTURE

Southern California: The Trojans are 2-3 against ranked teams this season.

Colorado: The Buffaloes have now beaten three top-10 opponents in the same season for the first time in team history. The also beat then top-ranked LSU to start the season.

HONORING ZIMMER

There was a moment of silence before the game to honor Larry Zimmer, the longtime radio voice for the University of Colorado football and basketball games who died Saturday night. He was 88.

Zimmer called 486 football games at Colorado (22 bowl games) and 525 men’s basketball games.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Colorado athletics press release

January 21, 2024