Through three quarters and the first two minutes of the fourth, the No. 12 Utah women’s basketball team had weathered everything No. 8 Colorado had thrown at them.
The Utes even held an eight-point lead and had the momentum on the road, leading the Buffaloes 59-51 at the CU Events Center on Saturday.
Those final eight minutes of the game, though, Colorado took over. The Buffs ended the game with a 23-4 run in a 76-65 Colorado victory in the Pac-12 opener for both schools.
Utah (10-3, 0-1 Pac-12) missed 9 of its final 10 shots from the field on a day in which the Utes — who entered the game No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage — shot 45.6% from the field.
In the fourth quarter, though, that percentage dropped to 28.6%, while Colorado made 8 of 11 shots in the final period — or 72.7% — on its way to shooting 47.6% for the game.
The Buffaloes (11-1, 1-0 Pac-12) also got a career game out of guard Jaylyn Sherrod, who scored 13 of her career-best 34 points in the decisive fourth quarter. Sherrod also finished with six steals, four rebounds and four assists in the win.
That more than counteracted 27 points from Utah forward Alissa Pili, who again paced the Utes’ offensive attack — she shot 10 of 18 from the floor — while adding 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Pili, though, also turned the ball over six times. It was a problem for the Utes all day, as Utah had 20 turnovers, which led to 23 Colorado points. The Buffaloes — who turned the ball over 14 times, which led to 12 Utah points — had 16 steals in the contest.
“Every game I want to do what I can to help my team win. Colorado had a lot of runs on us and we just couldn’t keep up,” Pili said.
“They got momentum and they weren’t missing so when we weren’t capitalizing on our end it hurt us. We’re at a stage where we have to finish tough games so we’re gonna learn and bounce back.”
Right around the same time that Colorado turned the tide after trailing by eight early in the fourth quarter, the Utes had a scary moment when Pili fell to the ground after losing the ball on offense and held her right knee.
She eventually walked off the court and was trying to stretch out her calf on the sideline before returning to the game with six minutes to play, right as the Buffaloes tied the game at 61.
After the teams entered the locker room tied at 33, there were several big runs for both teams in the second half.
Colorado took a 44-37 lead after Frida Fromann, normally the Buffs’ leading scorer, added her only points of the day on a 3-pointer, but Utah responded with a 10-0 run to go back out in front.
The Utes followed that with a 10-0 spurt over the final minute of the third quarter and start of the fourth to push back ahead by eight.
That led to the decisive final run by the Buffaloes.
“We talked about it all week, like they’re going to go on the run,” Sherrod said, per the team’s website. “They’re just built like that offensively, but it’s about how you withstand it and how you come back from it.”
Even with Utah struggling to hit from the floor, the Utes managed to put within 67-65 on a pair of Pili free throws with 3:20 to play.
Back-to-back turnovers from Utah, though, played a part in the Buffaloes scoring the game’s final nine points, including the last five from Sherrod.
“It was a game of runs and we kind of died there on the vine in the last four minutes. When Pili went down, it threw our rhythm off but credit to Colorado as they held us in the fourth quarter,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said.
Aaronette Vonleh added 18 points for Colorado, while Sara-Rose Smith put up 11 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.
No other Utes scored in double-figures, though Kennady McQueen scored nine points and added three rebounds and an assist, while Inês Vieira had six points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Utah also had just 10 assists on 26 made field goals, an uncharacteristic afternoon for a team that entered the day leading the country in assists per game.
“When this season is all said and done Colorado and Utah are going to be in the hunt. A win or loss at this point isn’t going to make or break our season,” Roberts said. “The thing about the Pac-12 is there isn’t time to dwell or celebrate. You have to get ready for the next contest.”
What’s next?
The Utes will stay on the road to begin conference play.
Next week, Utah will play at Arizona State on Friday (7 p.m. MST) and at Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 7 (noon, Pac-12 Network).