TEMPE, Ariz.– The early start wasn’t an ideal tipoff time on the road for the Colorado women’s basketball team. And, indeed, the Buffaloes appeared to hit the snooze button more than a few times throughout the contest.
Yet, in the end, CU found a way to win.
The 21st-ranked Buffs were far from their best in a Friday afternoon battle at Arizona State, but the Buffs made the plays down the stretch and received a clutch performance off the bench from Tameiya Sadler to escape Desert Financial Arena with a 70-62 victory.
The win ended a 14-game losing streak against ASU that dated back exactly 10 years to Feb. 17, 2013. The Buffs improved to 21-5 overall, marking the 12th time in program history the club has reached 21 wins, and 12-3 in the Pac-12 Conference.
Combined with the win by the men’s team in the same arena about 15 hours earlier, it is the first time the CU men and women have won in Tempe in the same season.
“I think the foul trouble early kind of made us a little discombobulated,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “We felt like we were doing what we needed to do but had several people in foul trouble. They’re a good scrappy defensive-minded team. I thought they did a good job of being disruptive of what we were trying to do, and some shots that typically fall didn’t. So it was sort of a combination of all those things made for kind of a jumbled game.”
ASU is suffering through a winless campaign in Pac-12 play, but too many turnovers from the Buffs — they committed five in the first 5 minutes, 24 seconds and finished with 20 — and foul trouble kept CU out of sync.
With 1:13 left in the first quarter, point guard Jaylyn Sherrod was whistled for a foul and was then charged with a technical. ASU made all four free throws and added a bucket on the ensuing possession to take a 21-19 lead. Sherrod sat for the remainder of the first half, but that’s when Sadler picked up the slack.
Sadler had scored only 15 points total in the previous seven games, but she went 4 for 4 with 11 points in the first half, leading the Buffs to a 42-31 lead at the break. A transfer from Washington, Sadler finished 6 for 6 with a CU career-high of 16 points while also adding five rebounds and three assists.
“Coming in and being ready, anything can happen,” Sadler said. “You never know when your number is going to be called. So, coming in with confidence and just trying to be in the flow of the game.”
ASU didn’t go away quietly, cutting CU’s 11-point halftime advantage to seven by the end of the third quarter and battling to within 62-60 with 3:22 remaining in the game. A Sadler free throw gave CU a three-point cushion before Frida Formann made the most of a tough shooting day by knocking down a key 3-pointer, pushing the Buffs’ lead back to six points.
CU finished the game on an 8-2 run to hold off the Sun Devils. CU forward Quay Miller posted her seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“I continue to praise our upperclassmen. They do a great job of making sure that we’re really focused and understand the scout,” Payne said. “When things start to go sideways a little bit, they’re the ones that sort of reel us back in to make sure that we don’t get too up and down and we stay pretty calm. Our upper classmen did that again today.”
Snapshot: CU Buffs women 70, Arizona State 62
Turning point: The Buffs couldn’t shake off a feisty ASU upset bid until they closed the game with an 8-2 burst.
Buff of the game: With apologies to Quay Miller and her double-double, Tameiya Sadler came off the bench to go 6-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 at the free throw line, finishing with a CU career-best of 16 points.
What’s next?: The Buffs face a top-25 battle on the road on Sunday at No. 18 Arizona (noon, Pac-12 Network).
No. 21 Colorado 70, Arizona State 62
COLORADO (21-5, 12-3 Pac-12)
Sherrod 2-5 4-4 8, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Formann 3-10 0-0 8, Miller 8-16 0-0 17, Vonleh 4-7 0-1 8, Sadler 6-6 3-4 16, Wetta 3-6 1-2 9, Wynn 0-1 1-2 1, McLeod 1-3 1-1 3, Whittaker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 10-14 70.
ARIZONA STATE (7-17, 0-15 Pac-12)
Simmons 5-9 0-1 11, Skinner 9-23 8-9 27, Hunt 4-15 1-1 10, Mokwuah 2-4 1-2 5, Sousa 1-1 0-0 2, Crisp 0-3 0-0 0, Erikstrup 2-6 0-0 5, Newman 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 24-64 10-13 62.
Colorado 22 20 11 17 – 70
Arizona St 21 10 15 16 – 62
3-point field goals — Colorado 6-18 (Formann 2-7, Wetta 2-2, Miller 1-7, Sadler 1-1, Wynn 0-1); Arizona State 4-19 (Hunt 1-8, Skinner 1-6, Erikstrup 1-3, Simmons 1-2). Rebounds — Colorado 40 (Miller 10); Arizona State 33 (Hunt 8). Assists — Colorado 20 (Sherrod 5); Arizona State 10 (Simmons, Skinner 3). Steals — Colorado 10 (Miller 4), Arizona State 9 (Skinner 4). Turnovers — Colorado 20, Arizona State 14. Total fouls — Colorado 16, Arizona State 17. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Sherrod. A — 2,793.
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