The University of Colorado women’s basketball team sat at 1-7 in Pac-12 conference play before a showdown with the Utah Utes at Coors Events Center on Wednesday evening. The Utes (13-7, 2-7 Pac-12) had faced similar conference struggles heading into the matchup.
But after a hard-fought game, the Buffs held on, thanks in part to a heroic final two minutes by sophomore guard Kennedy Leonard, and dispatched the Utes 54-49, giving head coach JR Payne her second Pac-12 win with the Buffaloes.
“[I’m] proud of how we played tonight,” Payne said. “I’m unbelievably proud of our effort.”
The win gives the Buffs a 12-8 record on the year and ends a five-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 9.
“[This win] is just a confidence builder,” Leonard said. “We struggled a little bit coming off of a good preseason. To be able to get another win and, hopefully, on Saturday take exactly what we did today and get better at it is a huge confidence [boost].”
Although the Utes drew first blood in the game, the Buffaloes answered quickly, with sophomore forward Makenzie Ellis making the team’s first basket of the night: a layup on a fast break. Leonard followed shortly thereafter with a layup of her own at the 8:59 mark in the first quarter.
About four minutes later, the Buffaloes went up 14-4. With a layup, junior center Zoe Correal capped a solid offensive possession that featured two rebounds. It was the culmination of a 12-0 run by the Buffs over a span of about five minutes. With 3:12 left in the opening quarter, a three-pointer by sophomore guard Alexis Robinson had the Buffaloes up 17-7.
But the Utes battled back, going on a 7-0 run of their own, coming within three though still trailing with 42 seconds left before the second quarter. Both teams would fail to score another basket in the final seconds of the quarter.
Close to two minutes passed in the second quarter before the opening points were scored, as Utah’s Tilar Clark made a pair of free throws to inch the Utes to within one point.
Colorado got some offense going, though, scoring five unanswered points to take the lead thanks to a three-pointer made by senior guard-forward Haley Smith and a layup by senior center Bri Watts.
The rest of the second quarter was largely a one-possession affair, as the Utes continued to chop away at their ugly first quarter deficit. Utah tied the game at 24 with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Buffs and Utes would head to the locker rooms tied. Colorado shot just 2-of-16 from the floor in the second half.
Robinson led the team with 12 points at halftime while Leonard added 11.
The game remained a one-possession situation for the first 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, until Leonard capitalized on a defensive rebound by freshman forward Monica Burich, making a layup that put CU up 32-28.
The Utes took a 34-32 lead with 4:57 left in the quarter. Colorado managed to retake the lead with 2:31 left, thanks to a layup by Burich. A pair of free throws by senior forward Zoe Beard-Fails put the Buffs up 39-36 with under a minute left.
With 42 seconds left, Smith forced a turnover on Utah’s Kiana Moore. Smith missed her ensuing jumper, but a nice rebound by Beard-Fails kept the ball in the offensive zone for the Buffs. Smith then fed Leonard the ball, who cashed in a layup, giving Colorado a 41-36 edge with just six seconds before the fourth quarter.
The Buffs scored the first points of the final quarter at the 7:21 mark, going up 43-36, courtesy of a layup by Beard-Fails. With 4:09 remaining, the Utes trailed 45-38. But Utah kept the pressure on Colorado throughout the final quarter, coming within four, although still down 45-41, with just over three minutes left.
With 1:57 left, Utah tied the game at 45. From there, Leonard put the team on her back. She took a hard fall at the 1:20 mark, but made a layup while drawing the foul, turning the sequence into a three-point play. She would go on to score all of the team’s points in the remaining two minutes and led the team with 24 points, going 7-of-19 from the floor while converting nine free throws.
“I’m feeling good,” Leonard said. “We won. My body will be okay, it can hurt tomorrow but we won today so that’s what matters,” Leonard said after the game.
Leonard made a jumper with 33 seconds left to put the Buffs up 50-47 and, in the final 19 seconds, converted four free throws, giving the Buffs a multiple-possession lead and closing the book on the Utes.
“With about two minutes to go, we executed really well,” Payne said.
The Buffs were solid around the boards in the win, ending the game with a 48-37 edge over the Utes in the rebounding department.
“[Utah] is one of the top two rebounding team in our conference,” Payne said. “We have been near the bottom of the league in rebounding [in] the last few weeks, but we’ve been talking about the importance of rebounding at both ends.”
Colorado will again take on Utah in Salt Lake City this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. MST in its next contest.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu, and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
