Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Poor shooting plagued CU all night, as it finished 34.4% (22-of-64) from the floor.
Three stars:
1. Utah’s Lani White: Scored a game-high 21 points, and finished with four rebounds.
2. CU’s Desiree Wooten: Finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four steals.
3. Utah’s Reese Ross: Before fouling out, she had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Up next: The Buffs visit BYU in Provo, Utah, on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+) in the regular season finale.
Going into Tuesday night, the Colorado women’s basketball team was in the driver’s seat to earn a top four seed in the Big 12 Tournament.
Now, the Buffs need some help.
The surging Buffs were tripped up by Utah, 67-64, at the CU Events Center, putting that top-four seed in jeopardy and denting their resume for the NCAA Tournament.
“(Utah) deserved to win tonight,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “They played like their season was on the line and all of that, but I also am really disappointed in the first little bit of the game. We just felt like we weren’t as ready as we needed to be and not that we didn’t play hard; we did. We always play hard, but execution maybe wasn’t as good as it needed to be. Our pace wasn’t as good as it needed to be.”
CU posted its third-worst shooting percentage (.344) of the season, including a dismal 5-for-17 on layups, and never could regain its lead after Utah went ahead for good with 5 minutes, 17 seconds to play in the third quarter.
“It’s really frustrating,” said guard Desiree Wooten, who led CU with 16 points, but was just 5-for-19 from the floor. “It was us; it’s really no excuse for it. We missed easies, weren’t really rebounding. I mean it’s us. It’s nothing else to say.”
Despite the shooting woes, CU had a chance late. Three times in the final 2:44, the Buffs pulled within one, including with 6.5 seconds when Anaelle Dutat made a pair of free throws to cut the Utah lead to 65-64.
Utah’s Maty Wilke made 1-of-2 free throws on the other end, giving CU a chance to tie with 5.3 seconds to play, but the Buffs had a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass and never attempted a shot.
CU limited its turnovers to 12, but the empty possessions were costly all night. CU missed its first nine shots of the game and went 2-for-9 down the stretch.
“At this point in the season everybody’s fighting for their life, so we need to make sure that every possession, every time we’re together, whether it’s in film or the court or whatever, that we’re just so dialed in, because that’s what it is this time of year,” Payne said. “So, really disappointed with the loss, but as I said to these guys, as long as we learn from it and make sure that that everything moving forward is as dialed in and focused as it needs to be, as the moment deserves, then a loss like this, even though it hurts, it’s OK.”
Utah, which had lost four of five coming in, and CU are both on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Utes likely needed this one more than the Buffs and played like it.
CU led by as many as 10 late in the second quarter, but Utah went on a 17-4 run to take a 40-37 lead midway through the third. The Utes stretched the lead to seven early in the fourth before CU rallied, but Utah held on and snapped the Buffs’ five-game win streak.
The Buffs will close the regular season Saturday at BYU. They can still get the No. 4 seed, and a double-bye for next week’s Big 12 Tournament, but will need a win in Provo, as well one loss each by Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Notable
The Buffs finished with 19 offensive rebounds, but got only 10 second-chance points. … Utah was 9-for-18 from 3-point range, tied for the second-most 3-pointers allowed by CU this season. … This was the third time this season that CU had a double-digit lead and lost, with the other two games coming in November.
Utah 67, Colorado 64
UTAH (18-11, 9-8 Big 12)
White 5-12 8-10 21, Sneed 1-3 2-2 4, Evans 2-5 3-4 7, Ross 3-3 3-3 10, Wilke 3-5 1-3 9, Hjelmstad 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 2-9 0-0 4, Otto 1-2 0-0 2, Foster 1-2 0-0 3, Crispe 2-3 1-2 7. Totals 20-44 18-24 67.
COLORADO (20-9, 11-6 Big 12)
Walker 5-12 0-0 10, McErlane 0-0 0-0 0, Masogayo 3-12 4-6 10, Dutat 1-3 4-4 6, Betson 1-2 2-2 4, Gooden 0-1 2-2 2, Wooten 5-19 4-4 16, Crook 4-7 0-2 9, Greer 3-8 0-1 7. Totals 22-64 16-21 64.
Utah 13 13 23 18 – 67
Colorado 14 19 15 16 – 64
3-point goals – Utah 9-18 (White 3-7, Wilke 2-4, Crispe 2-2, Ross 1-1, Foster 1-1, Evans 0-2, Sneed 0-1), Colorado 4-13 (Wooten 2-6, Greer 1-4, Crook 1-2, Walker 0-1). Rebounds – Utah 30 (Ross 7), Colorado 36 (Dutat 9). Assists – Utah 12 (Evans 4), Colorado 8 (Wooten, Greer 2). Steals – Utah 7 (Wilke 4), Colorado 9 (Wooten 4). Turnovers – Utah 18, Colorado 12. Total fouls – Utah 20, Colorado 22. Fouled out – Ross. Attendance – 2,675.
