(5) Colorado vs (12) Oregon | 2024 Pac-12 Tournament: First Round | 3.6.24

LAS VEGAS– March 6th, 2024

Written by Colin Wagner | CU Athletic Communications Associate

The No. 18-ranked Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team came in as the five-seed and took down the No. 12-seeded Oregon Ducks in a historic 79-30 win to open the Pac-12 Tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Wednesday.

"I'm just really happy with how we played," head coach JR Payne said after the win. "We had a great week of practice. A lot of people keep asking us 'Well how are you guys doing,' and my thought is we're in a great place. We're in as good a place as we've been."

The Buffs (22-8) dominated from the opening tip to the final buzzer, holding the Ducks (11-21) to under double-digits in each of the first three quarters. CU set Pac-12 Tournament records for the fewest points allowed, 30, and largest margin of victory, 49.

"Maybe we just like to be an underdog and we are the underdog now and we love that, that's comfortable," Payne went on to say. "We feel good about how we played. We feel good about just where we are and excited to have a great tournament."

Quay Miller got the team going early in the game, scoring eight of Colorado's first 10 points. She finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and brought the energy on the floor for CU.

Frida Formann led all players in scoring with 17 points, cashing in on five 3-pointers on just six attempts. She recorded double-digit points for the third straight game. With her five 3-pointers this afternoon, she passed assistant coach Shelley Sheetz (252) and moved into second all-time in 3-pointers (254) in Colorado history.

The first quarter was huge for the Buffaloes, outscoring the Ducks by 19 points while shooting 73.3% from the field. Colorado stayed firing on all cylinders on both sides of the floor throughout the record-setting day.

Jaylyn Sherrod and Tameiya Sadler also put together solid performances, combining for 20 points in the contest. Sherrod recorded nine points, eight assists and five rebounds in 18 minutes of play while Sadler scored 11 off the bench without committing any turnovers.

The Buffs outrebounded Oregon 54-to-28 and dished out 18 more assists than the Ducks which seemed to be too much for Oregon to handle.

With the win, Colorado advances to the Pac-12 quarterfinals and will take on the No. 4 seed Oregon State Beavers.

"Everyone's playing really well," Payne said of the conference. "Right now, everyone just knows who they are. I think the team that knows who they are and feels really good about who they are is a team that's very dangerous this time of year and certainly we are that team. We showed that today. We just want to do our job, play great, stay together and be connected."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Miller accounted for Colorado's first six points as the Buffs jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. CU went on to score nine unanswered points to go up 13-2 and force an Oregon timeout with 5:44 to play in the period.

Colorado ended the quarter on a 13-0 run, eight of which scored by Kindyll Wetta and Sara-Rose Smith. CU's defense held the Ducks to just seven points in the first quarter and went into the second with a big 26-7 advantage.

Both teams went scoreless through the first four minutes of the second quarter before Oregon converted a layup to end the drought. It took the Buffs over six minutes in the quarter to score as Maddie Nolan knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining in the half.

Colorado caught fire in the closing minutes, going on a 12-2 scoring run to lead 38-11 at the break. The Buffs shot over 50.0% from the field (51.6) and 3-point range (57.1) while hitting 2-for-4 from the free-throw line.

CU opened the second half on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 47-13. The Buffs continued to roll over the Ducks, outscoring them by seven points in the third.

Three triples from Formann in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter helped put the nail in the coffin, extending the lead to 62-23.

"I think just seeing the ball go through the net so many times and we've got a big game tomorrow," Formann said about the importance of the win. "I'm actually just happy we had this first game. And playing against a zone, obviously, you get a lot of catch-and-shoot 3s that you don't really have to move that much to get. The ball kind of does the work for you, and your teammates moving the ball does the work for you."

CU's bench scored 15 points in the fourth as Colorado was able to rest its core and cruise to the finish.

KEY MOMENT
Colorado shot 73.3% from the field in the first quarter while holding Oregon to just seven points. The Buffs held a 26-7 lead heading into the second which the Ducks were just unable to come back from.

NEXT
The fifth-seeded Buffs will play fourth-seeded Oregon State in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 1 p.m. MT. The last time Colorado played the Beavers resulted in a 65-59 loss in Boulder on Feb. 11.

[audriwilliams]

man I love this channel! Thank y’all so much for posting 🙏🏾

[maartenvandersteen]

HOW can Oregon be this bad? Like there are some good players on that team... wtf

[ajahvearobinson]

i hope colorado run into Lsu in the national tournament and lsu send them home