Asked if it meant a bit more to beat her former team on Sunday, Colorado’s Quay Miller smiled and hesitated.
“Itap OK to say yes,” CU head coach JR Payne said to Miller with a laugh.
“OK, yeah,” Miller said after scoring 18 points in a 66-43 victory against Washington at CU Events Center. “It always feels good to have a good game, but especially against a program I just left, definitely.”
Part of Miller’s hesitation came from the fact that she knows this win was much bigger than her and guard Tameiya Sadler beating their former team. This was a much-needed performance for their current team.
CU (15-6, 4-6 Pac-12), which had lost six of seven games coming in, snapped a two-game skid and for the first time in Pac-12 play cruised to the finish line.
“This is how we play basketball,” said Miller, who spent two seasons at Washington before transferring to CU last summer with Sadler. “Itap just … it feels good to get back to doing what we were doing and to be able to carry this through our next games.”
Mya Hollingshed had a game-high 20 points to complement Miller’s big day and the Buffs pulled away late against the last-place Huskies (5-11, 0-8).
After Washington pulled within 43-38 early in the fourth quarter, Hollingshed drained a 3-pointer and Sadler got a steal and layup to put the lead back at 10.
“I think that kind of helped us recognize, like, whatap working and we just want to come down and get a stop and come down, run good basketball, like coach J talked about and just keep the game under control,” Hollingshed said. “Just not force anything.”
From that point, CU cruised, outscoring the Huskies 23-5 in the final 8 minutes, 33 seconds. The Buffs led by as many as 23 points.
It was the first time since the Pac-12 opener on Jan. 7 against Southern California that the Buffs went into the final minutes not having to sweat through a slim lead or a deficit.
“Oh, it was beautiful. It was wonderful,” Payne said of a more relaxed final minutes. “Close games are fun but I definitely prefer these games over the close ones. The truth is that we executed so well in that third quarter, and then throughout the fourth quarter that we earned the right not to sweat just based on how well we executed.”
In the first half, CU’s recent struggles with shooting and rebounding continued. They made just 32 percent of their shots (8-of-25) and got outrebounded 23-14 before intermission and went into the break tied at 23-23.
A strong start to the third quarter helped the Buffs open their big lead of the day at the time, 39-29. Hollingshed scored eight of her 20 points in the first 2:14 of the third.
“I think the first half we were kind of out of sorts, trying to figure out how they’re trying to guard us,” Hollingshed said. “But I think the second half, we just took what they gave us and didn’t do too much thinking and just ran our basketball.”
Overall, the Buffs outscored the Huskies 43-20 after halftime, hitting 58.1 percent of their shots (18-of-31) and out-rebounding the Huskies 16-12.
In addition to Hollingshed and Miller, the Buffs got great energy and effort from several players, including guards Sila Finau, Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta. Peanut Tuitele posted eight points and four rebounds in her 20 minutes on the floor.
Although this performance came against the Pac-12’s last-place team, it was still something the Buffs needed after a seven-game stretch thatap been difficult in many ways.
“We know that there’s things that we have done that have cost us games, and thatap really frustrating,” Payne said. “Itap one thing to look and say, ‘OK, next time we’re going to make sure we do this or that.’ But I think itap a totally different thing to feel great basketball, to feel the camaraderie of people coming in off the bench with the exact same energy as the group that started. There was no letdown.
“Just good basketball and I think we know we’re capable of that, but sometimes if you go several games where you haven’t really played great basketball you need to feel it. It felt to me like any great game we’ve played this year.”
Notes
CU celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Sunday. Prior to the game, girls eighth grade and younger participated in skills and fitness stations hosted by CU female athletes and then had an autograph session with the CU female athletes. Many of the girls and their parents were also in attendance for the game. … Former CU star Kennedy Leonard, the Buffs’ all-time assists leader, was in attendance with her family. On Jan. 30, Leonard led the London Lions to the Women’s British Basketball League Cup Final championship. … Miller surpassed the 600-point mark for her career (607).
Fast break
What went right: In the second half, the Buffs played their most complete half in weeks. They shot the ball well (18-of-31) after the break, while out-rebounding the Huskies 16-12 and forcing 11 second-half turnovers.
What went wrong: Poor shooting and rebounding early in the game allowed Washington to hang around for three quarters.
Star of the game: Mya Hollingshed. She shook off some early shooting struggles to post 20 points, six rebounds and a season-high four assists.
Whatap next: The Buffs visit California on Friday at 8 p.m. MST.
Colorado 66, Washington 43
WASHINGTON (5-11, 0-8 Pac-12)
Schwartz 1-6 2-2 4, Van Dyke 1-7 4-6 6, Watkins 0-10-0 0, Mulkey 6-7 3-4 16, Peterson 1-5 0-0 3, Finney 0-1 0-0 0, Davis-Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Noble 0-2 0-0 0, Pollerd 0-0 1-2 1, Whitfield 3-5 0-0 6, Oliver 1-4 0-0 2, Rees 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 15-42 10-14 43.
COLORADO (15-6, 4-6 Pac-12)
Sherrod 2-5 1-4 5, Sadler 1-5 0-0 2, Finau 2-3 0-0 4, Hollingshed 8-17 0-0 20, Tuitele 4-6 0-0 8, Jones 0-0 0-2 0, Formann 1-5 2-2 5, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 7-11 3-4 18, Blacksten 0-2 2-2 2, Wetta 1-2 0-2 2, Gerber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 8-16 66.
Washington 15 8 13 7 – 43
Colorado 13 10 20 23 – 66
3-point goals – Washington 3-11 (Peterson 1-2, Mulkey 1-1, Rees 1-1, Schwartz 0-3, Van Dyke 0-2, Finney 0-1, Whitfield 0-1), Colorado 6-18 (Hollingshed 4-7, Miller 1-5, Formann 1-3, Sadler 0-1, Tuitele 0-1, Blacksten 0-1). Rebounds – Washington 35 (Van Dyke 10), Colorado 30 (Hollingshed, Wetta 6). Assists – Washington 9 (Van Dyke, Whitfield 3), Colorado 15 (Hollingshed 4). Steals – Washington 4 (Van Dyke 2), Colorado 9 (4 players with 2). Turnovers – Washington 21, Colorado 7. Total fouls – Washington 17, Colorado 19. Fouled out – None. A – 2,111.
