Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: ASU jumped on the Buffs early, racing to a 17-2 lead in the first 5 minutes, 9 seconds of the game, causing them to play from behind all night. ASU hit 59.1% of its shots on the night and forced CU into foul trouble and too many turnovers.
Three stars:
1. ASU’s McKinna Brackens: Came off the bench to post a game-high 18 points, including 8-of-9 at the free throw line, five rebounds and three assists.
2. ASU’s Marley Washenitz: She finished with 13 points (on five-of-seven shooting), four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
3. CU’s Anaelle Dutat: Finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists.
Up next: The Buffs will host Arizona on Dec. 31 at the CU Events Center (7 p.m., ESPN+).
TEMPE, Ariz. – Not long after the opening tip on Sunday evening, the Colorado women’s basketball team found itself in a deep hole.
The Buffs rallied, but ran out of gas late in falling to Arizona State, 79-63, at Desert Financial Arena in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
CU (9-4) was down 17-2 just 5 minutes, 9 seconds into the game, got within two in the fourth quarter, but sputtered down the stretch against the unbeaten, new-look Sun Devils (14-0).
“I’m actually really proud of our resilience and our ability to fight back,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “It takes a tremendous amount of energy to claw your way back out of that. … I think in the end, that what it took out of us to get to that place (of being down two), sort of ended our ability to finish the game.
“We certainly can’t start games like that in conference, but really proud of our resilience to get out of that.”
The Buffs never led, but pulled within 58-56 on a 3-pointer by Zyanna Walker with 8:23 to play in the fourth quarter.
CU was still close, down 63-58, after a pair of Desiree Wooten free throws with 6:07 to go. But, ASU went on a 7-0 run to build a 12-point lead and gain some breathing room down the stretch.
Walker led the Buffs with 15 points, while Jade Masogayo had 14, Anaelle Dutat 12 and Wooten 11, but that wasn’t enough to counter the hot-shooting Sun Devils.
ASU hit 59.1% of its shots (26-of-44) overall, including 76.9% (10-of-13) in the first quarter. The Sun Devils also had a 29-25 advantage in rebounding and forced CU into 19 turnovers.
“They were exactly who they were all preseason on film, with just high pressure and denying and things like that,” Payne said of ASU. “The frustrating thing is that we prepared for it all week and then we came out and looked like we hadn’t even talked about it. But maybe thatap credit to them, that they’re just really good at what they do.”
CU’s leading scorer on the season, freshman Logyn Greer, had a frustrating night. She picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and sat the rest of the first half. Overall, she finished with just four points – all in the last 3:33 – before fouling out.
“I think just for some of these young players, itap a little bit of a wakeup call, the physicality in the games that we’re going to see moving forward,” Payne said. “These are big, strong, physical women, so when you’re an 18-year-old kid experiencing that for the first time, sometimes thatap a little bit of a shock. I’m not saying that it was a shock to Logyn, but I definitely think it was more physicality than she had seen before.”
Dutat, meanwhile, was stellar in her Big 12 debut, with a game-high seven rebounds and five steals to go with her 12 points.
“AD is a coach’s dream,” Payne said. “She just comes every single day with tremendous work ethic, tremendous discipline, tremendous focus. She’s a great kid, and she’s going to give you what she’s going to give you every single night, which is great effort. She never wilts, she never really seems to get tired. And she was great on the glass. Itap a pretty good (stat) line for your first Big 12 game.”
Notable
CU is 1-9 in Big 12 road games since rejoining the conference last year. … ASU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Buffs. … CU played once again without starting point guard Kennedy Sanders. … CU’s players are taking time off for Christmas and will return to practice on Friday.
Arizona State 79, Colorado 63
COLORADO (9-4)
Walker 5-10 3-5 15, Greer 2-4 0-0 4, McErlane 0-1 0-0 0, Masogayo 7-11 0-1 14, Dutat 5-9 2-2 12, Gooden 0-1 0-0 0, Wooten 4-13 2-2 11, Nworie 0-0 0-0 0, Crook 2-4 0-0 4, Betson 1-6 0-0 3, Zadel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 7-10 63.
ARIZONA STATE (14-0)
Elliott 4-11 4-4 14, Washenitz 5-7 0-0 13, Poa 2-2 0-0 5, Carrera 5-7 4-4 14, Davenport 2-3 0-0 4, Williams 2-3 2-4 7, Lovett 1-2 2-2 4, Fantini 0-0 0-0 0, Brackens 5-9 8-9 18. Totals 26-44 20-23 79.
Colorado 15 16 18 14 – 63
Arizona State 26 13 17 23 – 79
3-point goals – Colorado 4-14 (Walker 2-4, Wooten 1-5, Betson 1-2, McErlane 0-1, Masogayo 0-1, Crook 0-1), ASU 7-12 (Washenitz 3-4, Elliott 2-4, Poa 1-1, Williams 1-1, Davenport 0-1, Lovett 0-1). Rebounds – Colorado 25 (Dutat 7), ASU 29 (Davenport, Brackens 5). Assists – Colorado 14 (Masogayo 4), ASU 18 (Washenitz 4). Steals – Colorado 14 (Dutat 5), ASU 9 (Elliott, Washenitz 3). Turnovers – Colorado 19, ASU 22. Total fouls – Colorado 20, ASU 12. Fouled out – Greer, Masogayo. Attendance – 7,421.
