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Aaronette Vonleh had a great time against her old team, Frida Formann was on the money from beyond the arc and the Colorado women’s basketball team is making some noise again.
Formann had a season-high 23 points and Vonleh came within one rebound of her first career double-double as the Buffaloes knocked off No. 14 Arizona, 72-65, on Friday at CU Events Center.
Coupled with an upset of then-No. 8 Utah a week earlier, the Buffs (14-3, 5-1 Pac-12) have won back-to-back games vs. Associated Press top-15 teams for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
CU led nearly the entire night, but actually had to rally a bit in the final minutes.
Arizona took a 61-59 lead with 3 minutes, 26 second to go — its first lead since 2-0 — and still led 63-62 a minute later.
Formann then drained her fifth 3-pointer of the night with 1:35 to go and about 43 seconds later Quay Miller converted a three-point play. That gave the Buffs a 68-63 lead in the final minute and they put the game away at the free throw line.
Vonleh, who played her freshman season at Arizona last year, finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and recorded a career-high nine rebounds before fouling out in the last minute.
Miller also nearly got a double-double, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Kindyll Wetta finished with 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.
Overall, CU dominated the boards, 48-29, and became the first team to beat Arizona when the Wildcats topped 40% shooting. The Wildcats, who were 14-0 when shooting at least 40%, finished at 41%, but missed 10 of 20 free throws and made only 5 of 19 shots from 3-point range.
CU had a great start, leading by as many as 11 and closing the first quarter with an 18-8 lead. Formann had 11 points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Buffs built the lead to 12 early in the second quarter, but Arizona got on track offensively to close the gap.
Jade Loville had four points in a 7-0 run for the Wildcats and then Cate Reese scored five in a row as they pulled within 25-22. Another Loville layup before the half cut CU’s lead to 31-29 at the break.
Three times in the third quarter, the Buffs extended their lead to eight points, but Arizona responded each time with mini-runs. Still, the Buffs maintained their lead throughout the quarter and went into the fourth with a 51-46 advantage.
Arizona started strong in the fourth, however, outscoring the Buffs 15-8 in the first 6:34 to take the lead and force CU’s late-game heroics.
Colorado 72, No. 14 Arizona 65
ARIZONA (14-3, 4-2 Pac-12)
Pellington 6-11 0-4 12, Martinez 2-5 2-2 8, Fields 2-4 0-2 4, Reese 5-10 4-6 14, Loville 5-14 2-4 12, Conner 4-11 2-2 12, Pueyo 1-3 0-0 3, Gilbert 0-1 0-00, Nnaji 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 10-20 65.
COLORADO (14-3, 5-1 Pac-12)
Sherrod 2-9 3-10 7, Jones 0-3 1-2 1, Formann 7-11 4-4 22, Miller 5-10 1-1 13, Vonleh 6-8 0-0 12, Sadler 1-5 4-4 6, Wetta 3-7 4-4 10, Wynn 0-0 0-0 0, McLeod 0-2 0-0 0, Whittaker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 17-25 72.
Arizona 8 21 17 19 – 65
Colorado 18 13 20 21 – 72
3-point goals – Arizona 5-19 (Conner 2-9, Martinez 2-3, Pueyo 1-3, Loville 0-3, Reese 0-1), CU 7-15 (Formann 5-8, Miller 2-3, Sadler 0-2, Jones 0-1, Wetta 0-1). Rebounds – Arizona 29 (Reese 9), CU 48 (Jones, Miller, Vonleh 9). Assists – Arizona 12 (Pellington, Pueyo 3), CU 16 (Wetta 5). Steals – Arizona 13 (Martinez, Pueyo 3), CU 5 (Vonleh 2). Turnovers – Arizona 9, CU 19. Total fouls – Arizona 25, CU 19. Fouled out – Pellington, Loville, Vonleh. A – 1,974.
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