After a ten-point win against Montana State at home last Friday, the University of Utah women’s basketball team hit the road and headed to Boulder to play Colorado. The trip did not go well for the Utes, as they lost to CU Boulder, 80-50 in a game that was never close. This is the first time The Utes have lost in Boulder since 2017.

The Utes once again struggled with turnovers, giving the ball up 15 times in the first half and finishing with 26 turnovers. Colorado scored 38 points off turnovers on the evening.

The Utes were, by and large, shut down offensively. The Utes leading scorer was Kemery Martin with nine points.

The Utes finished shooting 35 percent from the field and 25 percent from three. While the Buffaloes shot 53 percent from the field.

Jaylyn Sherrod the sophomore guard for the Buffaloes finished as the game’s leading scorer with 24 points and shooting 9-14 from the field goal while hitting 6-8 free throws.

The Utes were outrebounded, a rarity thus far this season, 39-29.

10 minute report

First quarter: After the Utes turned the ball over 20 times on Friday against Montana State, the Utes struggled with turnovers early. Utah turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter alone, in a quarter where the Buffs finished with a 20-9 lead. It was a defensive game early. Both sides only getting up 13 shots apiece in the first quarter. The turnovers were the difference though, Colorado scored 10 points off turnovers in the first quarter.

Second quarter: Utah finished the first half down 42-25. Sophomore guard Jaylyn Sherrod finished the half with 13 points for the Buffaloes. Freshman Frida Formann, trailing her with nine points of her own. The Buffaloes shot 54 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent from three point range. Utah only shot 33 percent from the field and 30 percent from three in the first half.

The Utes finished the half turning over the ball. Going into halftime, the team had 15 turnovers. Utah finished the half being out rebounded for the first time in two games: 18-14 in favor of the Buffaloes.

Brynna Maxwell was largely shut down in the first half posting only eight points on two shots going into half and shooting four for four from the free throw line.

The Utes did slow the Colorado scoring avalanche in the second quarter as they switched to more of a zone look defensively that seemed to slow the Buffaloes down a bit before halftime.

Third quarter: The third quarter ended with things beginning to get out of hand for the Utes. The Buffaloes ended the quarter with their largest lead of the game at that point (24 points) up 57-33. The Utes had been outrebounded by ten (33-23) at this point in the game.

Threes just did not fall for the Utes in the quarter as they finished with no three pointers scored in the third quarter.

Fourth quarter: The Utes played out the stretch, but the game never got much closer. Utah drained just two three pointers in the entirety of the second half.

Stat of the Game

Colorado dominated in the paint, scoring 42. The Utes put up just 22 points in the paint. Lola Pendande had an exceptionally rough day down low going 1-5 on the day.

Of National Note

Brynna Maxwell was named the College Sports Madness national player of the week.  Maxwell is averaging 17 points per game, up four from her 13 points per game last season. This includes an all-star performance against Oregon State in which Maxwell dropped 34 points, shooting 4-7 from three and going 10-10 at the free throw line. Through Monday’s game, Maxwell has not missed a free throw this season. That 34 point game is the biggest a Pac-12 player has had thus far this season. After the loss on Monday, Maxwell was also named the conference player of the week for her performance in last week’s games.

In Monday’s AP top 25 Poll, Utah received three votes. The Pac-12 has three teams ranked within the top ten, with Stanford leading the way as the current number one team in the nation.

What is next?

The Utes play the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday at the Huntsman Center at 3 p.m. MT. You can listen on ESPN 700 and watch on the Pac-12 Network. The week will wrap up with the Utes hosting Arizona on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST.

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@Eric18utah