Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Although CU played well most of the day, it couldn’t finish as fourth-quarter struggles plagued them again. Costly turnovers and failing to get key rebounds contributed to being outscored by 18 in the last 17:11 of the game.
Three stars:
1. OSU’s Raegan Beers: She was dominant all day, with 27 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
2. CU’s Jaylyn Sherrod: Scored a team-best 23 points, while also racking up seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
3. OSU’s Aaronette Vonleh: Held her own against Beers, with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists, as well as two blocks.
Up next: CU awaits NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday on March 17.
LAS VEGAS – Colorado came to Las Vegas this week looking to rediscover the aspects of its game that has made it an elite team nationally.
In that regard, the Buffaloes were successful. They just didn’t win as many games as they had hoped.
On Thursday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, No. 13 Oregon State outlasted the 18th-ranked Buffaloes 85-79 in double overtime to advance to the semifinals of the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament. OSU will take on top-seeded and No. 2 Stanford on Friday.
“Tremendous game,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “Pretty indicative of the Pac-12 Conference and two really good teams that battled and competed and executed and made a lot of great plays tonight. I think it was a great basketball game.
“Disappointed with the outcome, proud of how we played in a lot of ways. In the end, key offensive rebounds I thought hurt; key turnovers.”
Valor Christian High School graduate Raegan Beers led OSU with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while four other Beavers finished with 13 points.
![Colorado's Sara-Rose Smith, right, defends Oregon State's Kelsey Rees during the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 women's basketball tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Powers Imagery/Pac-12)](https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/BUF-L-CUWBB-P12OREGONSTATE-02.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Jaylyn Sherrod led the Buffs with 23 points – the most-ever for a CU player in its Pac-12 Tournament history – and seven assists. Aaronette Vonleh added 20 points and Frida Formann 19.
Seeded fifth, the Buffs (22-9) went 0-3 this season against the fourth-seeded Beavers (24-6), with all three games decided by six points.CU didn’t play well in either of the regular season matchups, but that changed Thursday – until crunch time.
A 3-pointer by Formann with 7 minutes, 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave the Buffs a game-best 12-point lead, 50-38, but the rest of the quarter was all OSU.
The Beavers went on a 13-0 run to take the lead and outscored the Buffs 15-3 in the final 7:11 of regulation to force overtime. After the Formann 3, CU went 1-for-8 from the floor with four turnovers. OSU went 5-for-10 down the stretch.
“I think we had some key turnovers and some key O-boards that we gave up,” Payne said. “They were getting stops and we weren’t. I think that was it.”
Every time CU seemed to seize momentum, the Beavers snatched it away.
Formann hit another 3 early in the first overtime to give the Buffs a 58-53 lead, but OSU went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead again. Sherrod hit a jumper with 10 seconds to play to send the game into a second overtime.
CU had the lead four times in the first three minutes of the second overtime, including 71-70 with 2 minutes to play. But, OSU went on an 8-0 run to go up 78-71 with 37.8 seconds left and put the game away at the free throw line. The Beavers were 11-of-12 at the line in the final 50 seconds.
“This team has found a way all year,” said OSU head coach Scott Rueck, whose team has gone 6-2 against ranked opponents in the last six weeks, with three of those wins against CU.
Unranked to start the year, OSU has likely secured a top-four seed for the NCAA Tournament, which would mean hosting games during the first weekend of the tournament.
CU has been in hosting position all season, but is now just 2-6 in its last eight games.
It’s the two the Buffs played in Vegas, however, that has Payne optimistic. CU routed Oregon on Wednesday before going toe-to-toe with the Beavers.
“If you compare the way that we played the last two games with how we played some of the previous games (at the end of the regular season), it’s a no brainer,” Payne said. “We played excellent basketball this week here in Vegas. Obviously, like I said, disappointed with the outcome but I think connectivity, our ball movement, our defensive energy – all of it was significantly better than it had been.”
That just wasn’t enough on Thursday.
No. 13 Oregon State 85, No. 18 Colorado 79 (2 OT)
COLORADO (22-9)
Vonleh 8-15 4-8 20, Miller 1-5 0-0 2, Sherrod 8-21 6-6 23, Formann 6-15 4-5 19, Nolan 1-3 0-0 3, Sadler 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 3-4 0-0 8, Wetta 1-1 0-0 2, Whittaker 0-1 0-0 0. Team 0-0 0-0 2. Totals 29-69 14-19 79.
OREGON STATE (24-6)
Beers 12-17 3-7 27, Gardiner 3-8 6-6 13, Hunter 4-14 4-4 13, Marotte 3-7 0-0 6, von Oelhoffen 4-14 4-4 13, Hansford 0-2 0-0 0, Paurova 5-11 1-2 13, Rees 0-0 0-0 0, Blacklock 0-1 0-0 0, Shuler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-74 18-23 85.
Colorado 17 8 20 8 10 16 – 79
Oregon State 10 12 14 17 10 22 – 85
3-point goals – Colorado 7-15 (Formann 3-8, Smith 2-2, Sherrod 1-2, Nolan 1-2, Miller 0-1), OSU 5-21 (Paurova 2-4, von Oelhoffen 1-6, Hunter 1-5, Gardiner 1-4, Marotte 0-1, Hansford 0-1). Rebounds – Colorado 37 (Miller 8), OSU 47 (Beers 13). Assists – Colorado 16 (Sherrod 7), OSU 19 (Hunter 9). Steals – Colorado 7 (Sherrod 4), OSU 7 (von Oelhoffen 3). Turnovers – Colorado 13, OSU 11. Total fouls – Colorado 20, OSU 14. Fouled out – Vonleh.
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