Colorado beats Utah 66-56 in Pac-12 tourney opener, set to face league-leading Oregon

Colorado faces big task playing Oregon in quarterfinals

JR Payne talks to @Pac12Nework after the Buffs 10-point win over Utah at the #Pac12WBB Tourney. #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/HwHQso48nU

— Colorado Women's Basketball ? (@CUBuffsWBB) March 1, 2018

#9 Colorado 66, #8 Utah 56

SEATTLE – Ninth-seeded Colorado (15-15, 5-13) took down No. 8 Utah (17-13, 8-10) in the first game of the 2018 Pac-12 tournament Thursday in Seattle. The Buffs trailed by one at the end of the first quarter, 14-13. However, they turned things around in the second period outscoring the Utes 15-7 and went into the break leading 28-21.

The Buffs continued to dominate in the third quarter.

“Just when it seemed like we were poised to make a run, they answered,” Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said postgame. “That’s a credit to them. Offensively we were just out of sorts.”

Utah did manage to outscore Colorado 21-20 in the fourth quarter but it was not enough to overcome a double-digit deficit.

“Our toughness, our effort, our grit was apparent from start to finish,” Colorado head coach JR Payne said.

Junior guard Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Three other Buffs earned double digits: Annika Jank (12 points), Quinessa Caylao-Do (11) and Zoe Correal (10).

Utah senior Tanaeya BoClair paced the Utes with 12 points. Freshman Tori Williams was also in double figures with 11 points plus four rebounds and 4 assists.

While Utah did not win, BoClair reached the 1,000-point career scoring mark during the contest.

Colorado faces the No. 1 seed, Oregon on Friday at 11:30 a.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network.

Leonard looks forward to the matchup.

It’s going to be fun. Obviously, they’re the No. 1 seed and we’re the 9 seed, so there is no pressure on us. They’ve got to stop us.

I’m excited just to go out there and get them,” added Jank “We have nothing to lose, so we can just go play our hearts out and hopefully get the win, so that would be awesome.”