No. 3 Colorado holds off Cincinnati 77-60 to open Paradise Jam tournament

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Tameiya Sadler drives to the rim for a layup

Colorado's Tameiya Sadler fights through the paint to score a basket.

Nov 23, 2023, 08:41 pm

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- — Colorado coach JR Payne was hoping her team would be challenged in its first game in five days.

Payne got what she wished for Thursday when the third-ranked Buffaloes opened the Paradise Jam tournament by fending off Cincinnati 77-60.

Tameiya Sadler scored 15 points, Kindyll Wetta added 14 and Aaronette Vonleh had 13 for Colorado (5-0), which shot a season-best 53.3% from the field (32 of 60) and went 8 for 8 on free throws.

“I thought we played great for 30 minutes,” said Payne, who is in her eighth season coaching the Buffaloes. “Those final 10 minutes weren’t great, though. … We got a little stagnant, and weren’t moving the ball like we wanted to. But we won against a really good team, and were able to execute some things, knock some of the rust off.

“We’ve been talking about this game for days, and sometimes that can get a little heavy, a little tiring. We were ready to play the game and move on.”

Jillian Hayes had 17 points and Mya Jackson added 11 points for the Bearcats (2-2), who were held to 35.8% from the field (19 of 53) as they saw their two-game winning streak snapped.

Wetta scored eight points in the third quarter, when Colorado turned a 41-28 halftime lead into a 64-39 margin, the Buffaloes’ biggest lead of the game.

Cincinnati opened the fourth quarter with nine unanswered points during a 13-2 run that cut Colorado’s lead to 14 points (66-52) with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left.

But the Buffaloes responded with Sadler’s jumper and a 3-pointer from Maddie Nolan, and the Bearcats never pulled closer.

“That game could’ve gone either way,” said first-year Cincinnati coach Katrina Merriweather. “It could’ve ballooned up to 40 or 50 (points) easily, because that’s just how good they are. But I was really proud of we didn’t allow that, that we continued to fight and attack. That’s the kind of momentum we want to take forward into our next game.”

BIG PICTURE

Colorado: The Buffaloes are off to their third straight 5-0 start under Payne, and the team has skyrocketed up the AP Top 25 over the first three weeks of the season.

Cincinnati: Even with a loss, the Bearcats got in their second tuneup game against a Top 25 team before opening their inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference in five weeks.

UP NEXT

Colorado: Faces Kentucky on Friday in its second Island Division game at the Paradise Jam.

Cincinnati: Gets another Top 25 matchup — against 10th-ranked North Carolina State — at the Paradise Jam on Friday.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball