LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The No. 18-ranked Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team came in as the five-seed and took down the No. 12-seeded Oregon Ducks in a historic 79-30 win here at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m just really happy with how we played,” head coach JR Payne said after the win. “We had a great week of practice. A lot of people keep asking us ‘Well how are you guys doing,’ and my thought is we’re in a great place. We’re in as good a place as we’ve been.”

The Buffs (22-8, 12-7 Pac-12) dominated from the opening tip to the final buzzer, holding the Ducks (11-21, 2-17 Pac-12) to under double-digits in each of the first three quarters. With the victory, Colorado advances to the Pac-12 quarterfinals and will take on the No. 4 seed Oregon State Beavers.

“Maybe we just like to be an underdog and we are the underdog now and we love that, that’s comfortable,” Payne went on to say. “We feel good about how we played. We feel good about just where we are and excited to have a great tournament.”

Quay Miller got the team going early in the game, scoring eight of Colorado’s first 10 points. She finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and brought the energy on the floor for CU.

The first quarter was huge for the Buffaloes, outscoring the Ducks by 19 points while shooting 73.3% from the field. Colorado stayed firing on all cylinders on both sides of the floor throughout the game and went on to win by a whopping 49 points, the largest margin of victory in a game in Pac-12 tournament history.

Frida Formann led all players in scoring with 17 points, cashing in on five 3-pointers on just six attempts. She recorded double-digit points for the third straight game and looks to keep the streak going against Oregon State. With her five 3-pointers this afternoon, she moved into second all-time in 3-pointers in Colorado history.

Jaylyn Sherrod and Tameiya Sadler also put together solid performances, combining for 20 points in the contest. Sherrod recorded nine points, eight assists and five rebounds in 18 minutes of play while Sadler scored 11 off the bench without committing any turnovers.

The Buffs outrebounded Oregon 54-to-28 and dished out 18 more assists than the Ducks which just seemed to be too much for Oregon to handle.

No. 5-seeded Colorado takes on No. 4-seeded Oregon State on Thursday at 1 p.m. MT. In the two regular-season matchups between the two teams, Oregon State won by six points in both meetings.

“Everyone’s playing really well,” Payne said of the conference. “Right now, everyone just knows who they are. I think the team that knows who they are and feels really good about who they are is a team that’s very dangerous this time of year and certainly we are that team. We showed that today. We just want to do our job, play great, stay together and be connected.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Within the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game, Miller had all of Colorado’s first six points as the Buffs led 6-2 early. CU went on to score nine unanswered points to go up 13-2 and force an Oregon timeout.

Just as scoring started to slow down a bit, Colorado ended the quarter on a 13-0 run, eight of which were scored by Wetta and Smith. CU’s defense held the Ducks to just seven points in the first quarter and went into the second with a 26-7 lead.

Both teams went scoreless through the first four minutes of the second quarter before Oregon converted a layup to put an end to the drought. It took the Buffs over six minutes in the quarter to score as Nolan knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining in the half.

Colorado caught fire in the closing minutes, going on a 12-2 scoring run to lead 38-11 at the break. The Buffs shot over 50.0% from the field, 3-point range and the free throw line in the first half.

CU opened the second half on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 47-13. The Buffs continued to roll over the Ducks, outscoring them by seven points in the third and by 15 points in the fourth as Colorado was able to clear its bench in the closing minutes.

KEY MOMENT
Colorado shot 73.3% from the field in the first quarter while holding Oregon to just seven points. The Buffs held a 26-7 lead heading into the second which the Ducks were just unable to come back from.

NEXT
The fifth-seeded Buffs will play fourth-seeded Oregon State in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 1 p.m. MT. The last time Colorado played the Beavers resulted in a 65-59 loss in Boulder on February 11.

NOTES
CU is now 13-19 all-time against Oregon…79-30 is the margin of victory (49) in Pac-12 tournament history (prev. 41,  Stanford vs. California (81-40), Mar. 5, 2005)…It was also CU’s largest margin of victory since its 51-point win at Chicago State (83-32, Nov. 27, 2022)…Colorado held Oregon to 30 points, setting a Pac-12 Tournament record for the fewest points allowed…It was also the fewest points allowed by the Buffs since 29 against Iowa State on Feb. 19, 1993…Oregon’s 18.9 FG% (10-53) set a record for the lowest FG% in a Pac-12 Tournament game (prev., .203, Washington State vs. Oregon State, Mar. 3, 2006 (12-of-59)…The Ducks’ 10 FGM tied for the fewest in a Pac-12 Tournament game (prev. 10, California vs. Stanford, Mar. 8, 2003 (10-of-45)…Colorado’s 38-11 halftime lead was the second-largest ever in a conference tournament game for the Buffs (1st, 38 points against Kansas State on March 7, 1992)…Sherrod’s seven first-half assists tied the CU record for most in a Pac-12 tournament game…Oregon’s 11 first-half points allowed tied the fewest this season (last, at Oregon Jan. 28)…It was also the fewest points allowed in a half in a Pac-12 Tournament game (prev, 13, Utah vs. Oregon State, Mar. 7, 2014 )…Sherrod moved into second all-time with 617 assists, passing Bridget Turner (612)…Wetta moves into 14th all-time with 176 steals, passing Mandy Nightingale (175)…Formann moves into second all-time for 3FGM with 254, passing Shelley Sheetz (252)…Vonleh surpasses 300 rebounds at CU with 303…Whittaker scored six points, surpassing 400 in her career (401)…Miller’s lone rebound on the day gives her 900 in her career…CU’s bench outscored Oregon 36-5…CU outscored Oregon in the paint 38-14…CU outscored Oregon in fast-break points 13-2.

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Story by Colin Wagner, Athletic Communications Associate for CUBuffs.com. Content courtesy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.