Buffs Can't Find Second-Straight 'W,' Fall 71-55 To Utes

SALT LAKE CITY — This season hasn't gone how anyone on Colorado's women's basketball team wanted, but Thursday night's game at Utah gave the Buffs a chance to win their second straight Pac-12 game and build something positive. Instead, beset by turnovers and poor shooting, CU fell, 71-55.

The Buffs, who had defeated USC 66-63 on Sunday, dropped to 6-16 overall and 1-10 in conference with the loss, while the Utes improved to 13-9, 5-6 and broke a five-game losing streak.

"We let them do everything they're good at; we let them score in transition, we let them drive to the rim, they out rebounded us and they made hustle plays," Colorado head coach Linda Lappe said. "If you think about four things that categorize Utah, those are the four things. We didn't take away any of those four things."

Utah's Danielle Rodriguez led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. She also dished seven assists and helped four teammates score in double figures, too, including Emily Potter and Joeseta Fatuesi, who each grabbed eight rebounds and scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"A senior point guard is really special," Lappe said of Rodriguez's performance. "You already see so many great things in what she does."

Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and seven steals — a career-high. She was CU's only player who made a three; the Buffs badly missed Lauren Huggins, who sat out her third straight game with a concussion. Jamee Swan added 12 points and six boards for Colorado.

The first quarter was ugly on all counts. The Buffs shot just 23 percent; Makenzie Ellis was the only player to make more than one shot. The Utes weren't much better. They shot 45 percent but committed nine turnovers. Utah ended the period up 14-7, and it would have been worse if it had taken care of the ball.

The Utes repeatedly beat the Buffs off the dribble with drive-and-kick action, but many of those actions ended with an errant pass in Colorado hands. The Buffs set a season high with 15 steals, but they had a hard time converting them into points.

"When everybody was playing steady defense and getting in front of their player it created turnovers," Ellis, who also set a career high with four steals, said. "We took them out of what they wanted to do, and then my teammates had the next play."

Colorado picked it up in the middle of the second quarter on Leonard's back. She nailed all manner of tough shots — a step-back on the baseline, an off-the-dribble 3-pointer, layups in transition — and set up her teammates. She threw a pinpoint outlet pass to Alexis Robinson, who crossed over a defender and made a Eurostep layup between two more, then dished to Swan in the post to tie the game at 24.

"I thought she maybe played her best game of the year," Lappe said of Leonard's performance. "She set up players nicely to be able to finish plays; she probably should have had ten assists. She managed the game very well. The game finally slowed down for her today."

Utah went cold during that stretch, but broke out a full-court press after Colorado tied it. The Utes ended the half on a 7-0 run, which Rodriguez capped with a fadeaway at the buzzer for a 33-26 lead at the half.

The Buffs' solid second quarter didn't carry over after the break. They shot only 38 percent in the second half, while the Utes converted at a 46 percent clip. CU kept up its ball pressure, but it couldn't make anything of it. The Buffs nearly matched Utah turnover-for-turnover, and they couldn't get the kinds of easy looks that would have brought them back into it; they struggled to convert at the rim and only attempted a single 3-pointer in the second half.

The Utes built their largest lead of the game — 16 points — with 2 minutes left as Colorado missed seven of its last nine shots, and the final margin wasn't much different than that.

"The biggest thing is refocusing," Ellis said. "It was about coming in and having an intense focus, and in this game I don't think that we had that. If we come in and focus and do our jobs, then this is a very beatable team. We all have to perform our role and be ready to go."

The Buffs don't have to wait long for a chance at revenge. They head back to Boulder on Sunday for a noon matinee rematch against the Utes (Pac-12 Mountain).