Colorado Dominates Washington With 80-57 Win In Pac-12 Matchup

SEATTLE (AP) — Aaronette Vonleh scored 21 points in just 22 minutes, Quay Miller added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Colorado used a hot-shooting first half to run away for an 80-57 win over Washington on Sunday.

Colorado (19-3, 9-2 Pac-12) finished a two-week road swing through the Pacific Northwest schools 3-1 and stayed right in the middle of the race for the final Pac-12 regular season title.

“We know we have a lot of veterans and a lot of different pieces and lots of different weapons, people that can do different things,” Colorado coach JR Payne said. “I thought we really, really tried to simplify everything we were doing coming into today’s game and just sort of let the ball find the shot. And I thought we did that almost as well as we could have in the first half.”

Vonleh was the leader of a dominant offensive performance on the interior for the Buffaloes, especially in the first half. Two days after struggling in the first half against Washington State and scoring just 25 points, Colorado made 7 of 8 shots to begin the game, scored 28 points in the paint and shot 63% in the half using its superior height advantage to overwhelm the Huskies.

Colorado led 50-28 at halftime and built the lead to as many as 32 in the second half. It was the fourth time this season the Buffs hit the 50-point mark in the first half and second time in conference play. Colorado also scored 50 points in the first half of its 81-68 win over Arizona State on Jan. 7.

Vonleh made 10 of 13 shots and Maddie Nolan added 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in the first half.

“I think we just came out from the jump just ready to go, executed really well, which is something that we’ve struggled with in the past just starting off that way,” Vonleh said. “I think that was new for us and something we need to keep doing.”

Dalayah Daniels led Washington (13-8, 3-7) with 14 points and Sayvia Sellers added 12 off the bench. Facing Colorado was the fourth straight ranked opponent for the Huskies, who are in the most difficult stretch of their schedule and still on the fringes of the NCAA Tournament conversation. The Huskies won at No. 15 Southern California last week but fell to 2-5 against ranked opponents this season.

Washington shot just 28% in the first half and 32% for the game. Leading scorer Elle Ladine was held to just two points in 19 minutes.

“Our offense kind of set the tone for us. We weren't really making too many shots and we can't let that happen," Washington's Lauren Schwartz said. "Our defense needs to be there and I think we let our offense dictate our mood and how we were going to play today.”

BIG PICTURE

Colorado: The Buffs had 18 assists on 22 made baskets in the first half, matching their season average for assists. Colorado finished with 25 assists for the game.

Washington: The Huskies' brutal schedule hits its conclusion next Friday when No. 4 Stanford visits. After that, Washington has three straight games against teams currently unranked before a closing stretch against Oregon State, and at Utah and Colorado — all ranked.

UP NEXT

Colorado: Hosts Oregon next Friday.

Washington: Hosts No. 4 Stanford next Friday.