Young beats the buzzer to lift No. 22 Utah to 77-76 win over eighth-ranked Colorado

Updated Feb. 16, 2024 11:21 p.m. ET

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Dasia Young scored 13 points and made a driving layup at the buzzer in her return after missing four games with a concussion, and No. 22 Utah beat eighth-ranked Colorado 77-76 on Friday night.

“What a game for Dasia to come back. Safe to say, we need her,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “She just brings an edge and toughness.”

Down one point, the Utes didn’t call a timeout and got the ball to Young on the wing. She drove to her left and crossed back into the lane, lofting it to the basket as she fell down and the horn sounded.

“I didn’t want to overthink or look for anybody else to do it. I just wanted the play in my hands and if we lost, it would be on me and I was OK with that,” said Young, who was dogpiled by her teammates after the game winner.

Alissa Pili scored 18 points to lead Utah (19-7, 9-5 Pac-12), and Inis Vieira had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s not everyday you go against one of the fastest players in the nation (Jaylyn Sherrod). I like challenges,” said Vieira, who is known as the Mosquito for her pesky defense and non-stop motion.

The Utes have won eight of 10.

Sherrod scored 15 points and Frida Formann had 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Buffaloes (20-5, 10-4) forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a thriller.

“We played with more urgency and we started to get some buckets. We dialed up the defense and it was really do or die at that point … but it was really heartbreaking to lose at the buzzer like that,” Formann said.

Formann’s steal and layup gave Colorado its first lead since the first quarter and Aaronette Vonleh, who had 14 points, put the Buffaloes up 76-75 with seconds to play before Young’s heroics.

With 50.7 seconds remaining, Kindyll Wetta made a layup off Sherrod’s steal to get the Buffaloes to 73-70, after Vonleh sparked the late surge with three straight baskets.

Sherrod stole it again with 43 seconds to go but then got hurt again in the scramble and had to be helped off the court. After the game, she said she'd be fine but was in tears outside the locker room.

The Utes led by 18 points early in the third quarter before the Buffaloes offense came roaring to life. Sherrod’s jumper with 1:21 left in the third quarter capped a blistering run where the Buffaloes made 12 of 14 shots and trimmed the Utah lead to 57-50.

Young’s basket was the only Utah field goal in the final five minutes.

“Forget about the turnover that just happened or the mess-up you just had, it’s what’s next. You can’t keep reflecting on the past and let your confidence waver,” said Young, who thought that last shot was going in when she let it go.

Sherrod came up limping after a drive to the hoop in the third quarter as well and was holding her left knee. Once she left the game, Vieira made two free throws and Kennady McQueen hit a 3-pointer to make it 62-50 going into the final quarter.

Both of these teams have been beating all opponents the last four weeks except Oregon State as both the Utes and Buffaloes were swept by the Beavers.

Pili had 11 points and Jenna Johnson added 10 in the first half to lift Utah to a 39-24 halftime lead — limiting the Buffaloes to their season low in first-half points.

“I thought we played a tremendous second half but I am beyond frustrated with the first half. … I can’t understand how that’s possible,” Colorado coach JR Payne said.

Utah leveraged ball pressure and a collapsing interior defense to take an early cushion that benefitted the Utes when Colorado expended energy to make runs.

BIG PICTURE

Colorado: The Buffaloes were hoping to repeat their come-from-behind victory over Utah on Dec. 30 when they trailed by eight in the fourth quarter and won 76-65. This time around, Colorado had the offense efficiency but couldn’t get quite that last stop to complete the comeback.

Utah: The Utes are eyeing a late-season run to land in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed of better so the first and second round will be hosted in Salt Lake City like last season. Utah notched its third win against an AP Top 10 opponent to enhance its resume.

UP NEXT

Colorado: Visit No. 10 Southern Cal next Friday night.

Utah: Visit No. 9 UCLA on Thursday.

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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

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