BOULDER, Colo. — Frida Formann made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points, Jade Masogayo added 18 points and Lior Garzon scored 12 of her 14 in a pivotal fourth quarter as Colorado rallied to beat No. 14 West Virginia 65-60 on Saturday night in a Big 12 Conference opener.
The Buffaloes (10-2) trailed by 11 heading to the final quarter before outscoring the Mountaineers 25-9.
“We never really had the offensive rhythm, but I thought we had enough that we could carry it over into the fourth quarter, but their kids made shots and made plays,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “We probably weren’t tough enough in certain areas to win on the road against a quality team and a quality program.”
Formann made 8 of 14 shots for Colorado, which shot 81.8% in the final 10 minutes (9 of 11). Masogayo buried 9 of 10 shots and added seven rebounds.
“They got to the rim. Then hit some 3s. Resistance is the term we use and I thought we lost our resistance on the ball,” Kellogg said. “We overhelped and they hit the two 3s [in the fourth quarter] then. We didn’t have resistance on the ball and they got what they wanted on the ball.”
Jordan Harrison led the Mountaineers (10-2) with 18 points and five assists. J.J. Quinerly scored 15, but was just 4 of 12 shooting from the field.
“I didn’t think JJ ever got into any rhythm. That was the one we were trying to get going and we just couldn’t find a rhythm for JJ at all,” Kellogg said.
West Virginia got one basket from six different players in taking a 16-9 lead after one quarter. Formann had eight points in the second quarter to get Colorado within 28-25 at halftime. Harrison scored 10 of West Virginia’s 12 points in the quarter.
The Buffaloes pulled within a point to begin the third period on a layup by Masogayo, but West Virginia stiffened and led 41-30 with a quarter to go.
Masogayo had a lay-up and Garzon made two straight baskets to pull Colorado within 51-46 with 6:51 remaining. Grace Oliver buried a 3-pointer, Masogayo followed with three straight baskets and Formann made two free throws to cap an 11-0 run and Colorado led 62-55 with 36 seconds left.
West Virginia is idle until it hosts UCF on New Year’s Day in a conference matchup.
