BOULDER, Colo. — No. 14 Arizona rallied late but ran out of steam in a 72-65 loss at Colorado on Friday night.
The Wildcats went up 63-62 on a layup by Shaina Pellington with 2:25 remaining. But the Buffaloes countered with an 8-0 run and outscored them 10-2 the rest of the way.
Cate Reese had 14 points and nine rebounds for Arizona (14-3, 4-2 Pac-12), which had won four of its first five conference games. Pellington, Jade Loville and Madison Conner each scored 12 points. Esmery Martinez, who averages 11.4 points per game, made her first basket with 8:08 left in the fourth quarter. She finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Frida Formann made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Colorado. Aaronette Vonleh, who played last season at Arizona, had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Colorado (14-3, 5-1) has won back-to-back games against ranked opponents for the first time since beating No. 21 Wyoming and No. 20 Vanderbilt in the 2007-08 season. The Buffaloes have won their last six games overall and 11 straight at home.
Formann sank an open 3-pointer off a nice assist from Kindyll Wetta to give Colorado a 65-63 lead with 1:37 left. After an Arizona miss, Quay Miller got her defender in the air and made a layup while being fouled. She added the free throw to make it 68-63.
Miller had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Wetta scored 10 for Colorado, which overcame 19 turnovers.
Colorado led for over 35 minutes. Arizona took its first lead since it was 2-0 on Pellington’s basket with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter to make it 61-59. Pellington's contested layup in the lane made it 63-62, but she fouled out at the other end.
Colorado outrebounded Arizona 48-29. The Wildcats made only 10 of 20 foul shots.
Arizona plays again on Sunday at No. 10 Utah, which hasn’t played since Jan. 6 after its game against Arizona State was called off due to a forfeit. The Wildcats will face the Sun Devils in Tempe on Jan. 22.
