Huskies Fall at Colorado, 76-56

Friday, February 16

Boulder, CO

6:00 PM

University of Washington

7-19, 1-14Pac12

Colorado

13-13,4-11Pac12

Washington

Colorado

February 16, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. – Amber Melgoza scored 15 points and Jenna Moser added 13 points but it was not enough as Washington lost 76-56 to Colorado on Friday night at the Coors Event Center.

The Huskies drop to 7-19 on the season and to 1-14 in Pac-12 action while the Buffaloes improve to 13-13 and to 4-11 in the conference.

Washington fell behind early as Colorado opened the game on a 17-5 run. The Huskies would close within five a few minutes later, but the Buffs would stretch the lead to 12 by the end of the first and wouldn't look back.

Melgoza scored 13 of her 15 points in the first quarter to provide all but three points of offense for the Huskies. Moser added nine of her 13 in the second half but Washington shot just 26 percent in the second half as Colorado pulled away late.

The teams went back and forth through a low-scoring first couple of minutes before Colorado used a 9-0 run over a 1:57 stretch to jump out to an 11-3 lead at the 5:43 mark. Melgoza ended the run with a nice move in the lane just after the five-minute mark, but Colorado just kept going, scoring the next six points to go up 17-5. Melgoza again took control of the offense, scoring an and-one to make it a 17-8 game. That keyed a 10-3 UW run to pull the Huskies back to within five at 20-15 with 1:55 left. But the Buffs would close out the period on a 9-2 run and lead 29-17 after one.

Colorado kept the string of three-pointers going with a three to open the scoring in the second quarter, taking a 32-17 lead in the early going. The team would go back and forth until a Johnson back-door layup keyed a 9-3 UW run to make it a 10-point game at 42-32 with 4:00 to play. But the Buffs would answer that run with one of their own, scoring six-straight to extend the lead back to 16. The Huskies ended the half strong as Mackenzie Wieburg got an offensive rebound and hit a mid-range jumper, then Melgoza hit a free throw on the next possession to make it a 48-35 game at the half.

In the first half, the Huskies were 11-of-15 from two-point range but were just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc. Colorado was also hot inside the arc, hitting 12-of-18 from two-point range but connecting on 7-of-15 from three-point range. Melgoza had 14 of the team's 17 points in the first quarter, but was one of seven Huskies to score in the second.

After a bucket by Colorado opened the third quarter, the Huskies closed it to 12 at 50-38 as Fapou Semebene got an offensive rebound and putback with 5:57 left. However, the Buffs quickly stretched the lead to 18 with a quick 6-0 run over 50 seconds to take an 18-point lead. Washington closed back to within 12 as Wieburg and Moser drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it a 56-44 game with 1:47 left. But three free throws and a quarter-ending three gave the Buffaloes a 62-44 lead after three.

Moser opened the fourth with a tough runner in the lane but Colorado answered with an 11-3 run over a three-minute stretch to break the game wide open. Washington outscored the Buffs 7-3 the rest of the way, but could not get closer.

Washington received nine rebounds and two assists from Hannah Johnson while Wieburg added eight points and four rebounds.

The Huskies return to action on Sunday, traveling to Utah for a 1:00 p.m. PT (2:00 p.m. MT ) tip at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.