Colorado women knock off No. 1 Stanford 77-72 in overtime

The Buffs finally got their signature win.

Colorado’s women’s basketball tema knocked off No. 1 Stanford 77-72, Sunday afternoon at the CU Events Center in Boulder.

The win is the first-ever for a Colorado’s women’s basketball team against the top-ranked team in the country. Only Colorado’s volleyball program had accomplished this feat before. Colorado hadn’t beaten a top-10 team since 2016 or a top-5 team since 2002. However, the Buffs were within three points of upsetting No. 6 UCLA earlier this season and within three points of No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 UCLA last season, while taking Stanford to overtime in another meeting.

“I’m just unbelievably proud of our ballclub,” Colorado head coach JR Payne said after the game. “I told them all there’s 1,000 reasons I’m proud of them. The way we performed today was the biggest. We just really had the right mindset going into this game. There was no fear. We were excited for the opportunity.”

CU only led for just over seven minutes during the 45-minute game, but the Buffs were ahead when it mattered.

Sophomore point guard Jaylyn Sherrod picked off an inbound pass in the final minute of regulation, running the length of the floor and finishing the layup to tie the game at 67 and force overtime.

Freshman guard Frida Formann knocked in a 3 to take the lead late in overtime and came up with a block under the basket to seal the game with five seconds left on the clock. Formann finished the game with 15 points on 5-7 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.

But it was senior forward Mya Hollingshed who did the bulk of the work for Colorado on Sunday. Hollingshed put up a career-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds and five steals.

“Mya was unstoppable,” Payne said. “She was scoring in every possible way. She did a great job against a fantastic defense.”

The win levels Colorado to 6-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

The Buffs will be on the road in Arizona this weekend, where they’ll take on Arizona State and the 11th-ranked Arizona Wildacats.