Freshmen help rally Colorado over Arizona women 61-58 in second round of Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Freshmen Tabitha Benson and Kennedy Sanders combined for 30 points and ninth-seeded Colorado defeated eighth-seeded Arizona 61-58 on Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Buffaloes (20-11) advance to play top seed and No. 8 ranked TCU in a quarterfinal Friday. Colorado lost to TCU 63-50 on Jan. 1.

Betson finished with 16 points and Sanders 14.

Skylar Jones scored 17 points, Jada Williams, playing in her hometown, added 13 and Isis Beh had 10 rebounds to go with nine points for Arizona (19-13).

Arizona led by eight entering the fourth quarter but Sanders scored seven points and Lior Garzon all nine of hers in rallying the Buffaloes while the Wildcats made only 4 of 16 shots.

Garzon scored off a nice assist from Kindyll Wetta to tie the game and then added a midrange jumper for the lead with 1:28 remaining. Wetta made two free throws and Williams countered with a bucket. After Betson made 1 of 2 free throws Arizona called timeout with 12.8 remaining. The Wildcats got an open look from the arc for Jones but her shot hit off the rim.

Tied at halftime, an 8-0 run with consecutive 3-pointers by freshman Lauryn Swann put the Wildcats up by nine midway through the third period and Arizona took a 48-40 lead into the final quarter.

Arizona opened the game on 14-3 run before Colorado scored the final four points of the quarter. Colorado finished with four straight points in the second period for a 26-all tie at halftime.

Both teams committed 18 turnovers, but that was still 15 fewer than the Buffaloes had in a first-round win over Houston.

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