BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) earned their first Pac-12 win of the season by beating Arizona (4-9, 0-2 Pac-12) on New Year's Eve by a score of 79-60 at the Coors Events Center.
 
Sam Thomas was outstanding on the day with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists. In her first two career Pac-12 games, Thomas averages 12 points and 7.5 rebounds.
 
JaLea Bennett scored 18 points for the second game in a row today as well and has now scored in double-figures in 11-straight games. Over her last eight games, Bennett averages 19.5 points per game.
 
Destiny Graham was solid for the Cats down low and in the high post as she contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. That is her second double-figure game in the last three and her sixth overall.
 
The Buffs had a nice day from the floor as they shot 44% and made 11 three-pointers at a 41% clip while holding Arizona to 34% shooting and just four made three-pointers.
 
As is the game of basketball, the first quarter was a game of runs as Arizona got out to a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game, but Colorado would respond with a 14-5 run of their own to take a 16-12 lead after 10 minutes. The Buffs pulled away in the second quarter, winning the period 26-14 thanks to 10 points from the charity stripe, giving them a 42-26 lead at halftime.
 
The Wildcats started off the third quarter on a 10-4 run to cut Colorado's lead to eight, but the Buffs would go on a run of their own at the end of the quarter to give them a 62-45 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. Colorado pulled away for good in the fourth quarter, extending their lead all the way to 26 at one point.
 
Arizona will open up their Pac-12 home slate next week with Stanford on Friday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. MST, which will be the first game of the season aired on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
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