Buffs Back Home Against Pepperdine

BOULDER—The University of Colorado women's basketball team returns home to the CU Events Center after a successful 2-0 road trip. The Buffaloes will play their third game in five days when they host Pepperdine on Tuesday.

CU spent the Thanksgiving holiday playing in the Nevada Nugget Classic. The Buffs posted a pair of wins against Nevada and Utah State to move to 5-0 on the season. Colorado battled through adversity in both wins to remain perfect on the season.

"The fact that they were close ballgames where we had to execute down the stretch, defend, rebound and get stops—all of those things are great for us," head coach JR Payne explained. "They help us learn. That is what preseason is for. You get to have a variety of on-court experiences that prepare you for Pac-12 play. I definitely think those two games did that for us."

The Buffs battled Utah State on Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Boulder later that evening. The team went through practice on Monday to prepare for the quick turnaround against Pepperdine.

"I think fatigue and the ability re-focus on new opponents in the quick turnaround are some of the challenges," Payne said. "We got a little bit of work on that this past weekend. We had a good game against Nevada and then had to put that in the closet and turnaround and get ready for the next one. We have to do the same thing. I thought we did a good job of being able to re-focus. We are going to do the same for Pepperdine."

CU's experience and leadership in the starting lineup have helped Colorado early on this season. The Buffs have been able to lean on their upperclassman when called upon. Two of those leaders have been senior Kennedy Leonard and junior Quinessa Caylao-Do. Both players earned All-Tournament honors in Nevada, with Leonard scoring the tournament's MVP.

"They [upperclassmen] have been a huge help," Payne added. "That is one of the hardest things for freshmen. You get locked in on a game plan and then all of a sudden that is completely out the window, and everything is new again. To have our juniors and seniors, who have had those experiences, really helps our younger players."

Colorado has started the same five to open the season. Senior Alexis Robinson has hit her stride, scoring double figures in each of the Buffs last three games. Sophomore Mya Hollingshed averaged 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in last week's action, while classmate Annika Jank provided 13 points and seven rebounds.

Pepperdine is off to its best start (3-0) in its last 20 years. The Waves have wins over Hawaii, Sacramento State and Cal Poly. They had to postpone their Nov. 16 matchup with UC Irvine due to the severe fire conditions surrounding their Malibu campus.

Tuesday game will be streamed on Colorado Live Stream channel. Fans can listen to the Buffs all season long on AM 630 (KHOW).

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Players Mentioned

Quinessa Caylao-Do

Mya Hollingshed

Annika Jank

Kennedy Leonard

Alexis Robinson