Players Mentioned
Buffs Motivated at Start of New Season
October 16, 2019 | Women's Basketball
Colorado looks to prove everybody wrong
BOULDER – The Colorado women's basketball team was all smiles during CU Basketball Media Day on Wednesday. The team had a disappointing season a year ago but is excited to get back on the court and prove any doubters wrong.
The Buffaloes, who finished 12-18, last season got rude awakening last week. The Pac-12 Conference announced Colorado was picked to finish 12th in the league at the start of the conference's media day in San Francisco.
Nobody inside the CU Events Center on Wednesday felt that that selection is an accurate prediction for this team.
"I came back [from San Francisco] and we talked about it in the stretching circle the very next day," head coach JR Payne explained. "I said, 'it just is what it is. People don't know a lot about you guys.' Our team was dominated by our two seniors last year, and then the storyline became well those guys are injured so now what? I said, 'people just don't know a lot about us, but that doesn't mean anything other than every day you have an opportunity to prove to people what you're capable of being. To prove to people who you are as an individual, as a teammate.' It's a big motivator for us this year."
For the first three years of Payne's tenure, the Buffs' identity had been linked to Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson. With both players graduating last season, the team is faced with the opportunity to start anew.
Quinessa Caylao-Do is the Buffs' lone senior this season and just one of three upperclassmen on the roster. Juniors Annika Jank and Mya Hollingshed are both back and are expected to step into a new leadership role. Jank will also transition into a new spot on the court, playing out on the wing this season.
The team's new identity will be heavily molded by the group of underclassmen. Sophomores Peanut Tuitele, Emma Clarke and Lesila Finau all got meaningful minutes last season and will be key contributors.
Finau got the opportunity to fill in at point guard last season when Leonard went down with an injury. All four freshman last season got time in the starting lineup and while the growing pains were oblivious at times, the lessons were priceless.
"People had to step up and play minutes that they probably weren't expected and shouldn't have been expected to play last year," Payne commented. "I'm always the cup is half full. So I chose to be positive about that and was thankful that those young kids had opportunities to play. We are seeing the benefit of that right now. Lesila probably was the biggest one. She was thrust into a role she was not necessarily prepared for. I remember telling her that it wasn't fair what we were doing to her but it is what it is. She made the best of it. We're seeing leadership from her on the court. She's more vocal. She's more aggressive. She's doing things that I don't' believe that we would see at this point had she not been in that role."
Finau and freshman Jaylyn Sherrod will both get time at the point this season, each bringing their own style to the court.
"We have two really good point guards that are both really young," Payne boasted. "They're both very different. Jaylyn brings a level of athleticism, like just pure raw athleticism that we have not had here, at least in my time. She's blazing fast. She's one of the strongest kids in the weight room. She jumps. She defends. She loves to pressure the basketball and she can get to the basket. Lesila right now is just a little more seasoned. She's played in games. She's been through an entire year's worth of practices. Sila is a little bit longer, but Jaylyn is a little bit quicker. They both bring a lot to the table and I'm excited for both of them."
Payne noted that almost every player stayed in Boulder over the summer to workout and better their craft. That fact hasn't gone unnoticed by the coaches or the players.
"We are strong, faster and a more agile team than last year," Tuitele said. "I think the most important thing from last year to this year has been the difference in our chemistry. We are way closer and tight-knit. We are on the same page and I'm super excited."
The Buffs' first chance to test their chemistry comes on Nov. 4, against Regis in exhibition play. CU will open the season at home on Nov. 10, against New Jersey Institute of Technology.