Buffs Set for In-State Showdown

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The regional-road tour continues for Colorado women's basketball on Friday. The Buffaloes will head upstate to take on Colorado State at Moby Arena (5 p.m. MT).

CU (3-0) will be rested, having last played at Wyoming on Sunday. The Buffs battled to the wire to hold on for the 66-56 win over the Cowgirls. Colorado pulled out the win, despite season lows in field goals made (22) and field goals attempted (50). Mya Hollingshed led CU with 17 points, while sophomore Emma Clarke posted her first career double-double (10 p/10 r).

Sunday marks the 51st meeting between the Buffs and the Rams. Colorado has won the last three games, including last season's 59-40 win at the CU Events Center. The Buffs hold the 38-12 series lead. CU is 13-10 away from Boulder.

"Three days feels like a whole week [to prepare]," head coach JR Payne stated. "But in reality, it's not that long to prepare for a good team like Colorado State. They're very different then they were a year ago. They have a lot of really good transfers that were sitting out who are now contributing in a lot of different ways."

The young Buffs will continue to learn and grow. Only two current Buffs saw the court during CU's last visit to Moby. Annika Jank, Aubrey Knight and Hollingshed are the only three players to have experienced this rivalry away from home. Jank scored and Knight both started the game. Jank led the Buffs with 22 points, while Knight and Hollingshed combined for five points

"I think being at Wyoming hopefully prepared us [to visit CSU]," Payne continued. "I remember my first year at Fort Collins and it was a lot more than I expected. The fans are right on top of you and are really loud and into the game. Our team is a little bit prepared, having just been in a similar situation at Wyoming."

Friday is the first of three games in five days for Colorado. The Buffs will be back home against Jacksonville (Sunday) and Indiana State (Tuesday) to complete the stretch.

"They are all really different opponents," Payne noted. "Those scouts will be done by Friday so we will be prepared to start educating the team on that as soon as the CSU game is over. We will be able to send them a scout [report] and try to shift their mindset as quickly as possible. It's very much like a conference tournament almost, with three games in five days. It will be tough, but we'll see how we respond."

Jacksonville (3-2) will head to Boulder for the first time in program history. The Dolphins will be fresh off an 87-43 win over USC Upstate. It will be the second ASUN Conference opponent for the Buffs this season. CU opened the year with n 80-57 win over NJIT.

Friday's game will be streamed on the Mountain West Digital Network. Sunday's game will be a 6 p.m. start and will be streamed on the CUBuffs.com.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emma Clarke

Mya Hollingshed

Annika Jank

Aubrey Knight