Buffs Host Denver on Thursday

BOULDER – The start of the 2019-20 season for the Colorado women's basketball team has been anything but perfect. Despite the growing pains, the Buffaloes are off to their best start since 2016-17.

The young Buffaloes have surprised many with their 8-0 start to the season. Colorado has continued to grow in the early season and is beginning to receive national attention. The Buffs continued to receive votes in the AP Top-25 poll for the second consecutive week, but still has plenty of room for improvement.

"We're just really striving to play better basketball," head coach JR Payne stated. "We want to have great practices. We want to continue to improve things that we know we're capable of improving and need to improve. Taking care of the basketball is one of them. We just need to work to have clean possessions. We want to play fast but we also want to play smart and be able to play together. We want to be able to read each other and make good decisions."

The Buffs are just one of eight teams in the NCAA that have three or fewer upperclassmen. Colorado's inexperience has been evident at times, especially in the turnover department. Sophomore Lesila Finau and freshman Jaylyn Sherrod have been given the reigns at point guard this season. The duo has helped Colorado average 14.3 assists per game this season, a mark ahead of last season's 12.2 average. The downside has been the Buffs' 19.1 turnovers per game.

"I don't expect us to ever really play a perfect game," Payne explained. "We're striving for great possessions. If we can string together back-to-back-to-back-to-back, good possessions, then we're playing good basketball. If we can just focus on really doing our job offensively and defensively, keeping it simple, fundamental I think we're in a good place."

Sophomore Emma Clarke has stepped into a leading offensive role. She posted back-to-back career highs last week, totaling 17 points against Texas Southern and 19 points at Xavier. Junior Mya Hollingshed has also been hitting her stride, posting consecutive double-doubles last week.

Denver (5-4) poses a threat to the Buffs on defense. The Pioneers enter Thursday as the highest-scoring offense the Buffs have faced this season. DU ranks 25th in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 78.8 points per game. Pioneer senior Madison Nelson leads the charge for the Pioneers with her 18.2 points per game.

"They're [Denver] one of the higher scoring teams in the nation," Payne noted. "We expect them to play fast. They love to transition. They shoot the ball well from almost every position on the floor. It's really important that we focus on those two areas defensively."

For Colorado, Thursday marks the end of the 2019 home-slate. Colorado plays five straight on the road before its next home game against Southern California (Jan. 10). The Buffs will close out the calendar year at the Tulane Classic in New Orleans (Nov. 20-21), before opening Pac-12 play at Utah (Dec. 30).

Thursday's game is Holiday's with the Buffs. There will be a toy drive to benefit A Precious Child. Fans that donate a toy will receive a $5 general admission ticket to the USC game.

Thursday's game is set for a 7 p.m. MT tip. The game will be streamed online at CUBuffs.com/WatchWBB.

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Players Mentioned

Emma Clarke

Lesila Finau

Mya Hollingshed

Jaylyn Sherrod

Colorado University Athletics