Buffs Head to the Bay

STANFORD, Calif. — The Colorado women's basketball team has had a week to move past a disappointing 84-69 loss to Utah last Friday. The Buffaloes, who only had one game last week, will look to get back on track this weekend visiting No. 6/6 Stanford and California.

Colorado (13-4, 2-4 Pac-12) isn't going to forget the outcome from last Friday. They are going to try and learn from it.

"We've had a great week," head coach JR Payne explained. "We watched the Utah game in its entirety as a team. We very much have moved on since then and refocused on areas that we need to improve, our communication and things like that. I feel like this has been a great week so far."

Stanford (16-2, 5-1 Pac-12) poses yet another top-10 matchup for the Buffs. Colorado has played No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Oregon State and No. 8 UCLA in its last five games. CU was within four points in the fourth quarter against the then-unbeaten Beavers and nearly completed a 25-point comeback against the then-unbeaten Bruins.

"This whole season teams have overlooked us," redshirt sophomore Aubrey Knight noted. "I think it's a really good opportunity every time we step on the court with a team that is ranked, especially in the top 10. Stanford was No. 1 at one point and then No. 3. They're up there in the top five, top 10 so I think that it's a good opportunity for us to show that we are a really good basketball team."

The Buffs and Cardinal met just once last season in Boulder. The two teams could not have been in more different places at the time. CU was on a six-game losing skid and Stanford was the No. 6/7 team in the nation. The Buffs came out and surprised the Cardinal and led by as many as 10 points in the first half. Colorado outscored Stanford in three of the four quarters, but a 32-point third quarter proved to be too much to overcome.

Knight, who had season-ending surgery before Pac-12 play last year, was on the bench for the team's last matchup. This time around, she's eager to help Colorado go for its first win against Stanford since 2002.

"I think that our team does a pretty good job of bringing that excitement," Knight noted. "It's just a matter of containing that for all four quarters, which is going to be the biggest thing for us. Stanford is a good team and for us to beat them, we have to show up for all four [quarters]. We can't just show it for one and a half or three like we did last year. It's going to be a big team effort and making sure that we try and contain that energy throughout the entire game. They're going to go on runs, we're going to go on runs. That's basketball. It's a matter of containing that energy and that spirit and we always play better when we have high energy and when we're having fun."

For the Buffs to have success this weekend, they will need to pick things up on offense. Colorado has not shot above 40 percent in its last five games, dating back to its win at Utah (48.3 percent). The task at hand might be easier said than done. Stanford ranks 10th in the nation, holding opponents to a 34.1 field goal percentage this season.

"It's important for us to be the aggressive team," Payne continued. "On offense, we need to be able to make shots. The times that we've been competitive with Stanford, that's been a big part of our success. We've been able to get decent looks but we've knocked down shots. Competing on the glass is going to be important. That's something we do very well. Then we've got to be able to defend you know they run in transition, but they also score efficiently in the half-court."

The Buffs will travel to California to end the weekend. CU has lost the last two to the Bears but picked up a road win (64-59) in Coach Payne's first season. The Bears are 8-9 overall this season and 0-6 in the Pac-12. They are currently on a six-game losing streak and will host Utah on Friday.

Friday's game at Stanford is set for an 8 p.m. MT start. Sunday will be a 1 p.m. MT tip.

All of Colorado's Pac-12 games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network this season. You can also catch the game on the Colorado Radio Network with the TuneIn app.

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Players Mentioned

Aubrey Knight