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CU Opens Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday
March 04, 2020 | Women's Basketball
Buffs draw rematch with USC
LAS VEGAS – A new season begins for the Colorado women's basketball team on Thursday. The Buffaloes wipe the slate clean and start anew taking on seventh-seeded Southern California to open the Pac-12 Tournament at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
"Our team, as a whole, was very disappointed with Sunday's outcome" head coach JR Payne noted. "I think they are excited about the opportunity. We are such a young team they have this exuberance about them. The team is excited to get on the plane and head to Vegas. They see it as postseason play and not just another game. I think we are excited about that opportunity
Colorado, the tournament's 10th seed, wrapped up the regular season with a 16-13 record and a 5-13 Pac-12 record. It's the third time in the last four years CU has posted a 5-13 conference finish.
CU's matchup with the Trojans will be the second in six days. The Buffs fell to USC on Sunday, 66-55, in Los Angeles before returning to Boulder on Sunday night. Colorado won the first meeting in Boulder, 66-53.
"I think having just played USC it makes our adjustments a bit easier," Payne explained. "It had been such a long time since we played USC [between first and second games]. When we saw them last weekend, they were so much different than the first game, in a good way for them. They are playing tremendous basketball and Mark [Trakh] does such a great job with them. It's great to get another chance to play them. A lot of times when you lose a game you don't get another chance to play that team for a while. We are thankful to have another opportunity."
The Buffs, picked to finish 12th in the preseason, has played with a chip on their should all season. CU got out to a 12-0 start to the year, its best start since the 2011-12 season, and received votes for five consecutive weeks in the AP poll. Colorado's biggest win of the season came against No. 11 Arizona, marking CU's first win against an AP ranked opponent in 33 games.
"I think that when we were picked to finish 12th, I understood what everyone outside of our program was thinking," Payne continued. "They were looking at it saying, 'you lost the all-time leader in assists and two 1,000-point scorers.' I understood what people were thinking, but I know everyone inside our program knew that we were better than that. We knew that we were young, but we had a lot of potential. I think we have exceeded outsiders' expectations but as a ball club we still have a lot to prove."
Colorado's youth is what has propelled the Buffs this season. CU is just one of eight teams in the nation with three of fewer upperclassmen. Lone senior Quinessa Caylao-Do was named honorable mention All-Defensive team on Tuesday, but freshman Jaylyn Sherrod has quickly ascended to the top of the Buffs' stat sheet. The All-Freshman selection ranks fourth in the conference in assists and was the second-fastest Buff to 100 assists in program history.
Junior Mya Hollingshed earned honorable mention All-Conference honors, putting together her best season as a Buff. She leads the team in points and rebounds, averaging career-highs (13.1 ppg/ 6.9 rbg) in both categories.
The Buffaloes are 6-8 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament. CU's last win came in the first round of the 2018 tournament. The ninth-seeded Buffs advanced with a 66-56 win over Utah. CU is 1-1 in the tournament as the No. 10 seed. The Buffs were also the 10th seed in 2012.
Tip-off against USC is set for 7 p.m. MT. The game will be carried across the Pac-12 Networks. Mary Murphy and Krista Blunk will have the call. Jill Savage will be on the sidelines. Fans can also listen along with the TuneIn app and the Colorado Radio Network.