Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Colorado Mines
Buffs Put on a Show in Exhibition Win
October 27, 2024 | Women's Basketball
CU impresses in win over Colorado Mines
BOULDER — Colorado women's basketball dominated the floor Sunday afternoon at the CU Events Center, picking up a 91-46 win over Colorado Mines in exhibition play.
Four Buffaloes, all newcomers in 2024-25, recorded double-figure point totals, led by Lior Garzon's 18-point performance. Nyamer Diew and Jade Masogayo totaled 13 apiece, while Ayianna Johnson closed the day with 12.
"It was awesome," head coach JR Payne exclaimed after the win. "So fun to finally take the court. I thought we did really well. I always say at this point this season, there are so many good things we're doing, and there's also equally so much to learn still, but it's really awesome to do it in front of fans, to have people come to watch us play, to play against someone other than ourselves. I thought we did a lot of really good things, so I'm excited."
All 12 dressed players got in on the action, and all but one player got on the scoreboard.
"When everyone gets an opportunity to play, most people don't realize that's a coach's dream," Payne continued. "When you can play everyone and play everyone relatively substantial minutes. That's really awesome to be able to do that. It's so great to have our young players get their first collegiate minutes. It's great to have even like these guys [Garzon & Johnson]; they're new. They're not new to college basketball, but they're new to Colorado basketball. It's great to have all of us be able to log pretty good minutes, and to have everyone score is always fun. And so yeah, just moving forward."
For the 10 newcomers, Sunday was the first chance to play in front of the home crowd.
"It felt like home," Johnson expressed. "It felt so real like I was meant to be here and my teammates were meant to be here. I think we created an awesome family here."
"It feels right," Garzon added. "It feels like I'm supposed to be here. It's a family atmosphere. I told Coach [Payne] that I was very excited and nervous before [the game]. But I put this [Colorado] jersey on my chest and it meant a lot to me today."
The Orediggers got out to an early three-point lead in the game's opening moments, but the Buffs outscored Mines by 10 points in the first frame and never looked back.
Colorado led by 20 at the half and then limited Mines to nine points in the third quarter, increasing the Buffs lead to 35 to start the fourth quarter.
The Buffs' defense, despite all the changes, remained unphased, forcing 27 turnovers on the day.
"I think these guys have done such a great job on the court, of course, but also even before on the court, off the court, they spent an amazing amount of time together this summer and were very intentional about learning each other," Payne said about the team chemistry. "The chemistry will continue to come, but I agree with you. I thought it was really good. I think we have a very unselfish group who likes to share the ball, and so there's going to be times that we're making the extra pass, and it's going to be pretty basketball."
The Buffaloes will now focus on the season opener next Monday at Wyoming (Nov. 4).
Colorado's first home game of the 2024-25 season will be against Northern Colorado on Nov. 7.
