Colorado
2-1,0-0Big 12
Boise State
2-0,0-0Mountain West
Buffs Stumble in Boise
November 10, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Colorado's offense struggles in first loss of the season
BOISE – Offensive struggles plagued Colorado and Boise State at ExtraMile Arena on Saturday, but the home team edged out the Buffaloes, 50-47.
Part of CU's struggles was the team's 0-for-17 performance from behind the 3-point line. The Buffaloes had at least one 3-point field goal made in 125 consecutive games. The Buffs ended the day with just 20 made field goals total, its fewest since 20-for-57 at Kansas State last season.
"We need to shoot better," head coach JR Payne expressed. "0-for-17 from 3, and maybe a couple of them were rushed or late clock. I think we're getting decent looks. [I] have to go back and watch the film, but I don't think they're bad looks. We have to be able to put them in. We were definitely disjointed from uncertain times and places on the floor. We have to figure out why are we disjointed? What can we do to fix those things?
Saturday was closely contested from start to finish. The game featured eight ties and 16 lead changes, and neither team led by more than five points.
Colorado (2-1) forced 24 Boise State turnovers but only scored 13 points off the Broncos' mishaps. BSU turned the Buffs over 24 times, leading to 19 points.
"I think the turnovers really hurt both teams because neither team could really get into any offensive rhythm," Payne added. "I think we definitely had a lot of scoring lulls. We had two quarters where we were single-digit scoring. The bottom line is we have to be able to put the ball in the hoop. We need to make sure that we're addressing areas that we're missing early looks and figure out what we can do to ensure we get cleaner looks."
Boise State (2-0) was led by Teryn Gardner with 10 points off the bench. Jade Masogayo recorded her second straight game in double figures, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds.
How it Happened
It was a game of runs right from the opening tip, with Boise State opening with the game's first five points. The Buffs answered with baskets from Lior Garzon and Tabitha Betson to go on a 6-0 run, taking their first lead. The Broncos hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 6-0 run to take a 15-12 lead late in the quarter. Kindyll Wetta made good on a three-point play to close the quarter all even at 15.
Turnovers were the name of the game in the second quarter, as both teams' offenses struggled. The Buffs forced four BSU turnovers in the quarter while they coughed the ball up seven times. Still, Colorado outscored the Broncos 8-6 in the period to take a 23-21 lead at the half.
The third quarter was the game's highest-scoring, with Boise State outscoring the Buffs 19-15. The two teams traded off baskets in the quarter, and a Kindyll Wetta AND-1 conversion and free-throws from Masogayo put the Buffs up 32-30 with 3:12 to play in the quarter. BSU mounted a late 5-0 run to take a 40-36 lead, but a Betson layup in the final seconds cut the Broncos' lead to 40-38.
Colorado's offense cooled off again in the fourth quarter, going 4-for-16 from the field. The team's defense kept the team in the thick of things, limiting Boise State to just 2-for-10 from the floor. BSU missed its last six shots from the field but went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line to close the afternoon.
Up Next
Colorado has a quick turnaround as it heads to Lake Tahoe to take on Nevada on Tuesday for the Tahoe Tip Off at the Tahoe Blue Events Center.
Notes
CU has now shot 33.9% (20-59) in two games this season, also doing so at Wyoming (21-62)…The Buffs are just 17.0% from 3-point range in three games this season (8-47)…Colorado had a season-high 15 steals…Colorado recorded 38 points in the paint for the second straight game…Saturday's loss marked the earliest of the season since dropping its fourth game of the year at Texas Tech in 2022-23.
