Thursday, November 7
7 p.m.
Colorado
2-0,0-0Big 12
81
vs
66
Northern Colorado
1-1,0-0Big Sky
1
2
3
4
F
Northern Colo.
15
19
10
22
66
Colorado
25
19
16
21
81
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Colorado Takes Down Bears in Home Opener
November 07, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Jade Masogayo turned in 19 points to lead the Buffs
BOULDER – Junior transfer Jade Masogayo made a solid first impression in front of the Buffaloes' faithful with a 19-point, helping her team to an 81-66 win over front-range rival Northern Colorado.
The Fort Worth, Texas native highlighted a night with impressive numbers across the floor for the Buffs, going 8-for-12 from the field and handing out five assists. Senior Kindyll Wetta handed out a career-high 10 assists, and graduate transfers Nyamer Diew (14) and Johanna Teder (10) both notched double figures for the first time in the Black & Gold.
The Buffs' offense improved measurably from Monday's opening-night win at Wyoming. CU was just 33.9% from the field and 1-for-10 from behind the arc in Laramie. Colorado finished 48.5% and was 7-for-20 in Thursday night's win.
"It's hard to kind of articulate my thoughts," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "Lots of good things and lots to learn. I'll probably say that for the next month of the season. I'm really proud of our crowd and our fans that came out. That was great home energy, and I'm proud of our ability to weather the storm.
"I think we talked in our pregame about the game of runs," Payne added. "They're going to make runs. They're a team that presses and tries to turn you over, and there's going to be opportunities for us to make runs, and they will, too. I thought we did a great job really sticking together. In our timeouts, there's great eye contact, and there's great communication. We're coaching each other, and there's a lot of really good things that aren't always there with teams, so I love that. I think it's very fixable when you have a group that really is trying to be in it together. I think that's a really great place to start, so I'm proud of how we played."
The Buffs jumped out to the early lead and never trailed on the night. Colorado built up a 17-point lead, allowing the team to get more into the bench than it had in Wyoming. Freshmen Erin Powell and Grace Oliver made their CU debuts, while redshirt freshman Kennedy Sanders tallied her first collegiate points.
"I think what we're seeing is glimpses of a really special team," Payne continued. "Some of the extra passes that you guys are talking about, some of those plays were beautiful basketball plays. It's very unselfish basketball where they're willing to make the second and third extra pass just to get somebody else a high-percentage shot. That is a fun game to play, a fun style. I think it's really fun to watch. I definitely know it's fun to coach. That's really exciting for me."
Northern Colorado (1-1) had three players in double figures, paced by Silvia Nativi's 13 points.
How It Happened
The Buffs opened the night with a 12-2 run that put UNC in come-back mode the entire night. Colorado was blistering from the start, hitting 66.7% (12-18) in the opening quarter. Masogayo set the tone for the rest of her night, going 4-for-4 from the field with eight points as the Buffs pushed the lead to 13 in the quarter.
"That's always the mission," Payne explained about the team's offensive performance. "We always want to score. I think we can score the ball. I think we have a lot of different people that can. In two games, we've had two different people at 20 points, almost. We definitely can score. We want to make sure that we're all really understanding when and where our shots will come from, and I think we're capable of doing that."
Colorado hit its last six shots in the first quarter, and Masogayo registered its seventh consecutive basket to start the second quarter. Still, the team's offensive efficiency dropped off from its hot start. The Bears cut the lead down to five, 27-22, early in the quarter before the Buffs bounced back with contributions from Ayianna Johnson, Masagayo and Diew in a 7-2 run that returned the lead to a 10-point cushion.
The Buffs hit 4-for-8 from long range in the second quarter and got a string of 3s from Lior Garzon, Diew and Sara-Rose Smith to build its largest lead of the half, 44-30.
"We want to have a balance," Payne noted. "We want to be able to score the ball inside, which opens up 3-point shooting. Sometimes, 3-point shooters open up the inside plays. We don't necessarily want just to bomb a ton of threes. We don't want to just pound it inside; we want to have great balance whenever we take the floor."
Colorado forced five turnovers in the third quarter as defense took the spotlight. The Buffs held UNC to 10 points in the quarter and extended the lead by a game-high 17 points, 59-42, late in the quarter.
Northern Colorado would climb back to within nine, 70-61, with 3:33 to play, but the Buffs outscored the Bears 11-5 to close the night, earning the win.
Up Next
The Buffs will be back on the road this weekend, taking on Boise State on Sunday. Colorado will then head to Lake Tahoe to take on Nevada on Nov. 12.
Notes
Colorado unveiled Ceal Barry's Women's Basketball Hall of Fame banner in a surprise halftime ceremony… Wetta's 10 assists marked her first career double-digit assist night…She moved past Amy Mathern (337) and Amy Palmer (341) and into a tie with Erin Scholz (344) for 12th on CU's all-time assist list…CU had 26 assists on 32 made baskets…the Buffs forced 22 turnovers and scored 22 points off turnovers… CU's bench at 31 points, the most since totaling 36 vs Oregon in last year's Pac-12 Tournament… Thursday's win was No. 499 at the CU Events Center…CU has now won 12 straight against UNC and is 15-6 all-time vs the Bears.
The Fort Worth, Texas native highlighted a night with impressive numbers across the floor for the Buffs, going 8-for-12 from the field and handing out five assists. Senior Kindyll Wetta handed out a career-high 10 assists, and graduate transfers Nyamer Diew (14) and Johanna Teder (10) both notched double figures for the first time in the Black & Gold.
The Buffs' offense improved measurably from Monday's opening-night win at Wyoming. CU was just 33.9% from the field and 1-for-10 from behind the arc in Laramie. Colorado finished 48.5% and was 7-for-20 in Thursday night's win.
"It's hard to kind of articulate my thoughts," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "Lots of good things and lots to learn. I'll probably say that for the next month of the season. I'm really proud of our crowd and our fans that came out. That was great home energy, and I'm proud of our ability to weather the storm.
"I think we talked in our pregame about the game of runs," Payne added. "They're going to make runs. They're a team that presses and tries to turn you over, and there's going to be opportunities for us to make runs, and they will, too. I thought we did a great job really sticking together. In our timeouts, there's great eye contact, and there's great communication. We're coaching each other, and there's a lot of really good things that aren't always there with teams, so I love that. I think it's very fixable when you have a group that really is trying to be in it together. I think that's a really great place to start, so I'm proud of how we played."
The Buffs jumped out to the early lead and never trailed on the night. Colorado built up a 17-point lead, allowing the team to get more into the bench than it had in Wyoming. Freshmen Erin Powell and Grace Oliver made their CU debuts, while redshirt freshman Kennedy Sanders tallied her first collegiate points.
"I think what we're seeing is glimpses of a really special team," Payne continued. "Some of the extra passes that you guys are talking about, some of those plays were beautiful basketball plays. It's very unselfish basketball where they're willing to make the second and third extra pass just to get somebody else a high-percentage shot. That is a fun game to play, a fun style. I think it's really fun to watch. I definitely know it's fun to coach. That's really exciting for me."
Northern Colorado (1-1) had three players in double figures, paced by Silvia Nativi's 13 points.
How It Happened
The Buffs opened the night with a 12-2 run that put UNC in come-back mode the entire night. Colorado was blistering from the start, hitting 66.7% (12-18) in the opening quarter. Masogayo set the tone for the rest of her night, going 4-for-4 from the field with eight points as the Buffs pushed the lead to 13 in the quarter.
"That's always the mission," Payne explained about the team's offensive performance. "We always want to score. I think we can score the ball. I think we have a lot of different people that can. In two games, we've had two different people at 20 points, almost. We definitely can score. We want to make sure that we're all really understanding when and where our shots will come from, and I think we're capable of doing that."
Colorado hit its last six shots in the first quarter, and Masogayo registered its seventh consecutive basket to start the second quarter. Still, the team's offensive efficiency dropped off from its hot start. The Bears cut the lead down to five, 27-22, early in the quarter before the Buffs bounced back with contributions from Ayianna Johnson, Masagayo and Diew in a 7-2 run that returned the lead to a 10-point cushion.
The Buffs hit 4-for-8 from long range in the second quarter and got a string of 3s from Lior Garzon, Diew and Sara-Rose Smith to build its largest lead of the half, 44-30.
"We want to have a balance," Payne noted. "We want to be able to score the ball inside, which opens up 3-point shooting. Sometimes, 3-point shooters open up the inside plays. We don't necessarily want just to bomb a ton of threes. We don't want to just pound it inside; we want to have great balance whenever we take the floor."
Colorado forced five turnovers in the third quarter as defense took the spotlight. The Buffs held UNC to 10 points in the quarter and extended the lead by a game-high 17 points, 59-42, late in the quarter.
Northern Colorado would climb back to within nine, 70-61, with 3:33 to play, but the Buffs outscored the Bears 11-5 to close the night, earning the win.
Up Next
The Buffs will be back on the road this weekend, taking on Boise State on Sunday. Colorado will then head to Lake Tahoe to take on Nevada on Nov. 12.
Notes
Colorado unveiled Ceal Barry's Women's Basketball Hall of Fame banner in a surprise halftime ceremony… Wetta's 10 assists marked her first career double-digit assist night…She moved past Amy Mathern (337) and Amy Palmer (341) and into a tie with Erin Scholz (344) for 12th on CU's all-time assist list…CU had 26 assists on 32 made baskets…the Buffs forced 22 turnovers and scored 22 points off turnovers… CU's bench at 31 points, the most since totaling 36 vs Oregon in last year's Pac-12 Tournament… Thursday's win was No. 499 at the CU Events Center…CU has now won 12 straight against UNC and is 15-6 all-time vs the Bears.
Team Stats
UNC
CU
FG%
.447
.485
3FG%
.412
.350
FT%
.630
.667
RB
28
39
TO
22
16
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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