Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, January 1
Fort Worth, TX
5:30 p.m
Colorado
10-3,1-1Big 12
50
at
63
TCU
14-1,2-0Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 12 | 9 | 17 | 12 | 50 |
| TCU | 11 | 16 | 23 | 13 | 63 |
Photo by: Serena Rodriguez
Buffs Fall at No. 11 TCU
January 01, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado found itself down double digits, unable to complete the comeback
FORT WORTH – 2025 kicked off on a sour note for the Colorado women's basketball team, falling to No. 11 TCU 63-50 at Schollmaier Arena on Wednesday.
Colorado (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) got down 14 double digits in the third quarter for the second consecutive game, but unlike last time out against then No. 14 West Virginia, the Buffs could not get out from under the spread. Junior Jade Masogayo led CU with a 14-point effort, but CU's next leading scorers, Kennedy Sanders and Ayianna Johnson, contributed just eight points each.
CU's bench accounted for 23 points on the night, while Frida Formann, the team's leading scorer, was held without a field goal for just the fourth time in her 129-game career.
"I was proud of how our team played," head coach JR Payne stated after the game. "I thought we battled. I thought we defended very well, which hasn't always been the case this year. We've been able to score the ball pretty efficiently, so it was a little bit flipped tonight because we had a hard time scoring it. I thought we defended well, holding every [TCU] player below their averages, except maybe Roberson. But other than that, [it was] a tough game against a really good team."
Wednesday marked TCU's 14 consecutive win on its home court. The Horned Frogs (14-1, 2-0 Big 12) got a pair of 14-point performances from Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith. Prince added 10 rebounds and three blocks to her line.
Despite TCU's seven blocks, the Black & Gold did enjoy a 28-16 advantage in the paint.
How it Happened
Masogayo opened the New Year with the game's first basket, but offense was hard to come by in the opening quarter. CU shot 5-for-14 in the first 10 minutes and held TCU to just 4-for-14. The two teams combined for 11 turnovers in the first quarter, with CU taking the early 12-11 lead.
The Buffs opened the second quarter with a 4-0 run, gaining its largest lead of the night at 16-11. TCU followed up with a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 17-16. The Buffs momentarily jumped back in front with a Sanders 3-pointer to make it 19-17, but TCU closed the second half on a 10-2 run to lead 27-21 at the break.
Both teams were 9-for-26 from the field in the first half, but TCU had one more 3-point make and went 5-for-7 from the free-throw line, while CU did not attempt a free throw in the first 20 minutes.
The Horned Frogs extended their lead to 11 points, 33-22, with a 6-1 run to open the third quarter. The Buffs' offense was flat coming out of the locker room, opening the quarter 0-for-7. A Wetta jumper broke the Colorado slump with just over seven minutes to go in the quarter, and Johnson went off for six points in a two-minute span, but the TCU lead hit 14, 50-36, with under 60 seconds to play.
"[We] certainly felt like we could win, and I think we gave ourselves a chance to win, but again, if we aren't scoring at the clip we need to, it's going to be hard to beat these guys," Payne expressed.
Lior Garzon hit her only 3 of the night at the opening of the fourth quarter and Wetta hit a pair from the free-throw line to complete a 5-0 start to the quarter and bring the Buffs back to within seven, 50-43, and force a TCU timeout. The Buffs extended the run with a late possession jumper from Johanna Teder to cut the deficit to five with 6:29 to play.
"I think it's just in our DNA," Payne noted about CU's tenacity. "Led by our senior point guard, Kindyll Wetta, who's completely fearless and tough. I think she's one of the best defenders in the country. She sort of brings that mantra no matter what. I think just as a group, we don't necessarily care if we're down. We're just going to play hard every possession and compete, fight and scrap to do whatever we can to give ourselves a chance to win."
Unlike against West Virginia, Colorado's magic ran out. The Buffs finished just 1-for-7 from the field in the final six minutes and were outscored 13-5 after the Teder basket, as TCU would maintain the lead the rest of the way.
Up Next
Colorado stays in Texas, finishing the road trip in Waco against Baylor on Saturday (1 p.m. MT).
Notes
Colorado still holds a 4-1 series advantage against TCU… CU's 18 field goals were the fewest since 16 in the team's 53-43 loss at UCLA last season…CU shot 35.3%, snapping a five-game streak of 50.0% or better…Colorado outrebounded TCU 33-32…TCU scored 16 points off of CU's 17 turnovers…Sanders tied her season-high with eight points…Wetta handed out six assists, marking her seventh game this season with at least five…Sara-Rose Smith led CU in rebounding (7) for the eighth time this season…She now has 495 career rebounds.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On defending Sedona Prince: "We didn't want to double [her]. We wanted to try to keep her out of the kill zone and keep her out of the paint. But some of the players on our team sort of see opportunities, I guess, to double, and when that presented themselves, they went for it. It ended up being pretty effective."
On facing TCU: "TCU is an interesting team because I know most of the players on this team, whether I coached against or recruited them. So, I actually know a handful of them. This was my scout, and I felt like we knew them pretty well. Mark [Campbell] is a great coach, and they do such a great job. In some ways, it was kind of cool to see those kids at the end, and we've followed their careers."
On playing two of the top teams in the Big 12 to start: "It's a great conference. I feel like it's the strongest conference right now for women's basketball. Really high winning percentage across the board for the Big 12, which is awesome. We love that every game is an adventure for us because every team is new. Every environment is new. Every locker room, hotel, it's all new. We're excited about that. One thing we just talked about that is different for us is that most of the teams in the Big 12, we only get one crack at, which is not something we're used to. We're used to being able to play them again because we played almost everybody twice in the Pac-12. So that's frustrating to lose a game that you felt like, man, we were right there. Now, maybe we'll see them in the tournament."
Colorado (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) got down 14 double digits in the third quarter for the second consecutive game, but unlike last time out against then No. 14 West Virginia, the Buffs could not get out from under the spread. Junior Jade Masogayo led CU with a 14-point effort, but CU's next leading scorers, Kennedy Sanders and Ayianna Johnson, contributed just eight points each.
CU's bench accounted for 23 points on the night, while Frida Formann, the team's leading scorer, was held without a field goal for just the fourth time in her 129-game career.
"I was proud of how our team played," head coach JR Payne stated after the game. "I thought we battled. I thought we defended very well, which hasn't always been the case this year. We've been able to score the ball pretty efficiently, so it was a little bit flipped tonight because we had a hard time scoring it. I thought we defended well, holding every [TCU] player below their averages, except maybe Roberson. But other than that, [it was] a tough game against a really good team."
Wednesday marked TCU's 14 consecutive win on its home court. The Horned Frogs (14-1, 2-0 Big 12) got a pair of 14-point performances from Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith. Prince added 10 rebounds and three blocks to her line.
Despite TCU's seven blocks, the Black & Gold did enjoy a 28-16 advantage in the paint.
How it Happened
Masogayo opened the New Year with the game's first basket, but offense was hard to come by in the opening quarter. CU shot 5-for-14 in the first 10 minutes and held TCU to just 4-for-14. The two teams combined for 11 turnovers in the first quarter, with CU taking the early 12-11 lead.
The Buffs opened the second quarter with a 4-0 run, gaining its largest lead of the night at 16-11. TCU followed up with a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 17-16. The Buffs momentarily jumped back in front with a Sanders 3-pointer to make it 19-17, but TCU closed the second half on a 10-2 run to lead 27-21 at the break.
Both teams were 9-for-26 from the field in the first half, but TCU had one more 3-point make and went 5-for-7 from the free-throw line, while CU did not attempt a free throw in the first 20 minutes.
The Horned Frogs extended their lead to 11 points, 33-22, with a 6-1 run to open the third quarter. The Buffs' offense was flat coming out of the locker room, opening the quarter 0-for-7. A Wetta jumper broke the Colorado slump with just over seven minutes to go in the quarter, and Johnson went off for six points in a two-minute span, but the TCU lead hit 14, 50-36, with under 60 seconds to play.
"[We] certainly felt like we could win, and I think we gave ourselves a chance to win, but again, if we aren't scoring at the clip we need to, it's going to be hard to beat these guys," Payne expressed.
Lior Garzon hit her only 3 of the night at the opening of the fourth quarter and Wetta hit a pair from the free-throw line to complete a 5-0 start to the quarter and bring the Buffs back to within seven, 50-43, and force a TCU timeout. The Buffs extended the run with a late possession jumper from Johanna Teder to cut the deficit to five with 6:29 to play.
"I think it's just in our DNA," Payne noted about CU's tenacity. "Led by our senior point guard, Kindyll Wetta, who's completely fearless and tough. I think she's one of the best defenders in the country. She sort of brings that mantra no matter what. I think just as a group, we don't necessarily care if we're down. We're just going to play hard every possession and compete, fight and scrap to do whatever we can to give ourselves a chance to win."
Unlike against West Virginia, Colorado's magic ran out. The Buffs finished just 1-for-7 from the field in the final six minutes and were outscored 13-5 after the Teder basket, as TCU would maintain the lead the rest of the way.
Up Next
Colorado stays in Texas, finishing the road trip in Waco against Baylor on Saturday (1 p.m. MT).
Notes
Colorado still holds a 4-1 series advantage against TCU… CU's 18 field goals were the fewest since 16 in the team's 53-43 loss at UCLA last season…CU shot 35.3%, snapping a five-game streak of 50.0% or better…Colorado outrebounded TCU 33-32…TCU scored 16 points off of CU's 17 turnovers…Sanders tied her season-high with eight points…Wetta handed out six assists, marking her seventh game this season with at least five…Sara-Rose Smith led CU in rebounding (7) for the eighth time this season…She now has 495 career rebounds.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On defending Sedona Prince: "We didn't want to double [her]. We wanted to try to keep her out of the kill zone and keep her out of the paint. But some of the players on our team sort of see opportunities, I guess, to double, and when that presented themselves, they went for it. It ended up being pretty effective."
On facing TCU: "TCU is an interesting team because I know most of the players on this team, whether I coached against or recruited them. So, I actually know a handful of them. This was my scout, and I felt like we knew them pretty well. Mark [Campbell] is a great coach, and they do such a great job. In some ways, it was kind of cool to see those kids at the end, and we've followed their careers."
On playing two of the top teams in the Big 12 to start: "It's a great conference. I feel like it's the strongest conference right now for women's basketball. Really high winning percentage across the board for the Big 12, which is awesome. We love that every game is an adventure for us because every team is new. Every environment is new. Every locker room, hotel, it's all new. We're excited about that. One thing we just talked about that is different for us is that most of the teams in the Big 12, we only get one crack at, which is not something we're used to. We're used to being able to play them again because we played almost everybody twice in the Pac-12. So that's frustrating to lose a game that you felt like, man, we were right there. Now, maybe we'll see them in the tournament."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballTeam Stats
CU
TCU
FG%
.353
.404
3FG%
.286
.318
FT%
.833
.700
RB
33
32
TO
17
13
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
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