Colorado
11-4,2-2Big 12
UCF
7-7,0-4Big 12
Buffs’ Offense Asserts Itself Early in Win Over UCF
January 08, 2025 | Women's Basketball
CU led for the entirety of the night in its return home
BOULDER – The Colorado offense took care of business in its return home to the CU Events Center on Wednesday. The Buffaloes scored the first 13 points of the night and never looked back, sending UCF packing 81-62.
Colorado (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) totaled 31 points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the remainder of the night. Frida Formann scored 12 of her team-high 22 points in the opening quarter. She hit her first 3-pointer of the night to open the scoring and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field to help catapult the Buffs to 31 points in the first 10 minutes.
"I think it was really good," Formann said of the team's hot start. "I tried to instill in us – it's a statement. A team like that is also just trying to find some success somewhere. You can't let them in a little bit. So, I think it was a really good statement from the jump of controlling the pace, playing our game and playing great defense. It was a really fun way to start the game that first quarter."
The Buffs led from the open and never let UCF get back within single digits after the first five minutes of the night.
"[I'm] proud of how we played tonight, proud of our response coming off two difficult losses on the road," head coach JR Payne stated after the win. "I thought we were pretty resilient. We got a stretch in the third quarter, which was not our best, but I thought we really stuck together and stayed together, which is really important when we're taking on heat from another team, which was good. Lots of different production and lots of different contributions for many different players, both starters and from the bench, which continues to be a really good thing for us. Any victory in the conference is a great victory. So, we're very happy."
Jade Masogayo (16) and Nyamer Diew (10) also closed in double figures. Colorado's offense got back into form after a slow go of things last week in Texas. The Buffs hit 51.8% from the field, marking the sixth game time the team has shot over 50% in the previous eight games.
The Buffs hit eight of their 10 3-pointers in the first half and put up a season-high 32 attempts on the night. The Black & Gold controlled the paint with a 32-16 advantage and outrebounded the Knights 31-28.
UCF (7-7, 0-4 Big 12) resuscitated its offense in the third quarter. The Knights outscored its first-half total by three points, totaling 24 in the third quarter. Kaitlin Peterson led the visitors with a game-high 24 points, doing most of her damage at the free-throw line with 15 makes on 17 attempts.
How it Happened
Colorado hit the gas right off the opening tip, with Formann drilling a 3-pointer. Masogayo followed up with a layup to put the Buffs up 7-0 in the first two minutes. Back-to-back 3s from Formann and Diew extended the Buffs run to 13-0. UCF cut the lead down to nine, 13-4, with 5:18 to go in the quarter, but that was as close as the Knights would get the rest of the night.
Colorado's lead hit 20 points, 27-7, before the end of the quarter, and the team shot a game-high 73.3% (11-15). Diew added to the CU 3-point barrage in the period, converting on both her attempts. Kennedy Sanders made her lone triple in the quarter, giving CU six 3-pointers in the frame, tying the program record for the most in a quarter.
Masogayo helped carry the momentum into the second quarter as the offense cooled off. She led the Buffs with five points in the quarter. CU used a 10-run to push the lead to a staggering 32 points, 47-15.
The Buffs carried a 27-point lead into the locker room while shooting 60.7% and going 8-for-16 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. Colorado scored 14 points off 11 UCF turnovers in the half and the CU bench almost matched the entire UCF first-half output with 18 points.
"We always want to play in transition," Payne noted. "We feel like we're pretty good at it, and feel like, at home, we always say, 5,340 feet of fresh mountain air that is always on our side. I thought we did a great job looking for opportunities in transition, and when they weren't there, we executed pretty well, with the exception of the third quarter, which was not great. But other than that, I thought we played really well offensively."
CU gained its largest lead of the season at 34 points, 60-26, at the 5:10 mark of the third quarter. That's when UCF put together one last gasp with a 16-0 run to cut the lead back down to 18, 60-42. The run was capped off by three straight 3s from Ally Stedman.
Consecutive swipe and scores from Kindyll Wetta got the CU offense back on the board, and the Buffs finished the third quarter with a 19-point advantage.
Masogayo closed out the night with seven of the team's 17 points in the final quarter. She went 5-for-6 from the line as she battled with UCF's Hannah Gusters. Gusters picked up four of her five fouls in a little over five and a half minutes of action in the quarter before fouling out.
"She's a lot bigger than me, but I just did my best to push her out of the paint as much as I could," Masogayo said about the matchup with Gusters. "And I had a lot of help from my teammates just trying to sink in and help off me. So, it was a good team effort."
Up Next
The Buffs will continue at home this week with a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Kansas Jayhawks.
Notes
CU is now 2-0 against UCF…Colorado has now made 10 or more 3-pointers in four games this season…CU's 32 3-point attempts tied for the 10th most in school history (last, at Oklahoma State, 3/25/12)...Formann's five 3-pointers marked a season-high, following an 0-for-9 effort in two games last week…Wednesday was Formann's third 20-point game this season and the 14th of her career…Masogayo has now scored in double figures a team-high 11 times this season…She also had a season-high three blocks…CU had 23 assists on 29 field goals…Colorado has now had 20 or more assists in six games this season…JoJo Nworie had season-highs in FGM (3) and points (7)…Sara-Rose Smith had three rebounds and is at 499 for her career.
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