Colorado University Athletics
Sunday, February 2
2 p.m.
Colorado
15-6,6-4Big 12
67
vs
51
Texas Tech
14-10,3-8Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | 10 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 51 |
| Colorado | 14 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 67 |
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Continue to Roll at Home
February 02, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado improves to 11-1 at home this season
BOULDER – Colorado extended its win streak to three games in front of a season-high crowd of 4,953 at the CU Events Center on Sunday. The short-handed Buffaloes took down the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 67-51, with only eight players in the rotation.
The Buffs (15-6, 6-4 Big 12), down leading scorer Frida Formann, controlled the afternoon, leading the contest for all but a span of 2:38 in the first quarter. CU's lead grew to 18 in the fourth quarter as the team shot 51.0% from the field and poured in seven 3-pointers.
"We went through so many adversities during the season, even before the conference [season] even started," grad transfer Lior Garzon noted about being short players. "Just really knowing each other and being there for each other. I think we're doing a really good job. It doesn't have to be loud and go crazy, but we know exactly what we need from each other. And I think once we all just bring it to the court, this is all that we need. I know you're not going to see us go out there and go crazy like, "Oh my god", like that. But the little things that's what make us so good. I think that's what really helped us today."
Garzon led all players with 17 points, hitting 3-for-6 from behind the arc and 5-for-11 from the field.
"It felt really good," Garzon said of her performance. "As a shooter, you always want to see the ball go through. I just trust the process, I know the work I put in, and I know the coaches told me never to stop shooting the ball, no matter what. I just take it in, go to the court, play with confidence, and keep going."
Junior Jade Masogayo continued her dominance in the Big 12, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor, fueling her 14-point effort. Freshman Tabitha Betson led Sunday's three-player bench unit with a season-high 11 points. Freshman Grace Oliver finished just shy of her first-career double-double, totaling seven points and a team-high eight boards. Fifth-year Sara-Rose Smith was also big on the glass for the Buffs with seven total rebounds.
"I said to the team in the locker room, 'Most of our wins are team wins,' like somebody did great here, and somebody did great there, and it's very much a collective effort, which I think is really awesome to do," head coach JR Payne expressed. "Especially in front of your alums that are back in town. So [I'm] really proud, these guys were great [Garzon and Betson], and everybody seemed pretty good today. Proud of our team today."
Texas Tech (14-10, 3-8 Big 12) was limited to 17 field goals and a 32.1 field goal % on the day behind leading scorer Jasmine Shavers' 16 points.
Part of Sunday's action was celebrating the program's 50th anniversary season. Alums from all five decades of Colorado basketball returned to the court at halftime, with the 2002 Elite Eight team getting special recognition.
"What an awesome weekend for us to be celebrating 50 years of women's basketball here at the University of Colorado," Payne said of the celebration. "We had so many alums back, and they were able to spend time with each other. They were able to spend a little bit of time with our team. I think part of our spirit today, as we played, was that we had those guys back supporting [us]."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado got out to a slow start, opening the afternoon with its seventh different starting lineup of the season. CU went 1-for-4 from the floor in the opening five minutes and turned the ball over three times, allowing TTU to claim an early 8-3 lead.
Oliver buried a 3-pointer and followed up with a layup on CU's next possession, tying the game at 8 with 3:15 to go in the frame. Moments later, Betson hit her first triple of the day, putting the Buffs up 11-10, a lead they wouldn't concede the rest of the contest.
"They have been great," Payne said of Oliver and Betson in the first quarter. "I think they've had a great couple weeks of practice ever since Tabs [Betson] came back. I said as soon as she came back; doing what she's doing after not being allowed to touch a ball for a couple of weeks is really impressive. Grace's [Oliver] steadiness, her ability to just make big plays. I don't know what it is about Grace. We've all said it all year long: she just finds the right time and the right place, has a nose for the ball, and hits a big 3, and just lots of really great plays from these two freshmen in a really big moment where they had to play a lot. They're just absolutely steady and awesome."
The Buffs closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run and kept it going at the start of the second quarter, extending the run to 14-0 and giving Colorado a 22-10 lead. Six different Buffs contributed to the best scoring run of the afternoon, with Betson totaling five points in the offensive push.
A 3-pointer from Johanna Teder put CU up 27-14 midway through the second quarter, and the lead hit 14 with a driving layup from Nyamer Diew with less than 60 seconds to play in the half. The Buffs outscored the Red Raiders 17-11 in the period and took a 31-21 lead into the break.
Texas Tech pushed back in the third quarter, cutting the CU lead down to five, 37-32, by the 4:24 mark.
A three-point play from Masogayo and a Garzon 3-pointer squashed the Tech comeback, getting the CU lead back to double-figures. Garzon totaled 10 of her 17 points in the third quarter and helped CU outscore TTU 12-3 in the last 4:22 of the third quarter to take a 49-35 lead.
Colorado didn't allow Texas Tech back within single-digits the rest of the way, with Kindyll Wetta pacing the Buffs with six points in the final quarter. She hit two free throws and assisted on a Masogayo layup that closed off a 7-0 run to give Colorado its largest lead of the day, 59-41, and she capped off the day with a steal and score in the final minute to wrap up the win.
"We always want her to be aggressive," Payne said of Wetta. "We're always telling her to shoot the ball and look to get downhill. She did a really great job tonight of being able to see the opportunities, both in transition and in the half-court. It'd be awesome if we keep getting that."
UP NEXT
Colorado closes the homestand with a matchup against a familiar foe, Arizona, on Wednesday (7 p.m. MT).
NOTES
The win snaps a five-game losing streak against Texas Tech…It was CU's first win against the Red Raiders since Mar. 6, 2007…TTU still owns an 18-6 series lead…Besides Formann, the Buffs were also without the services of Ayianna Johnson, Kennedy Sanders and JoJo Nworie…CU is 4-1 this season without Formann in the lineup…Sunday was CU's ninth game with a .500 FG% or better…CU is 8-1 this season when hitting 50% from the field…The Buffs outrebounded Texas Tech 38-31…Sunday was the 15th game this season CU has scored at least 30 points in the paint (30)…Garzon recorded four rebounds and is now at 497 for her career.
The Buffs (15-6, 6-4 Big 12), down leading scorer Frida Formann, controlled the afternoon, leading the contest for all but a span of 2:38 in the first quarter. CU's lead grew to 18 in the fourth quarter as the team shot 51.0% from the field and poured in seven 3-pointers.
"We went through so many adversities during the season, even before the conference [season] even started," grad transfer Lior Garzon noted about being short players. "Just really knowing each other and being there for each other. I think we're doing a really good job. It doesn't have to be loud and go crazy, but we know exactly what we need from each other. And I think once we all just bring it to the court, this is all that we need. I know you're not going to see us go out there and go crazy like, "Oh my god", like that. But the little things that's what make us so good. I think that's what really helped us today."
Garzon led all players with 17 points, hitting 3-for-6 from behind the arc and 5-for-11 from the field.
"It felt really good," Garzon said of her performance. "As a shooter, you always want to see the ball go through. I just trust the process, I know the work I put in, and I know the coaches told me never to stop shooting the ball, no matter what. I just take it in, go to the court, play with confidence, and keep going."
Junior Jade Masogayo continued her dominance in the Big 12, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor, fueling her 14-point effort. Freshman Tabitha Betson led Sunday's three-player bench unit with a season-high 11 points. Freshman Grace Oliver finished just shy of her first-career double-double, totaling seven points and a team-high eight boards. Fifth-year Sara-Rose Smith was also big on the glass for the Buffs with seven total rebounds.
"I said to the team in the locker room, 'Most of our wins are team wins,' like somebody did great here, and somebody did great there, and it's very much a collective effort, which I think is really awesome to do," head coach JR Payne expressed. "Especially in front of your alums that are back in town. So [I'm] really proud, these guys were great [Garzon and Betson], and everybody seemed pretty good today. Proud of our team today."
Texas Tech (14-10, 3-8 Big 12) was limited to 17 field goals and a 32.1 field goal % on the day behind leading scorer Jasmine Shavers' 16 points.
Part of Sunday's action was celebrating the program's 50th anniversary season. Alums from all five decades of Colorado basketball returned to the court at halftime, with the 2002 Elite Eight team getting special recognition.
"What an awesome weekend for us to be celebrating 50 years of women's basketball here at the University of Colorado," Payne said of the celebration. "We had so many alums back, and they were able to spend time with each other. They were able to spend a little bit of time with our team. I think part of our spirit today, as we played, was that we had those guys back supporting [us]."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado got out to a slow start, opening the afternoon with its seventh different starting lineup of the season. CU went 1-for-4 from the floor in the opening five minutes and turned the ball over three times, allowing TTU to claim an early 8-3 lead.
Oliver buried a 3-pointer and followed up with a layup on CU's next possession, tying the game at 8 with 3:15 to go in the frame. Moments later, Betson hit her first triple of the day, putting the Buffs up 11-10, a lead they wouldn't concede the rest of the contest.
"They have been great," Payne said of Oliver and Betson in the first quarter. "I think they've had a great couple weeks of practice ever since Tabs [Betson] came back. I said as soon as she came back; doing what she's doing after not being allowed to touch a ball for a couple of weeks is really impressive. Grace's [Oliver] steadiness, her ability to just make big plays. I don't know what it is about Grace. We've all said it all year long: she just finds the right time and the right place, has a nose for the ball, and hits a big 3, and just lots of really great plays from these two freshmen in a really big moment where they had to play a lot. They're just absolutely steady and awesome."
The Buffs closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run and kept it going at the start of the second quarter, extending the run to 14-0 and giving Colorado a 22-10 lead. Six different Buffs contributed to the best scoring run of the afternoon, with Betson totaling five points in the offensive push.
A 3-pointer from Johanna Teder put CU up 27-14 midway through the second quarter, and the lead hit 14 with a driving layup from Nyamer Diew with less than 60 seconds to play in the half. The Buffs outscored the Red Raiders 17-11 in the period and took a 31-21 lead into the break.
Texas Tech pushed back in the third quarter, cutting the CU lead down to five, 37-32, by the 4:24 mark.
A three-point play from Masogayo and a Garzon 3-pointer squashed the Tech comeback, getting the CU lead back to double-figures. Garzon totaled 10 of her 17 points in the third quarter and helped CU outscore TTU 12-3 in the last 4:22 of the third quarter to take a 49-35 lead.
Colorado didn't allow Texas Tech back within single-digits the rest of the way, with Kindyll Wetta pacing the Buffs with six points in the final quarter. She hit two free throws and assisted on a Masogayo layup that closed off a 7-0 run to give Colorado its largest lead of the day, 59-41, and she capped off the day with a steal and score in the final minute to wrap up the win.
"We always want her to be aggressive," Payne said of Wetta. "We're always telling her to shoot the ball and look to get downhill. She did a really great job tonight of being able to see the opportunities, both in transition and in the half-court. It'd be awesome if we keep getting that."
UP NEXT
Colorado closes the homestand with a matchup against a familiar foe, Arizona, on Wednesday (7 p.m. MT).
NOTES
The win snaps a five-game losing streak against Texas Tech…It was CU's first win against the Red Raiders since Mar. 6, 2007…TTU still owns an 18-6 series lead…Besides Formann, the Buffs were also without the services of Ayianna Johnson, Kennedy Sanders and JoJo Nworie…CU is 4-1 this season without Formann in the lineup…Sunday was CU's ninth game with a .500 FG% or better…CU is 8-1 this season when hitting 50% from the field…The Buffs outrebounded Texas Tech 38-31…Sunday was the 15th game this season CU has scored at least 30 points in the paint (30)…Garzon recorded four rebounds and is now at 497 for her career.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballTeam Stats
TTU
CU
FG%
.321
.510
3FG%
.278
.412
FT%
.632
.667
RB
31
38
TO
19
21
STL
16
10
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
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