Games thread- WOMEN'S BBall hosts Southern (Sunday, 11/17/24; 5:00 PM MT; ESPN+) and Utah State (Tuesday, 7:00 PM MT; ESPN+)

[AztecBuff]

Women's basketball (3-1) this Sunday begins a period where 8 of their next 9 games are at home. 1st the Southern Jaguars (SU; located in Baton Rouge, LA; 0-4) come to town for an early Sunday evening matchup. Then, Tuesday evening finds the Utah State Aggies (USU; located in Logan; 1-2) in town.

Of course, it's probably totally worthless given changes, but in what looks like the final NET rankings (dated 4/7/24) for last season, CU ended at #15, SU #226 and USU #344.

As I assume will be the case for all games hosted by a Big 12 school, both games are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+ for those with a subscription to that paid subscription service. (Further info and links for media options available near the bottom of this post.)

Go Buffs!!!
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Links with more more info on the upcoming opponents:

SU :
Roster - https://gojagsports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
Stats - https://gojagsports.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/
Schedule - https://gojagsports.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule
Their preview article - Not available as I type this.

USU :
Roster - https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster
Stats - https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats
Schedule - https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule
Their preview article - Not available as I type this.

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Media links:

Live video: Both of these games are scheduled to be provided through the premium ($) ESPN+ subscription service, available either on the ESPN app or at:
Vs. SU - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401727021
Vs. USU - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/76dbba89-fa67-4db9-b64b-dd75b6deb1fa

Live audio - If like last season, the games will usually be available on AM 630 in the Denver/ Boulder area and maybe other stations in the Buff radio network. In addition, free audio streams for the games will be available at:
Vs. SU - https://cubuffs.com/watch/?Live=2977&type=Live
Vs. USU - https://cubuffs.com/watch/?Live=2978&type=Live

Link to link to live stats (All games) - http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=colo
For specific games (If blank, not available as I type this.):
Vs. SU - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=552025
Vs. USU - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=552032

Game notes: (Note- Left empty for games that don't have any as I type this.)
Vs. SU - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/11/16/WBB_Notes_11_17_24_Game_5_SU.pdf
Vs. USU -

 

[AztecBuff]

Preview for tomorrow's game - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/11/16/womens-basketball-colorado-returns-home-five-things-to-know

"

Colorado Returns Home: Five Things to Know​

CU hosts Southern on Sunday

By: Seth Pringle, Athletic Communications

BOULDER – Colorado women's basketball opens a quick two-game homestand, welcoming in Southern University as part of a doubleheader at the CU Events Center on Sunday. The day will get underway with the men's basketball team hosting Harvard at noon, and the Buffaloes will tip off against the Jaguars at 5 p.m.

Colorado (3-1) bounced back nicely from its first loss of the season at Boise State, handling Nevada decisively, 75-59, at the inaugural Tahoe Tip Off. The Buffs had three players score in double figures in the win, led by JohannahTeder's 14 points. Colorado hit a season-high nine 3-pointers against the Wolf Pack.

Southern (0-4) is still searching for its first win of the season. The Jaguars have played all four of their games against Power 4 opponents on the road to start the season. SU went 15-15 last season and was picked to finish second this season in the SWAC preseason voting.

Five Things to Know

1. All-Freshmen – Colorado fielded a lineup of all freshmen on the floor in the final 3:33 against Nevada. R-Freshman Kennedy Sanders was joined on the floor by first-year Buffs Erin Powell, Grace Oliver, Tabith Betson, and Lova Lagerlid. It was Lagerlid's debut as a Buff.
2. Thievery – Colorado has forced 15+ turnovers in three of its four games this season. The Buffs had a season-high 22 points off turnover in the win over Northern Colorado. CU is ninth in the Big 12 this season with 9.8 steals per game.
3. Teder – Teder's 14 points against Nevada was her second game this season in double figures. It was the most points she's scored since scoring 14 for Washington State on Feb. 25, 2023. Teder missed all of the 2023-24 season at WSU due to injury.
4. Fresh off the Bench – CU is averaging 23.0 points per game off the bench. The team scored a season-high 34 points off the bench vs Nevada. Colorado has scored 30 or more points off the bench twice this season.
5. 500W – CU's next win at the CU Events Center will be its 500th in program history.

Thad Anderson and former Buff Kami Carmann Snyder will team up for the call on ESPN+.

Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will have pregame coverage starting 30 minutes before tip-off on the Colorado Radio Network.

Up Next: Nov. 19, Utah State (7 p.m. MT)
"

 

[AztecBuff]

Game day!

 

[AztecBuff]

CU takes a 31-17 lead into halftime. (Nice 3 point shooting helping the team so far, with the Buffs at 6-14 vs. 1-13 for Southern.)

Easily the best news in this one for me is that Formann is playing for the 1st time this season! (She didn't get the start, but has played 12 minutes per live stats.)

 

[AztecBuff]

One of those halves where the score greatly simplifies the story. CU ends up with a comfortable 20 point win, but after they had earned that same advantage early in the 3rd quarter, Southern started chipping away with CU subs in, and then initially kept going strong when the CU starters came back, leading to the CU lead getting down to 6 at around the 7 minute mark. Thankfully, CU then picked up its defensive intensity and made a few shots to pull away.

Way to go Buffs!

 

[AztecBuff]

 

[Bmixer]

nice to Frida back and it helped the offense. Still very concerned with the inside play. We just look small even against Southern. Vonlay is going to kill us this year

 

[buffgal]

We don't have inside players. The 3 point shots are going to have to fall in the Big 12.

A fun game to watch with the highlight being Frida's first 3!

 

[Bmixer]

We don't have inside players. The 3 point shots are going to have to fall in the Big 12.

A fun game to watch with the highlight being Frida's first 3!

yeah. Not having any side presence has never been a recipe for success for CU. It was good to see Frida shoot and that first shot was about pure as you can get

 

[AztecBuff]

Media after yesterday evening's win:

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/11/17/womens-basketball-colorado-takes-down-southern-65-45

"

Colorado Takes Down Southern, 65-45​

Three Buffs score in double figures in the team’s return to the CU Events Center

By: Seth Pringle, Athletic Communications

BOULDER – Colorado women's basketball picked up its 500th win at the CU Events Center with a commanding 65-45 victory over the visiting Southern Jaguars on Sunday.

Frida Formann made her 2024-25 debut, coming off the bench with nine points in 25 minutes. Johanna Teder led the Buffs in scoring for the second consecutive game, totaling all 11 of her points in the second half of the victory. Freshman Tabitha Betson and grad transfer Lior Garzon each finished with 10 points.

"I knew that it was going to feel very discombobulated," head coach JR Payne noted about Formann's return. "Bringing Frida back into the mix changes things in a good way, but we also played four games without her, and some minutes and lineups and things have been similar. Bringing Frida back in the mix, you're moving people around in different positions. I had no thought it would just be a clean, smooth game, but I am really proud of how we stayed resilient. We stayed connected and had some really good execution at different times. Certainly, we defended well to hold the opponent to 45 points. 28% for defense is really, really good. Overall, good win."

The Buffs bench nearly matched all of Southern, totaling a season-high 37 points. CU's depth off the bench has been showcased early this season, with the unit scoring 30 or more points in three of its five games.

"We have a lot of good players on our team," Payne added. "I don't think we have anybody on our team that's going to score 25 a night, but [look at] the numbers, someone had 10, someone had seven, someone had 9, 10, 11, like that's very balanced. I think we have a lot of different players who are confident enough to step up. 37 points off the bench is huge, and, man, it speaks to our depth."

Colorado (4-1) led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter. The Buffs used a 16-0 run in the final quarter to put any chance of a Southern comeback to rest.

Southern (0-5), playing its fifth straight road Power 4 opponent, was led by Aniya Gourdine and her 12 points.
...

Up Next
It's a quick turnaround for Colorado, with Utah State coming to town on Tuesday (7 p.m. MT).

Notes
The Buffs allowed 17 points in the first half, holding an opponent to under 20 points in a half for the first time since Kansas State had 15 in the second half (Mar. 24, 2024)…It's the fewest points allowed in a half by CU since Oregon's 11 first-half points (Mar. 6, 2024)…Southern's six second-quarter points was the third quarter this season CU has held opponents to under 10 points…The 45 points scored by SU were the fewest since holding Oregon to 30 (Marc. 6, 2024)…Smith led the Buffs with six rebounds and has now led the team in the category three times this season…Kindyll Wetta led the Buffs with five assists, marking her third game of the year with five or more assists…Wetta moved into a tie for 10th all-time in program history with Kris Holwerda with 355 career assists…She had three steals on Sunday to move past Julie Hoeing for 12th in team history (193)…Formann snagged four rebounds, giving her 302 for her career…Garzon's 10 points give her 1,305 for her career.
"
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Box score - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2024-25/southern/boxscore/17274

Postgame quotes - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/11/18/Southern_Postgame_11_17.pdf

 

[PAHIBuff]

Frida is a classic and T. Betson and K. Sanders will be rising stars IMO. Happy that Wetta came back. Tough coaching job for JR this transitional year.

 

[AztecBuff]

 

[AztecBuff]

It's 46-39 CU at the half, with both teams having an unenviable 12 turnovers. I'd say the Buffs are largely outplaying USU, but the later's hot shooting from 3 (8-15) have kept them in it. So far a nice test of Buff ballhandling, as the Aggies have been pressuring full court full-time, which has helped lead to the 12 CU turnovers, while also giving the Buffs MANY easy buckets (they're up 26-4 on points in the paint and are shooting 58% overall).

Off the court ...

 

[AztecBuff]

A HUGE CU 3rd quarter where they outscored the Aggies 27-3 has the lead up to 31 heading into the 4th.

 

[Buffnik]

Utah State had to keep shooting 50% from 3 to have any chance of staying in range. Our Buffs completely smothered them in Q3. Beautiful effort out of the half.

 

[AztecBuff]

95-65 is the final.

Way to go Buffs!

 

[GoBuffs!!]

95-65 is the final.

Way to go Buffs!

Scored 95 points with 25 turnovers? That is impressive

 

[buffgal]

26 turnovers and 25 assists! Guess they balance each other out.

Happy to see every player that is healthy is playing and contributing. New players look more comfortable. Fun game to watch.

 

['99]

Scored 95 points with 25 turnovers? That is impressive

It happened because of Utah St's press. The press forced many turnovers, but the majority of the time, CU broke it down and had 2 or 3 on 1's for easy buckets.

 

[AztecBuff]

Media after yesterday's win:

Article - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/11/19/womens-basketball-buffs-offense-breaks-out-against-utah-state
(One relatively obcure record I was wondering about (if its even tracked) - I assume with some of the great CU teams, esp. during the Barry glory years, and even the last couple years, that the Buffs had some domintant teams that had many great quarters. However, my guess would be that CU's +24 in the 3rd quarter should be one of the top point differentials in a quarter in CU history.?.)

"

Buffs' Offense Breaks Out Against Utah State​

Colorado scored a season-high 95 points on Tuesday

By: Seth Pringle, Athletic Communications

BOULDER – Grad transfer Lior Garzon emerged from an early-season shooting slump, letting loose on Tuesday night with a career-high 28 points in Colorado's 30-point, 95-65, win over Utah State.

Colorado (5-1) shot a season-high 55.6% (30-54) and had 25 assists on 30 made baskets. Junior transfer Jade Masogayo (17) and Frida Formann (15) joined Garzon in double figures, while Kindyll Wetta led the team with nine assists.

"I thought that at times we were really good, and at times we were just like, ah, what are we doing?" head coach JR Payne said after the win. "It's early in the season, that's why we play all these different types of games, but definitely lots to build on. It was so wonderful to see Lior knocking down shots like we all know she can and to see Jade come alive and Frida and Kindyll have nine assists. I mean, there's so many great things in the stat sheet. I would say the thing I'm most excited about is 25 assists on 30 field goals is really remarkable. We just have to work on the turnovers and get those down so that we can control the outcomes a little bit more efficiently."

Garzon finished 10-for-14 on the night, totaling 24 of her 28 points over the final three quarters. The Oklahoma State transfer high five 3-points on the night, matching her total through the season's first five games.

"It felt great," Garzon said of her play on Tuesday. "I talked with the coaches before the game, and they said just focus and do the best you can. Don't focus on shooting the ball. If you make it or miss it, just focus on the game. Do the best you can. I think that really helped me take the pressure off of my shoulders. I have to make the shots, and the game will come to me. It felt great, and it always gives you confidence to keep shooting no matter what."

Tuesday marked the 100th birthday of CU superfan Peggy Coppom. She entered the arena to her theme music between the first and second quarter and maybe not coincidently sparked CU's best shooting numbers of the night.

"What a beautiful thing," Payne expressed. "Everybody loves Miss Peggy, but her being here at 9:30 on a night when she's had many long days recently just speaks to the woman that she is. It's just incredible for her to spend this time with us."

The win marked CU's sixth game in the first 15 days of the season and its second in the last three days. The Buffs will have time to decompress before heading to Utah Tech on Nov. 27.

"I think the break is obviously going to be good for us," Garzon added. "But at the same time, we need to lock in on our next games. After this week, we have very tough games. We can take the next two days to recover mentally, physically and emotionally. But after that, it's like business. We have really good games that we need to win and really do our best. Like Coach said we have a lot to improve. It's definitely going to help us focus on ourselves and not the other teams. But I'm definitely looking forward to the next games."
...

Garzon and Co. put the game to rest in the third quarter, outscoring Utah State 27-3. The sharpshooter totaled 11 points in the quarter and was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. CU's defense held USU to 1-for-13 from the floor and forced six turnovers, leading to 12 points off turnovers in the quarter.

"Limit [our] turnovers, make better decisions, make sure passes don't make the 'yeah it's sort of there passes,' Make the clean passes," Payne said about the halftime adjustments. "We wanted to be aggressive. We wanted to contest higher on the perimeter because they were shooting the 3 so well; we wanted to keep rebounding. So yeah, we kind of covered everything."

CU's lead grew to 33 points at the start of the fourth quarter, following a pair of free throws from freshman Erin Powell. The Aggies again outscored the Buffs 23-22 in the quarter, but the spread was too much for the visiting team to overcome.

Notes
Garzon's previous career-high was 26 points with Villanova on Nov. 20, 2021…It was Colorado's first 90-point game since scoring 90 against Oregon (Feb. 9, 2024)…The 95 points were the most by CU since totaling 95 last against UT Arlington (Dec. 5, 2023)…Wetta's nine assists move her into ninth all-time at CU with 364…Colorado has scored 30 or more points off the bench in three straight games…Tuesday was the second game this year CU has forced 20 or more turnovers...Formann's 15 points puts her at 1,350 for her career.
"
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Box score -

Women's Basketball vs Utah St. on 11/19/24 - Box Score - University of Colorado Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs Utah St. on 11/19/24

cubuffs.com

Post-game quotes - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2024/11/20/Utah_State_Postgame_11_19.pdf