Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Bears 38-22 and out-rebounding them 39-28. The Buffs also converted 22 UNC turnovers into 22 points.
Three stars:
1. Jade Masogayo: Before fouling out in the last couple of minutes, she posted a game-high 19 points, along with five assists and two rebounds. She made 8-of-12 shots.
2. Kindyll Wetta: Scored just four points, but she dished out a career-high 10 assists and kept the offense going all night.
3. Nyamer Diew: She finished with 14 points and three rebounds and hit two of her four 3-point attempts.
Up next: CU begins a two-game road swing on Sunday at Boise State, at 2 p.m. MT.
Jade Masogayo felt some pregame jitters on Thursday night, but they didn’t last long.
The Colorado junior scored four early points to settle in and finished with a game-high 19 points to help the Colorado women’s basketball team to an 81-66 victory against Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center in the home opener.
“I’m the type of person that has, like, early jitters when it comes to playing games and stuff like that,” Masogayo said. “But as soon as, like, I know my teammates are gonna get me going and stuff like that, I know I have a lot of support surrounding me, so it’s just great.”
It was a bit of a roller-coaster night for the Buffs (2-0), but they never trailed in cruising to the win.
“That was pretty up and down,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “Lots of good things, lots to learn still.”
In addition to Masogayo’s big night, Nyamer Diew had 14 points, Johanna Teder had 10 points and senior Kindyll Wetta posted a career-high 10 assists for CU. Freshman Tabitha Betson had a good night, as well, with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.
A year ago, UNC jumped to a 14-0 lead before CU cruised to a 20-point win. This time, it was CU getting off to a fast start, going up 12-2 just four minutes in. Wetta set the tone with a jumper right away and three assists in the early surge – two of those assists to Masogayo.
“Kindyll was really good at attacking and getting to those paint touches,” Teder said.
It wouldn’t be an easy night for the Buffs, though, because the Bears hung around most of the game.
CU took a 41-27 lead on a Lior Garzon 3-pointer midway through the second quarter but went 3-for-15 over the next nine minutes. During that time, UNC sliced the Buffs’ lead down to 49-41 midway through the third quarter.
Kennedy Sanders then sparked a 10-1 CU run that bumped the lead to 59-42 late in the third. That would be CU’s biggest lead, but UNC didn’t go away. Tatum West scored six points in a 16-8 UNC surge that cut the Buffs’ lead to 70-61 with 3:33 to play.
Tabitha Betson and Johanna Teder hit late 3-pointers to seal the victory for the Buffs.
“Proud of our ability to weather the storm,” Payne said. “I thought we did a great job of really sticking together.”
Notable
CU honored legendary coach Ceal Barry at halftime, unveiling a banner in the rafters to commemorate her 2018 induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Barry is the winningest coach in CU athletics history, with a record of 427-242 in her 22 seasons (1983-2005) with the women’s basketball program. … Senior guard Frida Formann missed her second game with a foot injury. … The Buffs have won 17 consecutive home openers and improved to 49-2 all-time in home openers. … Under Payne, the Buffs are 49-2 in non-conference home games, including a current 37-game win streak.
Colorado 81, Northern Colorado 66
NORTHERN COLORADO (1-1)
Fields 1-1 3-4 5, Hall 1-4 4-6 6, Nativi 5-6 1-2 13, West 3-8 4-9 10, Van Weelden 3-7 0-0 8, Gamble 3-10 4-4 12, George 3-5 1-2 8, Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Rummery-Lamb 2-4 0-0 4, Saleh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 17-27 66.
COLORADO (2-0)
Diew 5-10 2-3 14, Garzon 2-12 0-0 5, Masogayo 8-12 3-4 19, Wetta 2-9 0-0 4, Betson 3-4 0-0 8, Johnson 3-4 1-2 7, Sanders 1-1 3-4 5, Powell 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 4-8 0-0 9, Teder 4-6 1-2 10, Grace 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-66 10-15 81.
No. Colorado 15 19 10 22 – 66
Colorado 25 19 16 21 – 81
3-point goals – UNC 7-17 (Gamble 2-6, Van Weelden 2-4, Nativi 2-3, George 1-1, Moore 0-2, Rummery-Lamb 0-1), Colorado 7-20 (Diew 2-4, Betson 2-2, Garzon 1-8, Teder 1-3, Smith 1-1, Wetta 0-2). Rebounds – UNC 28 (West 8), Colorado 39 (Betson 8). Assists – UNC 13 (Fields 6), Colorado 26 (Wetta 10). Steals – UNC 8 (West 3), Colorado 12 (Smith 4). Turnovers – UNC 22, Colorado 16. Total fouls – UNC 16, Colorado 18. Fouled out – Masogayo. Attendance – 2,161.
Originally Published:
