Tuesday, December 3
11 a.m.
Colorado
7-2,0-0Big 12
91
vs
79
Tennessee Tech
5-3,0-0OVC
1
2
3
4
F
Tennessee Tech
25
14
23
17
79
Colorado
21
31
23
16
91
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Ground Golden Eagles in Payne’s 150th win at CU
December 03, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Colorado hits 90 points for the second time this season
BOULDER – Colorado head coach JR Payne became the second bench boss in program history to reach 150 career wins in Boulder as her team dismissed Tennessee Teach, 91-79, in front of 2,734 fans at the CU Events Center Tuesday afternoon.
"We've had a tremendous amount of great players come through here, long before I was here, and ever since I've arrived," Payne said about the milestone win. "I had no idea it was 150 wins. That's clearly a testament to the great players we've had through our program. That's really cool for the program."
11 of the 12 Buffaloes who got on the floor on Tuesday contributed points. Nyamer Diew and Ayianna Johnson paced Colorado, each with a season-high 15 points. Diew went 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc, while Johnson closed 7-for-9 in her 12 minutes. The Buffs, as a team, had their shooting numbers of the season, closing the day at 57.1% from the field.
"I thought the offense was phenomenal tonight," Payne continued. "In an early time out, I said to these guys, 'If we keep executing and doing what we're supposed to do, we can get any shot we want.' And I think the percentages show good offense overall and great balance. We were clicking offensively, so I'm proud of how we fixed up the turnovers a little bit from the last game and the defensive rebounding. Those were two areas we had to improve, and we did that today. A lot of good things."
Colorado (7-2) bounced back from its first home loss of the season with its second 90-point effort. The Buffs took control of the afternoon with a 31-point second quarter and held on in the second half to preserve the victory.
Tennessee Tech (5-3) outscored CU 40-39 in the second half. The Golden Eagles were led by Reghan Grimes, who had a game-high 25 points. TTU used the 3-point ball to its advantage, especially early on, hitting 13-of-24 for the game.
Nearly all of the CU Events Center crowd comprised elementary school-aged fans as a part of the team's annual Field Trip Day. The energetic crowd made its presence felt late in the game, encouraging the Buffs to the finish.
"I love these games," Diew said after the win. "Personally, I love the kids screaming. It brings energy, especially at 11 a.m. Having these kids out here made me really glad, and I loved them."
How it Happened
TTU's offense got rolling early in the contest, opening the day 9-for-18. The Golden Eagles used a pair of early runs to build their largest lead of the game, 20-12. The Buffs outscored TTU, 9-5, in the final three minutes of the quarter to trail by four, 25-21.
The Buffs wiped away the deficit in the first minute of the second quarter with five points from freshmen Tabitha Betson and Kennedy Sanders to take a 26-25 lead. The two sides volleyed the lead back and forth seven times in the quarter. Grace Oliver, another freshman, launched a corner 3 to put the Buffs back up 33-32 with 7:13 to play in the half. Frida Formann followed suit with another 3 as the Buffs built on a 13-0 run that extended the CU lead to 43-32.
Oliver led CU with seven of her nine points in the second quarter. Colorado nailed five 3-pointers and outscored TTU 31-13 in the quarter. The Buffs shot 70.6% (12-17) in the quarter and led by 13, 52-39, at the half.
"One thing, we're pretty healthy," Payne noted about the team's offense. "Knock on wood, getting Frida back was a big asset because she's such a deep threat and such a consistent scorer. We have so many new players who can do so many different things. AJ [Johnson] and Ny [Diew] led us in scoring today. It could be Grace the next night. It could be Lior [Garzon], it could be Frida, it could be Kindyll [Wetta]. You can pretty much go down the entire roster, and I think that balance is great. We just have to continue. It's better, but there are still areas we can be even better offensively. So as coaches, we tend to prioritize and focus on those."
The Colorado lead hit 21, 66-45, with another 3-ball from Sanders midway through the third quarter, and the Buffs seemed on their way to a blowout win.
TTU had other ideas and closed the third quarter on a 17-9 run that cut the CU lead back down to 75-62 at the end of the quarter.
"Everything can be better," Payne expressed. "There are so many great things that we did, but I think we'll watch the film and go, we can be even better. We can be even more organized. We can have even more people on the offensive glass. We're going in the right direction and improving, but we can keep getting better for sure."
The Golden Eagles climbed back to within six points, 78-72, with just over six and a half minutes remaining. The Buffs dug in for the final stretch, getting a key 3 to fall from Diew that sparked a 7-0 run to put the Buffs up 85-72 with 5:05 to play.
The CU lead didn't dip below double figures the rest of the way.
Up Next
Colorado continues at home on Saturday, taking on Southern Utah at 1 p.m. MT.
Notes
Payne holds a 150-105 (.588) record at CU…Lior Garzon scored seven points, putting her over the century mark at CU (105)…Jade Masogayo also surpassed 100 points at CU with nine on Tuesday (104)…Formann closed with 14 points, jumping her into 16th all-time with 1,398 career points…Oliver led the team with a season-high seven rebounds…The Buffs have scored 90+ points seven times in the last two seasons (5 in 2023-24)…CU's 31 points in the second quarter was its highest-scoring quarter of the season…Colorado had a season-high 54 points off the bench, its most since hitting 54 against Le Moyne last season...Tuesday was the first meeting between Colorado and Tennessee Tech.
"We've had a tremendous amount of great players come through here, long before I was here, and ever since I've arrived," Payne said about the milestone win. "I had no idea it was 150 wins. That's clearly a testament to the great players we've had through our program. That's really cool for the program."
11 of the 12 Buffaloes who got on the floor on Tuesday contributed points. Nyamer Diew and Ayianna Johnson paced Colorado, each with a season-high 15 points. Diew went 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc, while Johnson closed 7-for-9 in her 12 minutes. The Buffs, as a team, had their shooting numbers of the season, closing the day at 57.1% from the field.
"I thought the offense was phenomenal tonight," Payne continued. "In an early time out, I said to these guys, 'If we keep executing and doing what we're supposed to do, we can get any shot we want.' And I think the percentages show good offense overall and great balance. We were clicking offensively, so I'm proud of how we fixed up the turnovers a little bit from the last game and the defensive rebounding. Those were two areas we had to improve, and we did that today. A lot of good things."
Colorado (7-2) bounced back from its first home loss of the season with its second 90-point effort. The Buffs took control of the afternoon with a 31-point second quarter and held on in the second half to preserve the victory.
Tennessee Tech (5-3) outscored CU 40-39 in the second half. The Golden Eagles were led by Reghan Grimes, who had a game-high 25 points. TTU used the 3-point ball to its advantage, especially early on, hitting 13-of-24 for the game.
Nearly all of the CU Events Center crowd comprised elementary school-aged fans as a part of the team's annual Field Trip Day. The energetic crowd made its presence felt late in the game, encouraging the Buffs to the finish.
"I love these games," Diew said after the win. "Personally, I love the kids screaming. It brings energy, especially at 11 a.m. Having these kids out here made me really glad, and I loved them."
How it Happened
TTU's offense got rolling early in the contest, opening the day 9-for-18. The Golden Eagles used a pair of early runs to build their largest lead of the game, 20-12. The Buffs outscored TTU, 9-5, in the final three minutes of the quarter to trail by four, 25-21.
The Buffs wiped away the deficit in the first minute of the second quarter with five points from freshmen Tabitha Betson and Kennedy Sanders to take a 26-25 lead. The two sides volleyed the lead back and forth seven times in the quarter. Grace Oliver, another freshman, launched a corner 3 to put the Buffs back up 33-32 with 7:13 to play in the half. Frida Formann followed suit with another 3 as the Buffs built on a 13-0 run that extended the CU lead to 43-32.
Oliver led CU with seven of her nine points in the second quarter. Colorado nailed five 3-pointers and outscored TTU 31-13 in the quarter. The Buffs shot 70.6% (12-17) in the quarter and led by 13, 52-39, at the half.
"One thing, we're pretty healthy," Payne noted about the team's offense. "Knock on wood, getting Frida back was a big asset because she's such a deep threat and such a consistent scorer. We have so many new players who can do so many different things. AJ [Johnson] and Ny [Diew] led us in scoring today. It could be Grace the next night. It could be Lior [Garzon], it could be Frida, it could be Kindyll [Wetta]. You can pretty much go down the entire roster, and I think that balance is great. We just have to continue. It's better, but there are still areas we can be even better offensively. So as coaches, we tend to prioritize and focus on those."
The Colorado lead hit 21, 66-45, with another 3-ball from Sanders midway through the third quarter, and the Buffs seemed on their way to a blowout win.
TTU had other ideas and closed the third quarter on a 17-9 run that cut the CU lead back down to 75-62 at the end of the quarter.
"Everything can be better," Payne expressed. "There are so many great things that we did, but I think we'll watch the film and go, we can be even better. We can be even more organized. We can have even more people on the offensive glass. We're going in the right direction and improving, but we can keep getting better for sure."
The Golden Eagles climbed back to within six points, 78-72, with just over six and a half minutes remaining. The Buffs dug in for the final stretch, getting a key 3 to fall from Diew that sparked a 7-0 run to put the Buffs up 85-72 with 5:05 to play.
The CU lead didn't dip below double figures the rest of the way.
Up Next
Colorado continues at home on Saturday, taking on Southern Utah at 1 p.m. MT.
Notes
Payne holds a 150-105 (.588) record at CU…Lior Garzon scored seven points, putting her over the century mark at CU (105)…Jade Masogayo also surpassed 100 points at CU with nine on Tuesday (104)…Formann closed with 14 points, jumping her into 16th all-time with 1,398 career points…Oliver led the team with a season-high seven rebounds…The Buffs have scored 90+ points seven times in the last two seasons (5 in 2023-24)…CU's 31 points in the second quarter was its highest-scoring quarter of the season…Colorado had a season-high 54 points off the bench, its most since hitting 54 against Le Moyne last season...Tuesday was the first meeting between Colorado and Tennessee Tech.
Team Stats
TNTech
CU
FG%
.458
.571
3FG%
.542
.480
FT%
.857
.875
RB
25
34
TO
11
15
STL
9
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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