Saturday, January 11
1 p.m.
Colorado
12-4,3-2Big 12
84
vs
76
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Kansas
11-5,1-4Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Kansas
15
20
20
21
76
Colorado
21
20
27
16
84
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Career-Day for Smith Helps Buffs Past Kansas
January 11, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Sara-Rose Smith snags 19 rebounds in 84-76 win
BOULDER – Colorado's offensive momentum spilled over into Saturday with four Buffaloes reaching double-figures, and Sara-Rose Smith dominated the glass with a career-high 19 rebounds as the Buffs handled the visiting Kansas Jayhawks, 84-76.
Smith accounted for almost half of CU's 39 rebounds and had eight of the team's 14 offensive boards. The 19 rebounds tied the fourth most in a game by a Buff and the most since Quay Miller had 19 against Oregon State in the 2022-23 season. Saturday was the fourth time a CU player had 19 rebounds in a game. The fifth-year senior added eight points and two assists to her totals.
"I think I said to a couple of our assistant coaches, 'Man, I really just need to go out there and be a dog today.'" Smith said after the win. "For the past couple of days of practice and before the game today, I said, 'Sara, be a dog,' and that's what I wanted to do. That's how I wanted to go out, and I mean challenge accepted. I can't be doing this anymore; I cannot do these 2.1 rebound games—like that is not me. That's not who I want to be, and that's not my role on this team. So, getting up extra possessions and stuff like that for my team, I'm really happy that I was able to pull that out today."
Colorado (12-4, 3-2 Big 12) led by as many as 18 in the third quarter on its way to a second consecutive game of over 80 points. Jade Masogayo finished with 20 points, one off her career-high and the most she's had in her first year as a Buff. Lior Garzon and Frida Formann accounted for six of CU's nine 3-pointers, finishing with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Nyamer Diew finished 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 behind the arc to get 11 points off the bench. Kindyll Wetta quarterbacked the Buffs' offense with eight of the team's 21 assists.
"I'm really proud of so many great individual performances in the in the box score, but also collectively as a team," head coach JR Payne expressed. "I thought we did a great job in the third quarter. I think we were all pretty focused on having an aggressive, organized third quarter after the last game when we weren't as great in the third, but then also just being able to respond collectively when things aren't necessarily going our way is really important because this is such a good conference that you're not going to come out and roll anybody. There's always going to be runs that are made against you, and we have to be able to respond, which I thought we did. Proud of our game today."
Colorado was able to limit the Kansas (11-5, 1-4 Big 12) offense to almost exclusively three players. Elle Evans (28), Regan Williams (17) and S'Mya Nichols totaled 60 of the Jayhawks' 76 points. The CU bench, which got contributions from Kennedy Sanders, Ayianna Johnson and Grace Oliver, outscored the KU bench 22-4.
"It's always a nice challenge for me just to play against a player like that [Nichols]," Wetta explained. "But very big, very physical team as a whole, they [CU coaches] prepared us very well for this game and what kind of players we were going to face."
How it Happened
The Jayhawks opened the day hitting three of its first four 3-pointers, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. That would be the largest lead of the afternoon for KU as the Buffs' Splash Sisters, Garzon and Formann, hit three straight from deep in a 9-0 run that put CU ahead 13-9. KU didn't hit another triple in the quarter, finishing 3-for-10 in the frame, while the Buffs outscored them 17-6 after the start.
KU hit three more 3s in the second quarter and was just 6-for-17 at the half. Diew stepped up in the second quarter for CU with eight points on 3-for-4 shooting, netting both of her 3s in the quarter. Sanders closed the half, finishing at the rim to keep the Buffs ahead by six, 41-35, at the break.
Smith snagged six offensive boards in the second quarter and set the CU record for the most in a single quarter with 10 in just over five minutes of action. Colorado held a 23-11 advantage on the glass and led 10-2 in second-chance points at the half.
"I think it is every game," Payne said about the emphasis on rebounding. "We feel like rebounding can be an equalizer in any game, whether you shoot really well, you don't shoot really well. It's an area that, a lot of it is just effort. It's not always the best leapers or the tallest player or whatever. It's being pretty focused and intentional about it which we did want to be specifically with Sara. We challenged her earlier in the week to get after it, and clearly, she took it personally."
The Buffs stormed out of the gates in the third quarter with a 15-3 run, extending the lead to the largest of the day at 56-38. Masagayo scored six of her 10 third-quarter points in the run, and CU shot 81.8% as a team in the quarter to take a 68-55 lead into the final period.
Colorado pushed the lead back to 15 twice early in the fourth quarter, but a KU run got the Jayhawks back to within eight, 72-64, with 6:47 to go. KU continued to battle in the quarter, cutting the lead down to six with 4:45 to play. Baskets from Formann and Masogayo put CU back up by 12 with 2:26 to play, and that proved to be all it would need.
"In a timeout, we really prioritized being organized defensively on coverages," Payne noted about the fourth quarter. "What actions are we switching? What actions are we trying to fight through and stay at home? I think that was helpful. We called some quick hits so that we were all really organized and kind of understood where the shot was going to come from. Sometimes, just in our motion offense, you don't necessarily know where or who the shot is going to come from. So, calling some things that we felt like we could really execute, I think, was also helpful."
Up Next
Colorado will travel to the Eastern time zone next week for a pair of games. The Buffs will open the week on Wednesday at West Virginia.
Notes
Saturday was the 70th meeting between Kansas and Colorado…The win snapped a six-game losing streak to KU…Colorado improves to 34-36 all-time against Kansas…Smith's first rebound of the day was the 500th of her career…CU's 81.8% shooting in the third quarter was the second quarter of the season over 80.0% (also 81.8% in 4th quarter against WVU)…CU had 44 points in the paint, its fourth game this season with 40+ points in the paint…Formann had a career-high eight rebounds…Masogayo tied career-highs in FGM (9) and FGA (14)…She leads CU with 12 games of 10 or more points this season.
Smith accounted for almost half of CU's 39 rebounds and had eight of the team's 14 offensive boards. The 19 rebounds tied the fourth most in a game by a Buff and the most since Quay Miller had 19 against Oregon State in the 2022-23 season. Saturday was the fourth time a CU player had 19 rebounds in a game. The fifth-year senior added eight points and two assists to her totals.
"I think I said to a couple of our assistant coaches, 'Man, I really just need to go out there and be a dog today.'" Smith said after the win. "For the past couple of days of practice and before the game today, I said, 'Sara, be a dog,' and that's what I wanted to do. That's how I wanted to go out, and I mean challenge accepted. I can't be doing this anymore; I cannot do these 2.1 rebound games—like that is not me. That's not who I want to be, and that's not my role on this team. So, getting up extra possessions and stuff like that for my team, I'm really happy that I was able to pull that out today."
Colorado (12-4, 3-2 Big 12) led by as many as 18 in the third quarter on its way to a second consecutive game of over 80 points. Jade Masogayo finished with 20 points, one off her career-high and the most she's had in her first year as a Buff. Lior Garzon and Frida Formann accounted for six of CU's nine 3-pointers, finishing with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Nyamer Diew finished 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 behind the arc to get 11 points off the bench. Kindyll Wetta quarterbacked the Buffs' offense with eight of the team's 21 assists.
"I'm really proud of so many great individual performances in the in the box score, but also collectively as a team," head coach JR Payne expressed. "I thought we did a great job in the third quarter. I think we were all pretty focused on having an aggressive, organized third quarter after the last game when we weren't as great in the third, but then also just being able to respond collectively when things aren't necessarily going our way is really important because this is such a good conference that you're not going to come out and roll anybody. There's always going to be runs that are made against you, and we have to be able to respond, which I thought we did. Proud of our game today."
Colorado was able to limit the Kansas (11-5, 1-4 Big 12) offense to almost exclusively three players. Elle Evans (28), Regan Williams (17) and S'Mya Nichols totaled 60 of the Jayhawks' 76 points. The CU bench, which got contributions from Kennedy Sanders, Ayianna Johnson and Grace Oliver, outscored the KU bench 22-4.
"It's always a nice challenge for me just to play against a player like that [Nichols]," Wetta explained. "But very big, very physical team as a whole, they [CU coaches] prepared us very well for this game and what kind of players we were going to face."
How it Happened
The Jayhawks opened the day hitting three of its first four 3-pointers, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. That would be the largest lead of the afternoon for KU as the Buffs' Splash Sisters, Garzon and Formann, hit three straight from deep in a 9-0 run that put CU ahead 13-9. KU didn't hit another triple in the quarter, finishing 3-for-10 in the frame, while the Buffs outscored them 17-6 after the start.
KU hit three more 3s in the second quarter and was just 6-for-17 at the half. Diew stepped up in the second quarter for CU with eight points on 3-for-4 shooting, netting both of her 3s in the quarter. Sanders closed the half, finishing at the rim to keep the Buffs ahead by six, 41-35, at the break.
Smith snagged six offensive boards in the second quarter and set the CU record for the most in a single quarter with 10 in just over five minutes of action. Colorado held a 23-11 advantage on the glass and led 10-2 in second-chance points at the half.
"I think it is every game," Payne said about the emphasis on rebounding. "We feel like rebounding can be an equalizer in any game, whether you shoot really well, you don't shoot really well. It's an area that, a lot of it is just effort. It's not always the best leapers or the tallest player or whatever. It's being pretty focused and intentional about it which we did want to be specifically with Sara. We challenged her earlier in the week to get after it, and clearly, she took it personally."
The Buffs stormed out of the gates in the third quarter with a 15-3 run, extending the lead to the largest of the day at 56-38. Masagayo scored six of her 10 third-quarter points in the run, and CU shot 81.8% as a team in the quarter to take a 68-55 lead into the final period.
Colorado pushed the lead back to 15 twice early in the fourth quarter, but a KU run got the Jayhawks back to within eight, 72-64, with 6:47 to go. KU continued to battle in the quarter, cutting the lead down to six with 4:45 to play. Baskets from Formann and Masogayo put CU back up by 12 with 2:26 to play, and that proved to be all it would need.
"In a timeout, we really prioritized being organized defensively on coverages," Payne noted about the fourth quarter. "What actions are we switching? What actions are we trying to fight through and stay at home? I think that was helpful. We called some quick hits so that we were all really organized and kind of understood where the shot was going to come from. Sometimes, just in our motion offense, you don't necessarily know where or who the shot is going to come from. So, calling some things that we felt like we could really execute, I think, was also helpful."
Up Next
Colorado will travel to the Eastern time zone next week for a pair of games. The Buffs will open the week on Wednesday at West Virginia.
Notes
Saturday was the 70th meeting between Kansas and Colorado…The win snapped a six-game losing streak to KU…Colorado improves to 34-36 all-time against Kansas…Smith's first rebound of the day was the 500th of her career…CU's 81.8% shooting in the third quarter was the second quarter of the season over 80.0% (also 81.8% in 4th quarter against WVU)…CU had 44 points in the paint, its fourth game this season with 40+ points in the paint…Formann had a career-high eight rebounds…Masogayo tied career-highs in FGM (9) and FGA (14)…She leads CU with 12 games of 10 or more points this season.
Team Stats
KU
CU
FG%
.491
.541
3FG%
.375
.600
FT%
.789
.750
RB
18
39
TO
11
18
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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