Wednesday, January 15
Morgantown, WV
5 p.m.
Colorado
12-5,3-3Big 12
46
at
73
West Virginia
14-3,4-2Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
22
2
16
6
46
West Virginia
15
16
18
24
73
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Stumble in Morgantown
January 15, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado unable to overcome turnovers in loss to No. 20 West Virginia
MORGANTOWN, W.V. – Colorado's attempt at the season-sweep of No. 20 West Virginia fell short on Wednesday, 73-46, in the Buffaloes' first visit to WVU Coliseum.
Colorado (12-5, 3-3 Big 12) was forced into a season-high 30 turnovers, leading to 39 points off turnovers for the Mountaineers. Frida Formann led the Buffs with 11 points, surpassing 1,500 career points in the loss.
"Credit [goes to] West Virginia. They played great tonight," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "I don't think anybody for Colorado was great tonight, myself included. I think when you're not at your best on a really good team's home floor, I think that's what we saw tonight."
West Virginia (14-3, 4-2 Big 12) had multiple extended runs throughout the night and four players scored in double figures. WVU's lead grew to 29 late in the fourth quarter, with Sydney Shaw and Ja'Naiya Quinerly netting 19 points apiece.
"We have to regroup, study film, figure out where we can all be better and get ready for the next one," Payne added.
CU started the night with a 22-point first quarter and led by six after the first 10 minutes. Things began to unravel for the Buffs in the second quarter, and Colorado would muster just 24 points in the final three quarters.
"I think we really got sped up," Payne noted about the change from the Buffs. "When we get sped up and turned it over a couple of times, they [WVU] frenzied. A team that loves to press and turn people over will frenzy when you show that sort of vulnerability. I thought it just evolved in the wrong direction."
Sara-Rose Smith continued to dominate on the glass, snagging a game-high nine rebounds. She now has 28 rebounds in the last two games. Nyamer Diew was the Buffs' next leading scorer, leading the bench with nine points.
How it Happened
Jade Masogayo helped the Buffs jump out to an 8-4 lead early in the first quarter, but WVU's first run of the night, an 8-0 spurt, put the Mountaineers in front, 12-8, with 4:47 to go in the quarter. The Buffs then answered with their best run of the night, 14-0, and took a 22-15 lead into the second quarter.
The Buffs' turnover issues became a worrisome trend in the second quarter, adding 10 turnovers to its six in the first quarter. WVU scored the first five points in the quarter to cut into CU's lead. Smith got a pair of offensive rebounds in an effort to get to the basket, netting CU's only field goal of the quarter to maintain a 24-20 lead. West Virginia would score the final 11 points of the quarter and outpace CU 16-2 in the period, with 11 second-quarter points coming off CU turnovers.
"It's impossible," Payne explained about CU's offense trying to get in rhythm with the turnovers. "With that many turnovers, there's no way you can have offensive rhythm. Again, credit West Virginia. They've done this to many teams; we are just the latest victim."
Colorado bounced back out of the halftime break and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Formann in an 8-0 start to the third quarter, retaking the lead at 32-31. West Virginia retaliated with a game-shifting 15-0 run that ended up putting the game out of reach for CU at 49-34.
CU turned the ball over seven more times in the fourth quarter and 14 times total in the second half while getting outscored 24-6 in the final quarter.
One bright spot for CU in the second half was the offense of JoJo Nworie, who scored all six of her points in the second half.
Up Next
Colorado wraps up the road trip with a Saturday visit to the Queen City. The Buffs and Cincinnati will tip off at 4 p.m. MT.
Notes
WVU evens the all-time series at 1-1…The Buffs' 46 points and 18 field goals were the fewest of the season (also 18 FGM at TCU)…CU's 46 points were the fewest since 45 in its loss at No. 8 UCLA last season (Feb. 26, 2024)…Colorado's 30 turnovers were the most by a JR Payne-coached CU team and the most since 34 at Texas (Jan. 13, 2007)…CU's two second-quarter points were the fewest since scoring two points in the first quarter in a loss at Oregon (Feb. 3, 2019)…Colorado was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line…The Buffs held a 33-29 rebounding advantage.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On WVU's full-court press: "I think part of it is that it's just consistently pressing on your throat. It just never relents. I thought they did a great job of matching up to the way that we broke it very easily last game. That was a great adjustment by them. Some of the things that were open before were not open [tonight]. I think it's just that they anticipate really well. I'm sure they practice it every day. They're really good at it. And again, in the first game, we handled it very well. In the second game, we did not."
On the difference in the teams from the first game: "I think the game was very different. I don't know that they were different. The same players were healthy and eligible to play for both teams, so that wasn't different. I thought they did a better job of speeding us up at a pace we did not necessarily want to play."
On changes in the second half: "I don't know that they [WVU] changed anything defensively, as far as what they were doing. I thought we got, when we didn't turn it over, really good looks. I think if we could eliminate even half our turnovers, our shooting percentages and our executing was actually pretty good."
Colorado (12-5, 3-3 Big 12) was forced into a season-high 30 turnovers, leading to 39 points off turnovers for the Mountaineers. Frida Formann led the Buffs with 11 points, surpassing 1,500 career points in the loss.
"Credit [goes to] West Virginia. They played great tonight," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "I don't think anybody for Colorado was great tonight, myself included. I think when you're not at your best on a really good team's home floor, I think that's what we saw tonight."
West Virginia (14-3, 4-2 Big 12) had multiple extended runs throughout the night and four players scored in double figures. WVU's lead grew to 29 late in the fourth quarter, with Sydney Shaw and Ja'Naiya Quinerly netting 19 points apiece.
"We have to regroup, study film, figure out where we can all be better and get ready for the next one," Payne added.
CU started the night with a 22-point first quarter and led by six after the first 10 minutes. Things began to unravel for the Buffs in the second quarter, and Colorado would muster just 24 points in the final three quarters.
"I think we really got sped up," Payne noted about the change from the Buffs. "When we get sped up and turned it over a couple of times, they [WVU] frenzied. A team that loves to press and turn people over will frenzy when you show that sort of vulnerability. I thought it just evolved in the wrong direction."
Sara-Rose Smith continued to dominate on the glass, snagging a game-high nine rebounds. She now has 28 rebounds in the last two games. Nyamer Diew was the Buffs' next leading scorer, leading the bench with nine points.
How it Happened
Jade Masogayo helped the Buffs jump out to an 8-4 lead early in the first quarter, but WVU's first run of the night, an 8-0 spurt, put the Mountaineers in front, 12-8, with 4:47 to go in the quarter. The Buffs then answered with their best run of the night, 14-0, and took a 22-15 lead into the second quarter.
The Buffs' turnover issues became a worrisome trend in the second quarter, adding 10 turnovers to its six in the first quarter. WVU scored the first five points in the quarter to cut into CU's lead. Smith got a pair of offensive rebounds in an effort to get to the basket, netting CU's only field goal of the quarter to maintain a 24-20 lead. West Virginia would score the final 11 points of the quarter and outpace CU 16-2 in the period, with 11 second-quarter points coming off CU turnovers.
"It's impossible," Payne explained about CU's offense trying to get in rhythm with the turnovers. "With that many turnovers, there's no way you can have offensive rhythm. Again, credit West Virginia. They've done this to many teams; we are just the latest victim."
Colorado bounced back out of the halftime break and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Formann in an 8-0 start to the third quarter, retaking the lead at 32-31. West Virginia retaliated with a game-shifting 15-0 run that ended up putting the game out of reach for CU at 49-34.
CU turned the ball over seven more times in the fourth quarter and 14 times total in the second half while getting outscored 24-6 in the final quarter.
One bright spot for CU in the second half was the offense of JoJo Nworie, who scored all six of her points in the second half.
Up Next
Colorado wraps up the road trip with a Saturday visit to the Queen City. The Buffs and Cincinnati will tip off at 4 p.m. MT.
Notes
WVU evens the all-time series at 1-1…The Buffs' 46 points and 18 field goals were the fewest of the season (also 18 FGM at TCU)…CU's 46 points were the fewest since 45 in its loss at No. 8 UCLA last season (Feb. 26, 2024)…Colorado's 30 turnovers were the most by a JR Payne-coached CU team and the most since 34 at Texas (Jan. 13, 2007)…CU's two second-quarter points were the fewest since scoring two points in the first quarter in a loss at Oregon (Feb. 3, 2019)…Colorado was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line…The Buffs held a 33-29 rebounding advantage.
Quotes
Head Coach JR Payne
On WVU's full-court press: "I think part of it is that it's just consistently pressing on your throat. It just never relents. I thought they did a great job of matching up to the way that we broke it very easily last game. That was a great adjustment by them. Some of the things that were open before were not open [tonight]. I think it's just that they anticipate really well. I'm sure they practice it every day. They're really good at it. And again, in the first game, we handled it very well. In the second game, we did not."
On the difference in the teams from the first game: "I think the game was very different. I don't know that they were different. The same players were healthy and eligible to play for both teams, so that wasn't different. I thought they did a better job of speeding us up at a pace we did not necessarily want to play."
On changes in the second half: "I don't know that they [WVU] changed anything defensively, as far as what they were doing. I thought we got, when we didn't turn it over, really good looks. I think if we could eliminate even half our turnovers, our shooting percentages and our executing was actually pretty good."
Team Stats
CU
WVU
FG%
.383
.458
3FG%
.235
.348
FT%
1.000
.846
RB
33
29
TO
30
15
STL
9
15
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
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