Colorado
18-11,9-9Big 12
Texas Tech
15-16,4-14Big 12
Buffs Fall In Regular Season Finale At Texas Tech
March 01, 2025 | Women's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – Colorado's road troubles continued on Saturday against Texas Tech as the Buffaloes fell 83-79 in overtime at the United Supermarket Arena in the last game of the regular season.
The Buffs drop to 18-11 on the season and 9-9 in Big 12 play. Colorado finished the regular season with a 1-8 record on the road inside conference play and 3-9 overall.
After a strong start to the game, a second quarter won by Texas Tech (15-16, 4-14 Big 12) 18-6 forced Colorado to play from behind for most of the second half before taking the lead 61-59 with 3:44 remaining.
The Buffs led 67-64 with 28 seconds remaining after clutch baskets but allowed the Red Raiders to tie the game after Colorado fouled Jalynn Bristow on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws to force overtime.
In overtime, the Buffs had to play without Kindyll Wetta and Johanna Teder, who each fouled out. They leaned heavily on Jade Masogayo, who led the team with 18 points and six rebounds, but they could not keep up with the Red Raiders' scoring punch.
For Texas Tech, Bailey Maupin equaled the Buffs scoring output in overtime with 12 points, seven of which came from the line.
Colorado's 23 turnovers and 26 fouls committed continued to plague the team, leading to 25 points off turnovers and 31 free throw attempts for Texas Tech.
"The areas that have plagued us this year, I thought, really plagued us tonight, with fouls and turnovers," head coach JR Payne said. "Texas Tech's a really good team, especially at home. They play really well. Congrats to their seniors for winning on senior night. That's always a special thing. I'm really disappointed because I thought we had our chances and did some things that we couldn't afford to do at pretty pivotal times. We'll learn from it and move on and start focusing on getting ready for the Big 12 tournament."
The Buffs had four players in double figures: Lior Garzon (16), Masogayo, Kennedy Sanders (11), and Wetta (12).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter started slow for Colorado, missing its first four shots, but followed it up by making its next five to take an 11-7 lead with 4:04 left.
Wetta led the way, scoring eight points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers to help the Buffs lead 19-16 despite turning the ball over seven times. They used eight points off Texas Tech's six turnovers to maintain the early lead.
The second quarter was all Texas Tech, starting on an 18-4 run to give them a 32-23 lead as the half neared its end. Sanders scored a basket in the final seconds to cut the lead to 32-25 after shooting 3-of-10 and turning the ball over five times.
In the first half, Colorado had 12 turnovers and was outscored 18-10 points in the paint. The Buffs' point guard duo of Sanders and Wetta scored 17 of the team's 25 points.
Early in the second half, the Buffs tried to cut into the lead, but Texas Tech extended its lead each time. Garzon made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 39-32, and Ayianna Johnson scored to make it 41-36.
Colorado and Garzon finished strong, making another shot from behind the arc as she scored eight points in the quarter, cutting the lead to 50-45 going into the fourth quarter.
Masogayo scored two straight baskets early to put Colorado within two points at 53-51 and force a Lady Raider timeout. After a quick burst of offense by Tech, the Buffs responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by an and-1 by Teder to give them a 61-59 lead with 3:22 left despite Wetta fouling out.
In crunch time, Colorado had Garzon, Masogayo and Teder each make jump shots to give CU a 67-64 lead with 28 seconds left.
With 12 seconds remaining, Texas Tech's Bristow was sent to the line on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to tie the game at 67.
The final possession of regulation mirrored the previous 40 minutes, with both teams turning the ball over, sending the game to overtime.
Texas Tech started overtime on a 5-0 run but CU countered with baskets by Garzon and Masogayo to bring it to 72-71. Masogayo put down another two baskets as the extra period continued to keep it close. A turnover on an inbound pass after getting a defensive stop allowed the Lady Raiders to maintain control.
As the game moved to the free-throw line, Texas Tech delivered, courtesy of Maupin, who scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in overtime, going 7-of-7 from the free-throw line to ice the game at 83-79.
UP NEXT
Colorado will now await the result of the game between Arizona and Arizona State to determine its seeding for the Big 12 tournament next week. With an Arizona loss, Colorado would hold the No. 8 seed due to having the tiebreaker, and receive a first-round bye, and begin play on Thursday. With an Arizona win, the Buffs will hold the No. 9 seed and play on Wednesday.
NOTES
Colorado falls to 6-19 all-time against Texas Tech and 1-9 in Lubbock…Saturday was the first overtime game this season and the first since Mar. 7, 2024 (double OT vs Oregon State)…CU's last overtime was at Duke in the 2023 NCAA Tournament…Colorado was a combined +12 in the first, third, and fourth quarters…TTU outscored CU in second-chance points, 13-2…Masogayo's 20th game in double figures…Garzon's 14th game in double figures this season…Wetta's two steals moved her past De Celle Thomas for 11th in program history (228)…Sanders with a season-high six assists…Wetta fouled out with 5:55 to play in the fourth quarter…Teder fouled out with 3:57 to play in overtime.
