Sunday, March 23
1 p.m.
Colorado
21-13,9-9Big 12
55
vs
64
Gonzaga
24-10,17-3WCC
1
2
3
4
F
Gonzaga
15
11
25
13
64
Colorado
16
9
17
13
55
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Bow Out of WBIT
March 23, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado’s season comes to a close on Sunday
BOULDER – Colorado women's basketball had its season come to an end in the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament, falling to No. 4 seeded Gonzaga, 64-55, on Sunday at the CU Events Center.
The No. 1 seeded Buffaloes close the season with their fourth-consecutive 20-win record, finishing 21-13 and winning at least one postseason tournament game for the third consecutive season.
"I told the team I was really proud of the way everyone persevered throughout the season," head coach JR Payne expressed. "There were so many challenges and different things, and it wasn't just one or two people that stepped up when they were needed. It was every single person, every staff member, everyone that touched our program did more than they needed to at different times, and I'm really proud of our players for sort of having that resilience throughout the season."
Graduate transfer Lior Garzon led CU with 15 points in her final career game, while junior transfer Jade Masogayo ended the afternoon with 11 points and five rebounds. Freshman Tabitha Betson snagged a team-high six rebounds to go with her four-point day.
Two of the longest-tenured Buffs wrapped up their CU careers in the loss. Four-year Buff Kindyll Wetta and second-year Buff Sara-Rose Smith contributed throughout the finale. Wetta closed the night with four points, four rebounds and four assists. The Castle Rock, Colo., native ends her 128-game career seventh all-time in assists (480) and 11th in steals (232).
"It's sad, but I think I started to process this on senior night, and so I've known that it's going to be coming to an end here soon," Wetta said of her last game. "I'm going to miss my teammates more than anything. It's a great atmosphere, great people. I love them to death, but I know that those will be lifelong relationships that I'll always have."
Smith, who was still battling injury, only played six minutes on Sunday. She put in five points and recorded one rebound. The Missouri transfer totaled 234 points and 278 rebounds in her two seasons as a Buff. Smith wraps up her five-year career with 489 points and 575 career rebounds.
"You sort of feel like you're ending your career sort of prematurely, even though I get an extra year than what most people do," Smith comments. "I'd take another year if I had it in a heartbeat. [That] might make me a 25-year-old senior. It is, it's emotional, and it's something that you know is coming down the pipeline your whole career. I'm just grateful for the relationships that I've had and the experiences that I've had. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've lived in another country for five years; that experience is second to none. You find your home away from home, and it is something that's sad to leave. I think sort of like how we're leaving the program, the girls coming up through, it's exciting at the same time that you can sort of pass the torch over."
Garzon finished her lone season in Boulder with 268 points. The Ra'anana, Israel, native combined for 1,625 points and 298 career 3-pointers in her five seasons.
Colorado was still without its longest-tenured player, Frida Formann. The Danish sharpshooter missed the final 13 games of the season, outside of a three-second substitution on Senior Night. Formann concludes her career with 1,538 points (13th) and is CU's all-time 3-point shooter, men or women, with 300 career makes.
Yvonne Ejim and Allie Turner each scored 15 points to help the Zags advance to the WBIT quarterfinals.
How it Happened
Colorado came out on fire to start the game, getting two early 3-pointers from Garzon in a 10-2 open, forcing Gonzaga to take an early timeout. Gonzaga battled back to tie the game at 14-14, but a Kennedy Sanders bucket pushed the Buffs back ahead and helped the home squad to a 16-15 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Colorado's offense struggled in the second quarter, hitting just 3-for-10 leading up to the half. Gonzaga used a 6-0 run to start the quarter, jumping out to a 21-16 lead. Smith got open for a 3-pointer out of a CU timeout and then drilled a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 21-21. A Garzon layup continued the CU 7-0 run, putting the Buffa back ahead 23-21. The Buffs finished the quarter 0-for-4 shooting and trailed 26-25 at the break.
"I think usually it's a combination of the two," Payne said of CU's offensive struggles and the Gonzaga defense. "I thought we got some good looks that didn't fall like maybe they normally do. I also think they're really, really long and contest shots very well on the perimeter and inside; things were pretty contested. So, it's sort of a combination of the two. I also think we finished some really tough shots, you know, and so good execution for the most part."
The Zags extended its lead to five, 34-99, in the early-goings of the third quarter. A Wetta layup and two Garzon makes from the charity stripe tied the game at 34-34 with 6:30 to go in the quarter. The two sides traded baskets before the Bulldogs put together an 8-0 run to jump ahead 44-36. A bucket from Grace Oliver briefly paused the run, but Gonzaga extended the run to 13-2 to take a 12-point lead, 49-38, before the end of the quarter.
Colorado found itself down nine, 51-42, at the start of the fourth quarter but continued to struggle from the field in the final frame. CU hit just 3-for-9 in the final 10 minutes. The Buffs twice cut the lead to seven before the final buzzer, with Nyamer Diew totaling all six of her points in the quarter.
Notes
Sunday marked Gonzaga's first win over CU in the four-game series…CU falls to 9-6 in postseason play since 2016-17…Both teams tied on the boards with 31 rebounds…Gonzaga scored 15 points off 16 CU turnovers…Colorado finished the season 15-7 when leading after the first quarter…Garzon recorded back-to-back games in double-figures in the WBIT…She scored 10+ points in 17 games this season…Masogayo recorded her 24th game of the season in double-figures…Johanna Teder was the only CU player to play in all 34 games this season (19 starts), having missed all of the 2023-24 season at Washington State (injury)…Teder and Diew also played in their final collegiate games…The Buffs fielded 10 different starting lineups this season…Colorado finished the season with 217 3FGM (5th in program history)…CU set the program record, holding opposing to the lowest rebounding average (29.9).
The No. 1 seeded Buffaloes close the season with their fourth-consecutive 20-win record, finishing 21-13 and winning at least one postseason tournament game for the third consecutive season.
"I told the team I was really proud of the way everyone persevered throughout the season," head coach JR Payne expressed. "There were so many challenges and different things, and it wasn't just one or two people that stepped up when they were needed. It was every single person, every staff member, everyone that touched our program did more than they needed to at different times, and I'm really proud of our players for sort of having that resilience throughout the season."
Graduate transfer Lior Garzon led CU with 15 points in her final career game, while junior transfer Jade Masogayo ended the afternoon with 11 points and five rebounds. Freshman Tabitha Betson snagged a team-high six rebounds to go with her four-point day.
Two of the longest-tenured Buffs wrapped up their CU careers in the loss. Four-year Buff Kindyll Wetta and second-year Buff Sara-Rose Smith contributed throughout the finale. Wetta closed the night with four points, four rebounds and four assists. The Castle Rock, Colo., native ends her 128-game career seventh all-time in assists (480) and 11th in steals (232).
"It's sad, but I think I started to process this on senior night, and so I've known that it's going to be coming to an end here soon," Wetta said of her last game. "I'm going to miss my teammates more than anything. It's a great atmosphere, great people. I love them to death, but I know that those will be lifelong relationships that I'll always have."
Smith, who was still battling injury, only played six minutes on Sunday. She put in five points and recorded one rebound. The Missouri transfer totaled 234 points and 278 rebounds in her two seasons as a Buff. Smith wraps up her five-year career with 489 points and 575 career rebounds.
"You sort of feel like you're ending your career sort of prematurely, even though I get an extra year than what most people do," Smith comments. "I'd take another year if I had it in a heartbeat. [That] might make me a 25-year-old senior. It is, it's emotional, and it's something that you know is coming down the pipeline your whole career. I'm just grateful for the relationships that I've had and the experiences that I've had. I wouldn't change it for the world. I've lived in another country for five years; that experience is second to none. You find your home away from home, and it is something that's sad to leave. I think sort of like how we're leaving the program, the girls coming up through, it's exciting at the same time that you can sort of pass the torch over."
Garzon finished her lone season in Boulder with 268 points. The Ra'anana, Israel, native combined for 1,625 points and 298 career 3-pointers in her five seasons.
Colorado was still without its longest-tenured player, Frida Formann. The Danish sharpshooter missed the final 13 games of the season, outside of a three-second substitution on Senior Night. Formann concludes her career with 1,538 points (13th) and is CU's all-time 3-point shooter, men or women, with 300 career makes.
Yvonne Ejim and Allie Turner each scored 15 points to help the Zags advance to the WBIT quarterfinals.
How it Happened
Colorado came out on fire to start the game, getting two early 3-pointers from Garzon in a 10-2 open, forcing Gonzaga to take an early timeout. Gonzaga battled back to tie the game at 14-14, but a Kennedy Sanders bucket pushed the Buffs back ahead and helped the home squad to a 16-15 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Colorado's offense struggled in the second quarter, hitting just 3-for-10 leading up to the half. Gonzaga used a 6-0 run to start the quarter, jumping out to a 21-16 lead. Smith got open for a 3-pointer out of a CU timeout and then drilled a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 21-21. A Garzon layup continued the CU 7-0 run, putting the Buffa back ahead 23-21. The Buffs finished the quarter 0-for-4 shooting and trailed 26-25 at the break.
"I think usually it's a combination of the two," Payne said of CU's offensive struggles and the Gonzaga defense. "I thought we got some good looks that didn't fall like maybe they normally do. I also think they're really, really long and contest shots very well on the perimeter and inside; things were pretty contested. So, it's sort of a combination of the two. I also think we finished some really tough shots, you know, and so good execution for the most part."
The Zags extended its lead to five, 34-99, in the early-goings of the third quarter. A Wetta layup and two Garzon makes from the charity stripe tied the game at 34-34 with 6:30 to go in the quarter. The two sides traded baskets before the Bulldogs put together an 8-0 run to jump ahead 44-36. A bucket from Grace Oliver briefly paused the run, but Gonzaga extended the run to 13-2 to take a 12-point lead, 49-38, before the end of the quarter.
Colorado found itself down nine, 51-42, at the start of the fourth quarter but continued to struggle from the field in the final frame. CU hit just 3-for-9 in the final 10 minutes. The Buffs twice cut the lead to seven before the final buzzer, with Nyamer Diew totaling all six of her points in the quarter.
Notes
Sunday marked Gonzaga's first win over CU in the four-game series…CU falls to 9-6 in postseason play since 2016-17…Both teams tied on the boards with 31 rebounds…Gonzaga scored 15 points off 16 CU turnovers…Colorado finished the season 15-7 when leading after the first quarter…Garzon recorded back-to-back games in double-figures in the WBIT…She scored 10+ points in 17 games this season…Masogayo recorded her 24th game of the season in double-figures…Johanna Teder was the only CU player to play in all 34 games this season (19 starts), having missed all of the 2023-24 season at Washington State (injury)…Teder and Diew also played in their final collegiate games…The Buffs fielded 10 different starting lineups this season…Colorado finished the season with 217 3FGM (5th in program history)…CU set the program record, holding opposing to the lowest rebounding average (29.9).
Team Stats
Gonz
CU
FG%
.439
.391
3FG%
.429
.278
FT%
.833
.737
RB
31
31
TO
12
16
STL
11
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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