Wednesday, March 5
Kansas City, MO
12:30 p.m.
Colorado
19-11,9-9Big 12
66
vs
58
Houston
5-25,1-17Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Houston
12
8
12
26
58
Colorado
19
10
20
17
66
Buffs Outlast Houston in First Round of the Big 12 Championship
March 05, 2025 | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The ninth-seeded Colorado Buffaloes outlasted 16th-seeded Houston 66-58 in the first round of the Big 12 Championship Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center.
Colorado (19-11) survived the fourth quarter push by Houston (5-25) thanks to big efforts from graduate transfer Lior Garzon, who finished with a game-high 21 points, three 3-pointers, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with Jade Masogayo's 14 points and six rebounds.
"The message in the locker room was, at this time of the year, you win the game," head coach JR Payne said. "Everybody uses the phrase 'Survive and advance,' and we certainly survived, and we certainly are advancing. There are definitely some areas we want to improve by tomorrow, but there are lots of really great things as well: clutch free throws, big shots, and defensive stops. I thought we contested really well. We hit the three-point line when we needed to. We're going to move on and get ready for Arizona."
The Buffs stifled the Cougars' offense in the first half, holding them to just 20 points on 8-of-32 shooting. Colorado dominated in the paint, scoring 14 in the first half and outrebounding them 27-14.
Colorado got its offense going in the third quarter, scoring 20 points and shooting 100% from the foul line and beyond the arc.
Late in the game, turnovers allowed the Cougars to fight back. The Buffs coughed up 14 of their 33 turnovers. In the second half, Houston scored 22 of its 38 points off CU turnovers. CU's 33 turnovers were the most in a win since Nov. 26, 1980.
"I thought initially, we were just catching and dribbling, which is never great against pressure unless you have a really open seam. I thought we fixed that a little bit, but I think they were really aggressive and athletic," Payne said of the turnovers. "Some of our decisions, as far as passing across the court instead of maybe somebody closer that's open, I thought that that cost us, and we definitely got rattled. I can't hide the fact that we were pretty rattled. But I also think, in some ways, maybe that's a blessing because maybe we now can really focus on that because we certainly will see pressure tomorrow as well."
Free-throw shooting kept the Buffs ahead in the fourth quarter, making 10-of-12 to ice the game. Garzon was 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter from the line and scored 18 of her 21 points after halftime.
"At halftime, I had a talk with myself; the team needs you right now; it's time to step up, take your emotion out of it," Garzon said. "They [coaches] always tell me they don't really care if I miss a shot, just play hard. I feel like in the second half, I went out there confident and time to go like there's no tomorrow. I think that was a big."
With the win, Colorado will advance to play the No. 8 seed Arizona tomorrow in the second round of the Big 12 Championships.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Masogayo started Colorado's offense by scoring six of the first eight points, but Houston kept the game close through most of the first quarter. The Buffs followed that up with five points off the bench from a 3-pointer from Grace Oliver and a layup by Kennedy Sanders.
Garzon put down a 3-pointer from the parking lot to give the Buffs a 16-12 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Colorado closed the quarter with its third 3-pointer, this time by Johanna Teder, giving Colorado a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Buffs did most of their work down low in the first quarter, outscoring the Cougars 10-4 in the paint.
The Black & Gold continued its run to start the second quarter, partly due to key minutes from JoJo Nworie, who had three points and three rebounds in only three minutes of play. Colorado went on a 14-0 run from the end of the first quarter through half of the second quarter to lead 27-12.
The Cougars cut the lead to 29-20 at halftime after 12 first-half turnovers, seven of which came in the second quarter. Colorado kept the lead, holding Houston to just 3-of-18 shooting, 16.7% from the field.
Houston cut the lead to six at 34-28 early in the third quarter, but the Buffs responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead to double digits. Garzon scored five points in the run and nine points in the quarter. Ayianna Johnson made four free throws in the final 16 seconds, a part of the six points she scored in the quarter to put CU up 49-32 with 10 minutes remaining.
CU's lead grew to 18 with a Tabitha Betson free-throw, 50-32, at the start of the fourth quarter, and Garzon kept her hot shooting going, making another 3-pointer to lead 53-35 with 7:47 remaining.
Kindyll Wetta fouled out with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter after two personal fouls in less than a minute, with the second being upgraded to an intentional foul.
With Wetta out of the game, Houston made an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 57-50 with 1:24 to play and then cut the lead down to five, 63-58 with 25 seconds to go.
Colorado didn't hit a field goal in the final 3:40 of the game but instead went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line to keep Houston out of reach.
"Survive and advance. Let's get the next one. That's the mentality right now," Masogayo expressed.
UP NEXT
Colorado advances to the second round of the Big 12 Championship and will play No. 9 Arizona tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center.
NOTES
CU improves to 9-14 all-time in the Big 12 Championship…Wednesday was CU's first Big 12 Championship win since defeating ninth-seeded Texas Tech, 71-67, in the first round of the 2007 tournament…Colorado was without Nyamer Diew and Frida Formann (injuries)…Wetta's disqualification was her fifth this season…Wetta had six assists, recording her 15th game with five or more assists this season...21 points for Garzon is her best Big 12 Championship performance in four tournament games (three at Oklahoma St.)…Masogayo recorded her 21st game in double figures…Garzon recorded her 15th double-figure scoring game and her fourth 20-point game…Oliver finished with her seventh game with five or more rebounds (7)…Colorado was +26 in rebounding (48-22), the third-highest rebounding margin in the preliminary round to date…CU's 33 turnovers were the most ever in a Big 12 Tournament game (32, Oklahoma - 2006).
Colorado (19-11) survived the fourth quarter push by Houston (5-25) thanks to big efforts from graduate transfer Lior Garzon, who finished with a game-high 21 points, three 3-pointers, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with Jade Masogayo's 14 points and six rebounds.
"The message in the locker room was, at this time of the year, you win the game," head coach JR Payne said. "Everybody uses the phrase 'Survive and advance,' and we certainly survived, and we certainly are advancing. There are definitely some areas we want to improve by tomorrow, but there are lots of really great things as well: clutch free throws, big shots, and defensive stops. I thought we contested really well. We hit the three-point line when we needed to. We're going to move on and get ready for Arizona."
The Buffs stifled the Cougars' offense in the first half, holding them to just 20 points on 8-of-32 shooting. Colorado dominated in the paint, scoring 14 in the first half and outrebounding them 27-14.
Colorado got its offense going in the third quarter, scoring 20 points and shooting 100% from the foul line and beyond the arc.
Late in the game, turnovers allowed the Cougars to fight back. The Buffs coughed up 14 of their 33 turnovers. In the second half, Houston scored 22 of its 38 points off CU turnovers. CU's 33 turnovers were the most in a win since Nov. 26, 1980.
"I thought initially, we were just catching and dribbling, which is never great against pressure unless you have a really open seam. I thought we fixed that a little bit, but I think they were really aggressive and athletic," Payne said of the turnovers. "Some of our decisions, as far as passing across the court instead of maybe somebody closer that's open, I thought that that cost us, and we definitely got rattled. I can't hide the fact that we were pretty rattled. But I also think, in some ways, maybe that's a blessing because maybe we now can really focus on that because we certainly will see pressure tomorrow as well."
Free-throw shooting kept the Buffs ahead in the fourth quarter, making 10-of-12 to ice the game. Garzon was 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter from the line and scored 18 of her 21 points after halftime.
"At halftime, I had a talk with myself; the team needs you right now; it's time to step up, take your emotion out of it," Garzon said. "They [coaches] always tell me they don't really care if I miss a shot, just play hard. I feel like in the second half, I went out there confident and time to go like there's no tomorrow. I think that was a big."
With the win, Colorado will advance to play the No. 8 seed Arizona tomorrow in the second round of the Big 12 Championships.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Masogayo started Colorado's offense by scoring six of the first eight points, but Houston kept the game close through most of the first quarter. The Buffs followed that up with five points off the bench from a 3-pointer from Grace Oliver and a layup by Kennedy Sanders.
Garzon put down a 3-pointer from the parking lot to give the Buffs a 16-12 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Colorado closed the quarter with its third 3-pointer, this time by Johanna Teder, giving Colorado a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Buffs did most of their work down low in the first quarter, outscoring the Cougars 10-4 in the paint.
The Black & Gold continued its run to start the second quarter, partly due to key minutes from JoJo Nworie, who had three points and three rebounds in only three minutes of play. Colorado went on a 14-0 run from the end of the first quarter through half of the second quarter to lead 27-12.
The Cougars cut the lead to 29-20 at halftime after 12 first-half turnovers, seven of which came in the second quarter. Colorado kept the lead, holding Houston to just 3-of-18 shooting, 16.7% from the field.
Houston cut the lead to six at 34-28 early in the third quarter, but the Buffs responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead to double digits. Garzon scored five points in the run and nine points in the quarter. Ayianna Johnson made four free throws in the final 16 seconds, a part of the six points she scored in the quarter to put CU up 49-32 with 10 minutes remaining.
CU's lead grew to 18 with a Tabitha Betson free-throw, 50-32, at the start of the fourth quarter, and Garzon kept her hot shooting going, making another 3-pointer to lead 53-35 with 7:47 remaining.
Kindyll Wetta fouled out with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter after two personal fouls in less than a minute, with the second being upgraded to an intentional foul.
With Wetta out of the game, Houston made an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 57-50 with 1:24 to play and then cut the lead down to five, 63-58 with 25 seconds to go.
Colorado didn't hit a field goal in the final 3:40 of the game but instead went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line to keep Houston out of reach.
"Survive and advance. Let's get the next one. That's the mentality right now," Masogayo expressed.
UP NEXT
Colorado advances to the second round of the Big 12 Championship and will play No. 9 Arizona tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center.
NOTES
CU improves to 9-14 all-time in the Big 12 Championship…Wednesday was CU's first Big 12 Championship win since defeating ninth-seeded Texas Tech, 71-67, in the first round of the 2007 tournament…Colorado was without Nyamer Diew and Frida Formann (injuries)…Wetta's disqualification was her fifth this season…Wetta had six assists, recording her 15th game with five or more assists this season...21 points for Garzon is her best Big 12 Championship performance in four tournament games (three at Oklahoma St.)…Masogayo recorded her 21st game in double figures…Garzon recorded her 15th double-figure scoring game and her fourth 20-point game…Oliver finished with her seventh game with five or more rebounds (7)…Colorado was +26 in rebounding (48-22), the third-highest rebounding margin in the preliminary round to date…CU's 33 turnovers were the most ever in a Big 12 Tournament game (32, Oklahoma - 2006).
Team Stats
UH
CU
FG%
.344
.449
3FG%
.350
.400
FT%
.467
.842
RB
22
48
TO
17
33
STL
16
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballColorado Women's Basketball: Cooking with the Buffs
Friday, July 18
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT second Round Press Conference
Sunday, March 23
Women's Basketball: Colorado vs Gonzaga Highlights | Mar 23, 2025
Sunday, March 23
Colorado Women's Basketball WBIT First Round Press Conference
Friday, March 21