Colorado
20-12,9-9Big 12
TCU
29-3,16-2Big 12
Buffs' Big 12 Championship Run Comes to an End Against TCU
March 07, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Colorado awaits postseason fate
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Colorado's run in the Big 12 Championships ended in the quarterfinals against first-seeded and No. 8 ranked TCU, falling 69-62 Friday at the T-Mobile Center.
Colorado (20-12), playing its third game in three days, came out of the gates firing in the first quarter against TCU (29-3), making its first seven shots. They made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter but came up just short after struggling in the second and third quarters.
"We're a team that never quits and never wilts, and we rise to most challenges with a lot of confidence and cohesiveness," head coach JR Payne said. "I thought we showed that today. I'm so proud of our effort and disappointed with the loss, of course, but definitely lots to continue to build on as the season goes on."
On the offensive end, Colorado leaned on Jade Masogayo, who finished with a career-high 22 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including starting the game shooting 7-of-7 from the field. Senior Kindyll Wetta and redshirt freshman Kennedy Sanders greatly impacted the game. Wetta drained three 3-pointers, tying her career-high. For Sanders, when the team needed a spark in the fourth quarter, she responded, scoring nine of her 11 points and shooting 100% from the field, the free-throw line, and from deep.
"We talked about never giving up," Sanders said. "We scored a lot in that fourth quarter and held them. We just talked about getting stops, getting buckets, playing hard, and working together. We just went out and did that."
Colorado outscored TCU 39-30 in the first and fourth quarters but was outscored by 16 in the middle 20 minutes of the game. In those two quarters, CU turned the ball over 11 times and gave up six 3-pointers.
In many metrics, Colorado outpaced the Horned Frogs. CU shot 54.3% from the field compared to 44.8%; the Buffs outrebounded them 28-24 and bench points favored Colorado 16-1. TCU had its success from both the 3-point line and the charity stripe, going 10-of-23 from deep and 7-of-9 from the line compared to CU's 5-of-9 from behind the arc and 7-of-15 at the line.
TCU was led by Big 12 Newcomer and Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith, who scored a game-high 24 points and knocked down five 3-pointers, four of which came in the first half to get the Horned Frogs back in the game. Sedona Prince filled the stat sheet inside with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. The duo accounted for 42 of the team's 69 points.
Colorado will set its sights on Selection Sunday on March 16.
"We have a couple of quad one wins, a couple quad two wins," Payne said of the team's postseason resume. "With two weeks before the next game, we will have Frida Formann finally back. She almost played in this tournament, but we really just decided two more weeks would give her exactly what she needs. To have your leading scorer and best three-point shooter in the history of your program back would obviously be an incredible thing for our program. Nyamer Diew has just been out with a concussion and will also be back. This would be the first time we've been at full strength in two months. Back-to-back sweet 16 teams, we've shown we are a program that knows how to make a deep run in March, and this team, especially at full strength, which we will be, would be very tough to beat."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado started red-hot, with Wetta making her first 3-pointer of the game to lead 5-4. As the Buffs continued making shots, they held TCU to 1-of-5 shooting from the opening tip.
The Buffs maintained their offensive output, going 7-for-7 to open the game. Masogayo led the charge with eight points to lead 17-9. A couple of shots by the Horned Frogs cut the lead to 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. In the opening 10 minutes, Colorado shot 66.7% from the field and held TCU to shoot just 35.7% from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range.
Masogayo continued to lead the way for Colorado, scoring the first three baskets in the second quarter, extending her streak of shots made to start the game to 7-of-7, but picked up her second foul and had to sit the final 3:27 of the first half.
TCU started to heat up in the second quarter from behind the arc, making its first five 3-point shots, including an 8-0 run towards the end of the quarter to take the lead before half. Colorado was still affecting shooting in the quarter but was limited to just 6-of-9 from the field due to its six turnovers. On the other end of the floor, they held the Horn Frogs to just 8-of-18 from the field but five of the eight shots came from behind the arc, which helped outscore the Buffs 23-15 in the quarter.
Wetta made the first shot of the second half, another 3-pointer, her third of the game, tying her career-high. A few plays later, Masogayo took the ball to the rim and finished through contact, getting the and-1 to cut the lead to 45-40.
Unfortunately, that was the last point the Buffs scored in the third quarter. TCU went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter up 52-40. Colorado shot just 3-of-11 in the third with five more turnovers.
TCU's lead hit its largest of the night early in the fourth quarter, 55-42. The Buffs made a run early in the fourth quarter behind Sanders's five straight points in a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 57-54 with 4:59 left.
Colorado and TCU traded baskets down the stretch in the final five minutes. Colorado never cut the lead to less than three points, and TCU never led by more than five until the final two seconds of the game.
UP NEXT
Colorado closed out the first season back in the Big 12 and will now wait for Selection Sunday on March 16.
NOTES
CU falls to 10-15 all-time in the Big 12 Championship…Masogayo's 22nd game this season in double figures…Third time this season shooting .500 or better in a loss…CU had zero offensive rebounds in the first 29 minutes…Wetta tied a career-high with three 3-point field goals…Betson finished one shy of her season-high with a team-high seven rebounds…CU was outscored 56-45 after the first quarter…CU shot a season-low 46.7% (7-15) at the free-throw line…Sanders finished perfect (4-4) from the field for the first time in her career…Garzon played in her 150th career game…The Buffs outrebounded TCU, 28-24…CU's bench outscored TCU, 16-1, and the Buffs led in points off turnovers 14-7…CU falls to 4-2 all-time against TCU.
