Colorado Buffaloes Women’s Basketball: Buffs get their 20th win on a Senior Day to remember

The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team came into today’s contest on a high after a huge win against Oregon earlier this week. Already with a high chance to get an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, they looked to make spark to show the country they’ve earned it. Soon to be heading into the Pac-12 conference tournament on March 2nd, the Buffs came to play and give the crowd a show as fans came to watch their seniors last game at home.

Head coach JR Payne has never beaten Oregon State in her career, and Colorado had not beaten them in 11 straight tries. She said the latest loss against Oregon State was one of the toughest of her career. That losing streak came to end for both of them on a Senior Day to remember.

Mya Hollingshed was 4 points in when she surpassed another milestone, becoming the 8th all-time leading scorer in Colorado Buffaloes history. She had a productive half with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. It became Frida Formann’s day early with 10 at the half, helping the Buffs go on an 18-1 run, breaking it wide open to a 42-26 halftime lead.

The third quarter began with a slow start from the Colorado when the Beavers came out blazing on a 5-0 run. That was until Jaylyn Sherrod got fouled and went 1-for-1 from the line, which then carried into a tip and steal of her own with a bucket. Colorado kept getting into foul trouble and Oregon State had two, two and one opportunities. The Beavers came back to even a 9 point contest but Colorado broke free again with the help Tayanna Jones to bring it back up to 10. Oregon State had a dry spell of no scoring from 4 minutes left in the third to deep in the 4th quarter. With hardly any time left it became impossible for them to come back with no offensive output.

Not only were the Buffs on fire offensively, the defense was once again the key to the game. A masterclass of outperforming the Beavers on the boards. Colorado overpowered in that area with 37 rebounds to Oregon States 23. 11 of those were offensive rebounds. They went 7-8 from the free throw line, and had nearly half the amount of turnovers as their counterpart. A win on the boards and possession is always a successful winning strategy.

Senior Peanut Tuitele had another amazing defensive performance along with 8 points and 6 rebounds. A powerful force inside as she always is. Mya Hollingshed finished the game with 13 points and 8 rebounds. She left the game with 1:34 to go and a huge standing ovation from the crowd for her years of hard work, loyalty, and dedication. Senior Lesila Finau finished up her regular season with 3 points and 5 assist, with three steals, but was a major asset defensively. Quay Miller came off the bench with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Frida Formann was the star of Saturday finishing with 15 points and 3 rebounds, and senior Tayanna Jones finished her last game at home as senior with 5 points.

Colorado had not won 20 games since the 2012-2013 season. It was a huge start to the season when they became the nations only undefeated team. Hope was the highest it’s ever been until the Buffs dropped its next 6 out of 7 games. Slowly they came back and finished the season on a 4 game winning streak, and winning 6 out of their last 7. They have put themselves in the best position possible for a run in the NCAA tournament, and with a huge amount of momentum heading into the Pac-12 conference tournament beginning on March 2nd through the 6th at Michelob Ultra Arena, in Las Vegas.