The CU Buffs women’s basketball confidence level is at an all-time high this week after back to back wins against against Oregon and Oregon state at home. It has propelled teams to once again look at how good Colorado is and spruced up their intimidation factor.
Colorado was a team that went 13-0 to start out the season. Turning heads and getting people talking about the Buffs. That soon dropped off when they followed that with a 1-6 slump. The Pac-12 play seemed to be burying them and it wasn’t looking good. Colorado only won one game in the month of January when they finally beat Utah.
The month of February didn’t seem like it was starting off much better when they lost to Washington State. Head coach JR Payne still didn’t seem worried. Both her and the squad knew from here on out they were in must win games for any chance at a tournament bid. But if any team could pull it off it was them. They went onto two straight wins against Washington and California, desperately needed ones. Then came Stanford, one of the best teams in the nation. Everyone knew it would be a tough won to squeeze out especially with their confidence level not at an all-time high yet. They ended up going down against the Cardinals. However, there were still a few reasons to believe.
At the end of the Stanford game JR Payne knew they had to dig deep and buckle down. Help the women get back to the level of play we all knew they were capable of, and she did so. Colorado went on a tear to finish the season to calm the doubters and uplift the fans again. From there they went to California to beat UCLA and USC in strong fashion.
Then on to the big test where they had to go home and face a No. 25 Oregon team that was not going to make it easy on them. The CU Buffs had a sense of toughness and togetherness that head coach JR Payne was looking for. It took a tremendous effort from the entire team but Colorado ended up the victors in a double overtime win. JR Payne and crew finished out the regular season against Oregon State with ease and a 60-45 triumph in a game that carried much less drama to it. The Buffs led the whole way and gave the fans a show on Senior Day.
Boulder ✈️ Las Vegas #ElevateYourGame || #GoBuffs 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/DFrcSENNNY
— Colorado Women's Basketball 🦬 (@CUBuffsWBB) March 1, 2022
Colorado is now riding that high wave into the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. They will be taking on the 7-15 Washington Huskies tomorrow at 12 p.m on the Pac 12 Network. The Huskies leading scorer Haley Van Dyke will be going up against the Buffs leading scorer Mya Hollingshed. Both of those players also lead their respective teams in rebounds. Whoever wins this battle in round one will then go on to play the No. 4 seeded Arizona on Thursday at 12 p.m.