Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball (18-11, 9-9 Big 12) makes its return to the Big 12 Championship tournament this week, facing off as the No. 9 seed against the No.16-seeded Houston Cougars (5-24, 1-17) on Wednesday.
The Buffs finished the regular season on a low note, an overtime loss to the Texas Tech Lady Raiders that cost them a first-round bye.
“I think we are all still pretty frustrated,” head coach JR Payne said Tuesday of the loss. “We need to move on now. Postseason is starting, and we need to be focused on the next game, but that one was definitely tough to swallow.”
If the Buffs handle the Cougars in the first round, they will face the No. 8-seeded Arizona Wildcats. If Colorado beats Arizona, they move on to face the No. 1-seeded and AP No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs in the quarterfinals. With the Big 12’s expansion, TCU gets a bye for the first two rounds.
CU is coming off back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament but will need to make some noise to qualify for March Madness this year. The team’s NET ranking is No. 57, and ESPN’s Bracketology had them as one of the “Next Four Out” until Monday.
“Letting the younger girls know that ‘Hey if we want to make March Madness, we gotta go on a big run,’” senior forward Sara-Rose Smith said. “Understanding as we go into practice this week and our game on Wednesday, that it is not what teams are doing to us, it is our own personal mistakes. Understanding that if we can clean those up, we can be successful.”
Colorado has had its fair share of self-inflicted wounds this season, notably with turnovers and road losses. The team is second to last in the Big 12 in turnovers, averaging 17.7 per game. The Buffaloes have only one conference win on the road and three total wins away from home soil.
“When we take care of the ball and limit turnovers, we are really good. When we execute, we can score against anyone. When we execute gameplan, we can be really effective offensively and defensively,” Payne said. “When we don’t do those things, we are not the team that’s going to be successful. The biggest thing is [to] control the controllables: effort, energy, gameplan.”
Colorado faces Houston in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday. Tip-off from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri is set for 12:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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