KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In its first game back in the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday, Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball (19-11, 9-9 Big 12) defeated the Houston Cougars (5-25, 1-17) by a score of 66-58.
Despite a historic number of turnovers (33), the Buffs held off a late comeback to get their first win in the Big 12 tournament. Led by Lior Garzon’s 21 points, the Buffs held onto an 18-point lead early in the fourth before the contest tensed up late.
“I can’t hide the fact that we were pretty rattled,” head coach JR Payne said of CU’s self-inflicted stumbles. “In some ways, that’s a blessing because now we can really focus on [turnovers] because we will see pressure tomorrow as well.”
The Buffs jumped out to a seven-point lead after the first quarter and kept the Cougars at arm’s length the rest of the way. In the first, the Buffs dominated the paint with 10 points and capitalized off Houston’s miscues with nine second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds. The Buffs ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run led by Garzon and Johanna Teder 3-pointers.
Colorado extended its run to 14-0 into the second quarter, resulting in seven scoreless minutes of Cougars basketball. Houston would close the gap back to single digits with an 8-2 run to close the first half.
The Buffs had 12 turnovers at halftime, with Houston scoring seven points off them. The Cougars shot 25% from the field overall, however, resulting in a nine-point deficit. Jade Masogayo led the black and gold in the opening half with 10 of her 14 total points.
CU ended the third quarter with its largest lead to that point (17), as Garzon contributed nine of her team-high 21 points. Colorado had its most efficient quarter, shooting 58.3% from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
In the fourth, Houston flipped the script, capitalizing on 14 Colorado turnovers with 16 points. The Buffs allowed the Cougars to claw back into the game, with a once 18-point down to five with 25 seconds remaining. The Buffs ended the game not hitting a single field goal for the last 3 minutes scoring all their points from bonus free throws. Nevertheless, the Buffaloes held on in the end to get the eight-point dub.
The Buffs face the No. 8-seeded Arizona Wildcats (19-12, 10-8) in the second round of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday. Tip-off from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City is set for 12:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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