Buffs suffer hard-fought loss to TCU, eliminated in Big 12 quarterfinals

Big 12 Player of the Year Hailey Van Lith scored 24 points, but the Colorado Buffaloes battled hard in their quarterfinal loss to TCU on Friday. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite cutting a once 12-point TCU lead down to three in the final moments, Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball (20-12) lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament to the No.1-seeded (AP No.8) TCU Horned Frogs (29-3), 69-62. 

Jade Masogayo shot the lights out from the field, going 11-for-19 with 22 points (14 at halftime). However, TCU’s duo of Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince was too much to overcome, as they combined for 42 points. While the Buffs lost by seven, they missed eight free throws (7-for-15) aiding TCU in the loss. 

“We are a team that never quits and never wilts, and we rise to most challenges,” head coach JR Payne said. “Proud of our effort, disappointed with the loss of course, but lots to build on as the season goes on.”

The Buffs could not have asked for a better start after yesterday’s first quarter, as they held a four-point lead after one period on Friday. CU was locking down TCU’s top players, Prince and Van Lith, while also sinking its first seven shots. 

Masogayo was making Prince go to work in the paint, going 4-for-4 with eight points early and carrying Colorado to what was an early eight-point lead late in the first quarter.  Freshman Tabitha Betson carried her momentum from Thursday into Friday with two steals, two rebounds and one block in the first. 

While Masogayo continued her perfect shooting in the second, CU started to commit turnovers and fouls en route to a four-point halftime deficit. Van Lith had a six-point play off of a CU inbound turnover, while Prince got going in the paint to give TCU a five-point lead in a 37-second span just before halftime. 

Masogayo picked up her first two fouls early in the period, forcing her to sit after the red-hot start. However, great defense from the Buffs kept the Horned Frogs from extending their lead further. TCU limited turnovers, though, with only one in the second.

CU’s offense came back down to earth in the third quarter after a blazing 14-for-21 start. The Buffs went scoreless for nearly five minutes, allowing TCU to extend their lead to 12 heading into the fourth. Colorado only had eight points in the third while Van Lith herself had eight points.

Prince picked up her fourth foul just 18 seconds into the final quarter. Without the paint presence of the 6-foot-7 Texan, the Buffs went on a 12-2 run, trimming the deficit to three heading into the final media timeout. Each team traded buckets down the stretch, but zero field goals in the last two minutes put the nail in the coffin for Colorado. 

“We talked about never giving up,” Kennedy Sanders said of the fourth quarter rally. “Getting stops and trying to get buckets and played hard together and went out and did that” 

Sanders continued her late-game heroics from Thursday, scoring nine of her 11 points in the fourth. While the Buffs offense shot 57.1% from the field in the period, TCU shot 63.6%.

The Buffs now wait for Selection Sunday to see if they will end up in March Madness or the Basketball Invitation Tournament (BIT).