Colorado falls to Gonzaga in second round of WBIT

Nyamer Diew finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting in Colorado’s loss to Gonzaga on Sunday. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

The top-seeded Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team (21-13) ended its season with a 64-55 loss at home to the No. 4 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-10) in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) on Sunday. 

Colorado struggled from the field, shooting 18-for-46 (39%) on the day. Lior Garzon led the Buffaloes with 15 points but shot just 4-for-11. Jade Masogayo was the only Buff who was over 30% from the field with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting.  

The Zags advance to the third round of the WBIT against No. 2 seed Minnesota on Thursday. 

“Both teams played really hard and I was proud of our effort,” head coach JR Payne said. “I told the team I was really proud of the way everyone persevered throughout the season, there [were] so many challenges and different things…” 

The Buffs jumped out to an eight-point lead early thanks to hot shooting. Colorado went 6-for-10 to start along with Garzon hitting two 3-pointers en route to a 10-2 lead three minutes into the game.

CU came back down to earth, however, allowing Gonzaga to go on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 14. Colorado ended the quarter with a one-point lead and only made one field goal in the final five and a half minutes. 

“The first couple possessions we weren’t defending personnel how we’re supposed to,” Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier said of the Buffs' hot start. “The message at the timeout was just that we needed to do a better job, much better, because they were getting easy shots.”

CU went nearly six minutes without scoring at the end of the first and the start of the second quarter, allowing the Zags to take a five-point lead. Sara-Rose Smith ended the drought and gave the Buffs their first points in the second quarter with a 3-pointer. Colorado then went on a 7-0 run over the next minute and a half to retake the lead, 23-21.  

After trading buckets along with a Gonzaga three, the Bulldogs would take a 26-25 lead. Each team went scoreless in the last four minutes heading into the break.  After scoring 14 points in the first four minutes of the game, Colorado only scored 11 points in the next 15 after the first half. 

To start the third, the Buffs and Bulldogs were trading buckets, keeping the game within striking distance for CU. Gonzaga then extended its lead to a game-high 11 points by going on a 13-2 run in three minutes. Colorado ended the third down nine points with 10 minutes left to extend their season. 

Gonzaga kept Colorado at arm’s length the rest of the way, despite the Buffs’ best efforts. CU had costly turnovers down the stretch where they had chances to get the game within two possessions, but never capitalized.

Nyamer Diew had all six of her points in the fourth, but in the end, Gonzaga pulled away with the 11-point victory to end Colorado’s season.