Defense and new faces push Buffaloes past Portland State

Colorado freshman Logyn Greer rises for a bucket against Portland State (Photo by Brody Rector/Sko Buffs Sports).

Propelled by a strong defensive effort, Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball (2-1) defeated the Portland State Vikings (1-2) 77-45 on Sunday.

Colorado was led by new faces, with freshman Logyn Greer scoring 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting and hauling in six rebounds. Kansas State transfer, Zyanna Walker, led the defensive effort, plucking five steals alongside eight points, four rebounds and six assists. Overall, the Buffaloes snagged 18 steals and forced 26 Portland State turnovers.

“Coming into the season, we knew that we had the potential to be a really good defensive team, and I think we are seeing a little bit of that tonight,” head coach JR Payne said. “We can be so much better defensively…I think once we’ve had more time together, when we start really defending as a unit for 40 minutes, I think it’s gonna be really hard to score against us. I think we’re really seeing the top of the iceberg in what we’re capable of doing defensively.”

It was back-and-forth basketball to start, with Portland State propelled by hot shooting out of the gate. After jumping to an early 5-0 lead, the Vikings got it right back with back-to-back buckets off two Jade Masogayo turnovers. The Buffaloes would finish with 17 total turnovers.

“It’s something we need to watch, like ‘how are we turning the ball over?’,” Payne said of the Buffaloes’ turnovers. “We need to make sure that they’re aggressive turnovers and nothing passive.”

The rest of the first quarter can be attributed to scoring droughts as the Buffaloes went nearly three minutes before Claire O’Connor and Vikings’ Cici Ellington traded buckets to knot the game up 11-11.

The Buffs would take a four-point lead with two fast-break buckets from Walker and Greer after the first. The Buffaloes turned the ball over five times and got out-rebounded nine to five throughout the quarter.

Off 56.3% shooting in the second quarter, the Buffaloes turned it on in the second. Desiree Wooten got the CU Events Center rocking with a step-back 3-pointer to help change the momentum.

The Colorado defense locked its heels, only allowing three points through seven minutes of the second quarter. They capitalized off the Vikings’ mistakes with an 8-0 run to push their lead 29-14 with three minutes until halftime.

“Turning defense into offense,” Walker said of aiding the first quarter struggles, “Just get something going in transition.”

Freshman guard Erianna Gooden pushed the Buffaloes’ pace with seven points off Portland State turnovers in the second quarter. Colorado finished with a total of 26 points off Vikings’ turnovers.

The Buffaloes held Portland State to only six made shots from the field in the second half and it started with an emphatic block from Greer. The Buffaloes came out the tunnel hot, going on a 9-0 run in the first four minutes of the half, taking a 24-point lead and forcing Portland State to use a timeout.

After a two-minute scoring drought, Greer had seven straight points off two fast-break layups and a 3-pointer. Masogayo added another fast-break bucket to end the third, putting the Buffs up 59-36.

The Buffaloes strapped the Vikings’ offense to only three made shots in the third quarter, all coming from beyond the arc, while the rest of their points came from the charity stripe. Greer led the Buffaloes’ stampede with 10 third-quarter points on 4-for-6 shooting.

Heading into the fourth with a 23-point lead, the Buffaloes kept their foot on the gas pedal, adding 18 fourth-quarter points to take a 32-point win. Every Buffalo that played scored, with transfer Maeve McErlane and freshman Sophie Zadel adding their respective five and two points in the final quarter.

Colorado stays home as they take on the Boise State Broncos on Tuesday. Tip-off from the CU Events Center is set for 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).