The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team (18-10, 9-8 Big 12) hosted Arizona State (9-20, 3-10) and secured an 89-54 win on an emotional Wednesday night.
On senior night, seniors Lior Garzon and Kindyll Wetta led the charge for the Buffs. Garzon posted a near double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Wetta tallied 12 points and six assists on 71% shooting. The Buffs dominated at the CU Events Center this season, finishing with a home record of 15-2 and an 8-1 mark against Big 12 opponents.
The other seniors stepped up as well with Nyamer Diew and Johanna Teder having six and 10 points, respectively. Injured leading scorer Frida Formann and leading rebounder Sara-Rose Smith also subbed in for a brief moment in their last game at the CU Events Center.
“I’ll take a [35] point win any night,” head coach JR Payne said. “I think our preparation and our response after Oklahoma State was really good… We were prepared and confident and knew what we needed to do to be successful.”
The Buffs dominated inside, scoring 12 points in the paint. Defensively, Colorado locked down the Sun Devils’ top scorers, Jalyn Brown and Tyi Skinner. Brown and Skinner finished with 24 points combined. An 8-0 run to end the first quarter gave Colorado an 11-point lead heading into the second.
In the second frame, CU extended its lead and then some. The Buffs locked their heels and shut down the Sun Devils’ offense, allowing only nine second-quarter points and forcing a four-minute scoring drought for Arizona State to end the half.
Colorado capitalized off the Sun Devils’ miscues with eight points off six turnovers. By halftime, Colorado extended its lead to 21 points after a 7-0 run in the last two minutes. Garzon scored seven of her 17 points in the second on 50% shooting.
The Buffs came out of the tunnel on fire, extending the lead to 28 in the first two minutes of the third, forcing an Arizona State timeout. The Sun Devils turned the ball over twice with Colorado converting them into five quick points to start the third.
In the third quarter, the Buffs shot 75% from the field and went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. They also had eight players contribute to the scoring column with Grace Oliver and Garzon combining for 11 of Colorado’s 29 third-quarter points. The Buffs extended their lead to 39 at the end of the third.
To start the fourth Colorado stretched their lead to a game-high 45 points. An Erin Powell three-pointer with four minutes left to play ensured all 10 Buffs in the rotation were in the scoring column. The rest of the game was window dressing as Colorado coasted to a 35-point victory.
Colorado closes out its season on the road against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders (14-16, 3-14) on Saturday. Tipoff from Lubbock is set for 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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