Slow start dooms Colorado in Big 12 opener versus Arizona State
- Xavier Michnewicz
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Arizona State Sun Devils took the lead and never gave it back, as Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball dropped their Big 12 opener, 79-63.
The Buffaloes were led by guard Zyanna Walker with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting while knocking down a pair of 3s. Alongside Walker, senior forward Jade Masogayo continued her hot streak, scoring 14 points on 63% from the field. The 6-foot-3 Texan fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.
Rhode Island transfer Anaelle Dutat cleaned the glass with seven rebounds for CU while tallying 12 points and plucking five steals in her Big 12 debut.
The Sun Devils were hot from the field and beyond the arc, shooting 59.1% and 58.3% respectively. Arizona State had four players in double digits, including 18 points from forward McKinna Brackens off the bench.
The Sun Devils came out even hotter, while the Buffaloes turned the ball over on their first three possessions. ASU jumped out to an early 17-2 lead with 12 points coming off six Colorado turnovers. The Buffs turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter.
ASU shot a red-hot 10-for-13 (76.9%) in the period, tallying four 3s. Grad transfer Gabby Elliot led the Sun Devils with nine points in the first 10 minutes on 75% shooting. Arizona State pushed its lead to a game-high 16 points before Colorado went on a 9-4 run to end the first down 11.
In the second, Colorado cut its 11-point deficit to six off the coattails of Dutat’s paint prowess. The French forward had six points and four rebounds in the second, while ASU’s red-hot 76.9% start from the field cooled down to 36.4%.
The rest of the second was even keel, as the Buffaloes and Sun Devils traded buckets. It led to an eight-point ASU lead at halftime, led by Brackens’ six second-quarter points. The Buffaloes took care of the ball much better in the second, tallying only four turnovers.
“I'm actually really proud of our resilience and our ability to fight back," head coach JR Payne said. “It takes a tremendous amount of energy to claw your way back out of that, and we did…What it took out of us to get to that place sort of ended our ability to finish the game. We certainly can't start games like that in conference, but really proud of our resilience to get out of that.”
The Sun Devils opened the second half by scoring in the first 23 seconds to take a 10-point lead. In response, Walker drained a 3-ball, and Dutat went coast-to-coast to cut the Sun Devils’ lead to five. Dutat had four steals in the third quarter, with CU scoring off three of them.
Off a pair of steals by Dutat and Tabitha Betson, Colorado got within two points. North Texas transfer Desiree Wooten hit a high-arcing 3-pointer before the Sun Devils stopped the run with a layup before the media timeout.
Then, the Sun Devils would add onto the layup by scoring back-to-back jumpers within 50 seconds. ASU would finish the third up seven while shooting 70% from the field.
The Buffaloes would open the fourth on a 7-2 run with over eight minutes left in the game. Masogayo led the surge with back-to-back layups before drawing a double team and leaving Walker open for the 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to two.
However, Colorado would then go nearly five minutes without a field goal, allowing ASU to go on a 12-2 run and take a 12-point lead. Masogayo fouled out in that stretch, ending her night with five minutes left to play.
Freshman forward Logyn Greer scored her only four points of the game late, but to no avail as the Sun Devils kept the Buffaloes tamed from the charity stripe. ASU would tie its game-high 16-point lead in the last 37 seconds to take the Big 12 opener.
Colorado returns home to face the Arizona Wildcats on New Year's Eve. Tip-off from the CU Events Center is at 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).