No. 20 West Virginia’s defense stuffs Colorado’s upset bid

Buffaloes Guard Desiree Wooten scored 12 points on 33% shooting in their loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers. (Photo by Brody Rector/Sko Buffs Sports

The Colorado Buffaloes fell short in their upset bid against the No.20-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers on Wednesday, 61-55. 

West Virginia handed Colorado its second home loss and first in conference play. The Mountaineers’ defense flustered Colorado’s offense, which shot 35.8% from the field and 25% in the second half. 

“I'm disappointed in that one. I thought we certainly had our opportunities," head coach JR Payne said. “ I think when we turn on the film, we're going to see that there were a lot of really missed opportunities ... Games like this are super frustrating because it's such a cool opportunity to have a great team on your home floor as you're climbing in the rankings in the conference.” 

Guard Jordan Harrison fueled West Virginia’s defensive effort with six steals, alongside 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting with three makes from 3-point range. Colorado and the Mountaineers each had three players in double digits. 

Off Colorado’s bench, North Texas transfer Desiree Wooten and freshman Logyn Greer tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively. Forward Tabitha Betson had her best game since returning from Australia, leading the glass effort with 10 rebounds while adding seven points. 

The Buffaloes jumped out to an early 4-1 lead before they surrendered a 9-0 run in a minute of play. The Mountaineers got off to a hot start from the field, knocking down three from beyond the arc and shooting over 50%. 

Following the media timeout, Colorado caught up with West Virginia, going on a 9-2 run to retake the lead with a minute remaining in the opening quarter. West Virginia responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Harrison, resulting in a five-point Mountaineer lead, 24-19. 

The high-scoring first quarter was followed by a slugfest second. After knocking down a 3-pointer early in the second to push its lead to six,  West Virginia would go on a three- minute scoring drought. Colorado capitalized, taking a two-point lead from a Masogayo and-one alongside a Wooten pull-up tre-ball. 

The Mountaineers ended their drought by matching Wooten’s 3-pointer. Over the last two minutes of the second, Colorado would go without a field goal, earning its last three points from the charity strip, while West Virginia scored five points over that stretch. 

Colorado stumbled from the locker room, going scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the second half. However, West Virginia failed to capitalize, scoring only four points in that stretch but extending its lead to seven. Only 18 total points were scored in the third quarter, with the Buffaloes getting back within one before West Virginia tallied two paint buckets for a two-possession lead. 

“I think it was self-inflicted wounds,” Colorado guard Zyanna Walker said. “Being unorganized and lackadaisical with the ball … It was more on us because we were prepared.” 

West Virginia started off the final quarter by extending its lead to a game-high nine points. Still, Colorado cut its deficit to two on an 8-2 run with four points from the free-throw line, as well as a Betson layup from a Masogayo dime.

West Virginia responded with its own layup before Wooten went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Mountaineers would extend its lead back to five, but Wooten would take an inbound coast-to-coast to keep Colorado’s deficit at three. 

The guard would then get a steal, but couldn’t take it coast-to-coast as previously, resulting in West Virginia getting a fast break and a five-point lead with 57 seconds left. 

Colorado failed to get West Virginia into the bonus to have a chance at coming back in the final moments. Overall, the Buffaloes struggled to get anything going in the fourth quarter, with more points from free throws than from the field.

“We got pretty good looks … We’re also going to see a lack of organization," Payne said. “Things that we know because we rep it everyday” 

Colorado has another ranked matchup for the second game of its homestand against the No. 14-ranked TCU Horned Frogs on Sunday. Tip-off from the CU Events Center is set for 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+).