Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU shot the ball well all day, hitting 57.1% from the floor, including 48% from 3-point range. The Buffs also cut down on turnovers and outrebounded Tennessee Tech.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Nyamer Diew: She finished with a season-high 15 points, along with four rebounds and two blocked shots.
2. CU’s Grace Oliver: Came off the bench to post nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
3. Tech’s Reghan Grimes: A force all day, she finished with 26 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Up next: CU hosts Southern Utah on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the CU Events Center.
Nyamer Diew and her Colorado women’s basketball teammates are having so much fun on offense that they can’t wait to finish a set on defense and get back down the floor.
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“When shots continue to fall, then it’s easier for all of us to just continue to move and stuff,” the senior said. “And it’s easier to play with each other when shots are falling, I feel like. Then we wanna go down and get another stop because we all wanna get back to offense.”
The Buffaloes didn’t get as many stops as they wanted on Tuesday, but the offense more than made up for that in a 91-79 victory against Tennessee Tech at the CU Events Center.
It was win No. 150 for head coach JR Payne during her nine-season tenure with the Buffs, who improved to 7-2 this year and 150-105 under Payne.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of great players that have come through here, both long before I was here and ever since I’ve arrived,” said Payne, who broke her foot in an accident at home recently and was coaching in a walking boot. “I had no idea it was 150 wins. That’s clearly a testament to the great players that we’ve had come through our program, so that’s really cool for the program.”
Colorado’s Head Coach JR Payne watches a play during the game against Tennessee Tech at CU Events Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
A lot of the great players who contributed to those 150 wins are gone, but the rebuilt Buffs continue to stack wins with a balanced attack.
Diew and Ayianna Johnson both came off the bench to lead the Buffs with 15 points, while Frida Formann had 14. Jade Masogayo and Grace Oliver both had nine.
“It’s fun,” Diew said. “I think the best thing about it is that other teams, they have to be true on the defensive side because it’s like, if you’re not gonna guard Frida this night, then she’s gonna go off; if you’re not gonna guard Lior (Garzon) this night, she’s gonna go off. So I think it makes the other team’s defense have to be sound completely and be a whole unit, which is very, very hard to do in every single possession.”
CU shot a season-best 57.1% from the floor (36-of-63), including 12-for-25 (48.0%) from 3-point range. The Buffs also had 25 assists on 36 buckets.
Led by Diew and Johnson, the Buffs got 54 points from their bench, compared to 13 for Tennessee Tech (5-3).
“I thought the offense was phenomenal,” Payne said. “In an early timeout, I said to these guys, if we keep executing and doing what we’re supposed to do, we can get any shot we want and I think the percentages show just good offense, overall. Great balance and definitely we were clicking.”
Tennessee Tech didn’t make it easy on the Buffs, though. In fact, the Golden Eagles jumped to a 20-12 lead in the first quarter.
A 22-4 run in the second quarter – highlighted by Garzon and Johnson – lifted the Buffs to a 52-39 lead at halftime. The advantage reached 21 points early in the third, but Tech didn’t go away.
Led by Reghan Grimes (26 points), Keeley Carter (15 points) and Peyton Carter (14), the Golden Eagles pulled within 78-72 with 6:36 to play in the fourth.
A 3-pointer by Diew and a three-point play from Sara-Rose Smith, however, sparked a 13-7 surge to close the game.
Diew was thrilled to play a big role in a victory on Field Trip Day, when hundreds of school-aged kids were attendance for the 11 a.m. start time.
“I love these games personally and I love the kids screaming,” she said. “It brings energy, especially at 11 a.m. I don’t do anything until noon, guys. My classes are, like, night classes. So having these kids out here was really fun. I loved them.”
Notable
Oliver finished with nine points and seven rebounds, along with three assists. … Senior Kindyll Wetta had just two points on 1-of-2 shooting, but dished out eight assists. It is the fourth consecutive game with at least eight for Wetta. … Backup point guard Kennedy Sanders had a strong game off the bench, with six points and four assists.
Colorado 91, Tennessee Tech 79
TENNESSEE TECH (5-3)
Walker 3-10 0-0 7, Larry 2-8 0-0 4, P. Carter 4-10 2-2 14, K. Carter 5-7 2-2 15, Grimes 10-16 3-4 26, Pfeiffer 1-1 0-0 2, Thornton 1-6 5-6 8, Saracco 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 27-59 12-14 79.
COLORADO (7-2)
Garzon 3-6 0-0 7, Masogayo 4-5 1-1 9, Formann 4-12 2-2 14, Smith 2-4 1-1 5, Wetta 1-2 0-0 2, Betson 3-4 0-0 7, Diew 6-9 0-0 15, Sanders 2-5 0-0 6, Teder 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 7-9 1-2 15, Oliver 4-7 0-0 9, Powell 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 36-63 7-8 91.
Tenn. Tech 25 14 23 17 – 79
Colorado 21 31 23 16 – 91
3-point field goals – TTech 13-24 (P. Carter 4-10, Grimes 3-5, K. Carter 3-4, Walker 1-3, Thornton 1-1, Saracco 1-1), Colorado 12-25 (Formann 4-9, Diew 3-4, Sanders 2-3, Oliver 1-4, Garzon 1-3, Betson 1-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds – TTech 25 (K. Carter 5), Colorado 34 (Oliver 7). Assists – TTech 17 (K. Carter 6), Colorado 25 (Wetta 8). Steals – TTech 9 (Thornton 3), Colorado 6 (6 players with 1). Turnovers – TTech 11, Colorado 15. Total fouls – TTech 10, Colorado 13. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 2,734.
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