Fast break
Why the Buffs won: They kept their composure all night, especially through adversity in the second half. Down the stretch, they were exceptional on defense and hit timely shots.
Three stars:
1. Jade Masogayo: Perhaps her best game as a Buff, she had 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, tied her season high with seven rebounds and blocked two shots.
2. Frida Formann: Kept the Buffs in it through the first three quarters, scoring 20 of CU’s 40 points. She finished with 22 points, three rebounds and two assists.
3. Lior Garzon: Got hot late, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. She also had a pair of assists.
Up next: After a holiday break, the Buffs will play at No. 12 TCU on Jan. 1 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Senior Frida Formann has never doubted the ability of the Colorado women’s basketball team.
Actually proving it on a big stage was important for the rest of the group, however.
Formann and the unranked Buffaloes rallied on Saturday night to knock off No. 14 West Virginia, 65-60, in their return to the Big 12 Conference at the CU Events Center.
CU (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) overcame a 16-point deficit to win their conference opener, matching the second-biggest comeback victory in head coach JR Payne’s nine seasons in Boulder.
“I think we’ve shown that we’re still scrappy,” said Formann, who led all players with 22 points. “We still got that underdog mentality of anyone who comes and wants to play with us, we’re here to beat them. We’re not gonna give up for anyone. So yeah, I think it was good (for the team).
“I think we also really needed it to prove to ourselves. We kind of know that we’re good, coaches are telling us, ‘You can be this’ and I’m trying to, but I think to see it happening is so important.”
This was CU’s 12th victory against an Associated Press Top 25 team in the last four years, but the other 11 came with a completely different cast of Buffs. With 10 new players, there have been a lot of questions about this year’s group, but Saturday looked like vintage CU.
After going toe-to-toe against the equally scrappy Mountaineers (10-2, 0-1) throughout the first half, the Buffs got in some trouble in the third quarter. West Virginia went on a 15-2 run in the third to take a 47-31 lead.
Led by Formann, CU whittled the deficit down to 51-40 going into the fourth. Then, Jade Masogayo and Lior Garzon took over, scoring 20 points between them in a dominant final quarter.
Garzon, who had two points through the first three quarters, had 12 in the fourth. Masogayo scored eight of her 18 points in the final quarter. But they had help from freshman Grace Oliver, Formann, senior guard Johanna Teder and others.
“I’m so proud of our team, like the entire team, the collective, because so many different people stepped up at different times, in different quarters, in different positions,” Payne said. “People that have been out for two weeks, came back and played with very little preparation.
“We talked about having emotional stability throughout the game because we knew it would be lots of runs, based on how they turn people over and things like that. And I thought our emotions, we were so locked in and in control the entire game. People that hadn’t played a lot in the first part of the game came in and were amazing down the stretch. So I’m crazy proud of our team today.”
Through the first three quarters, West Virginia, which came in ranked second in the country in scoring defense (48.9 points per game) and fourth in steals (15.2), forced 17 CU turnovers and converted those into 22 points. CU had just two turnovers in the fourth, though, and went 9-for-11 from the floor.
The Buffs also fed off the energy of the crowd of 3,209.
“I think it got super loud,” Formann said. “That fourth quarter you could really feel, like we had a lot of fans behind us. They were super loud, and it was a really great atmosphere. Hopefully we can keep it up for Big 12 play, because we’ve got a lot of good matchups, and I think we’ve shown today that we’re a really fun team to watch, and we don’t give up, and we’re the same Colorado basketball mentality as people know us for and love us for.”
Notable
This was CU’s largest comeback victory since rallying from 16 down to beat Utah on Feb. 1, 2018. … Former Buff Kylee Blacksten had two points for West Virginia.
Colorado 65, No. 14 West Virginia 60
WEST VIRGINIA (10-1, 0-1 Big 12)
Blacksten 1-1 0-0 2, Shaw 3-10 1-1 8, Harrison 6-16 4-4 18, Quinerly 4-12 6-6 15, Watson 3-5 0-0 8, Woodley 1-2 0-0 2, Thomas 2-3 3-4 7, Riviere 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 14-15 60.
COLORADO (10-2, 1-0 Big 12)
Garzon 5-11 3-4 14, Masogayo 9-10 0-4 18, Formann 8-14 2-2 22, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Wetta 0-2 4-4 4, Diew 1-1 0-0 2, Betson 1-3 0-0 2, Sanders 0-3 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Teder 0-0 0-2 0, Oliver 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-46 9-16 65.
West Virginia 16 12 23 9 – 60
Colorado 9 16 15 25 – 65
3-point goals – WVU 6-23 (Harrison 2-8, Watson 2-3, Shaw 1-7, Quinerly 1-4, Woodley 0-1), Colorado 6-16 (Formann 4-8, Garzon 1-5, Oliver 1-1, Betson 0-1, Sanders 0-1). Rebounds – WVU 22 (Watson 8), Colorado 33 (Masogayo 7). Assists – WVU 8 (Harrison 5), Colorado 18 (Sanders 5). Steals – WVU 9 (Harrison, Watson 4), Colorado 6 (6 players with 1). Turnovers – WVU 15, Colorado 19. Total fouls – WVU 19, Colorado 20. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 3,209.
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