Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball vs. Miami (Ohio)
Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU was stellar defensively (holding Miami to 35.8% shooting), dominated the boards (43-21) and had a balanced attack on offense.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Jade Masogayo: Posted a season-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while also pulling down six rebounds.
2. CU’s Logyn Greer: Freshman had her first career double-double, with 12 points and 12 rebounds, along with three assists.
3. CU’s Anaelle Dutat: Posted 13 points and eight rebounds, while hitting six of her eight shots.
Up next: The Buffs host Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
For the first time this year, Jade Masogayo played without a big brace on her left knee Sunday.
It may not have been a coincidence that the senior had her best game of the season, leading the Colorado women’s basketball team to a 75-55 rout of Miami (Ohio) at the CU Events Center.
Masogayo had a season-high 19 points, on 8-of-14 shooting, and pulled down six rebounds as the Buffs (8-3) won their third in a row.
“I would say it’s definitely a good feeling,” Masogayo said of having a big game. “I feel like just with my injury and all that type of stuff, it’s been mentally challenging to give what I need to give on the court and help my teammates out.”
One of the top players in the Big 12 last year after averaging 12.5 points, Masogayo came into Sunday averaging just 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds this season. She had just two points Dec. 2 against Charleston, and then rested against Wyoming on Dec. 7.
Against Miami (7-4), she looked like her old self, sparking a 20-7 surge to start the game, capping an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and scoring nine of her points in the third quarter as CU extended its lead.
“Glad it’s gone, I’ll tell you that,” Masogayo said of the brace. “I think it was mostly a mental block, too. Just feel like I couldn’t do what I needed to do on the court. It was just tough.”
Masogayo said her teammates and coaches continued “invoking a lot of confidence in me, pouring into me,” throughout the season, but busting loose against the Redhawks was big for her and the Buffs.
Overall, it was a complete performance for the Buffs, who out-rebounded Miami 43-21, hit 49.1% of their shots and limited a strong-shooting opponent. Miami finished at 35.8% overall and 19.2% from 3-point range. The Redhawks came into Sunday ranking top-50 nationally in field goal percentage (46.5%) and 3-point percentage (35.9%).
“I definitely think this is the best we’ve played,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I’m really proud of how we played. Great on the glass. To hold this team to 19% 3-point shooting is unbelievable. I don’t know that anybody will do that. So I thought we executed the game plan really well tonight.”
Having a full week to rest, practice and prepare was beneficial.
“Yeah, it was great,” said freshman Logyn Greer, who recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. “We had a couple days off, and then we got back in to work, two hard days, and then we had scout. It was great.”
In addition to big games from Masogayo and Greer, CU got another strong outing from Anaelle Dutat (13 points, eight rebounds) and Desiree Wooten (10 points, two assists). Zyanna Walker added nine points and four assists.
“I love that (balance), and different types of shots,” Payne said. “Some people hit 3s, we had some pull-ups, we got some low post post-ups. We had some cuts. We had lots of different ways that we scored the basketball tonight, which is just as good as having the balance.”
Notable
Sophomore Tabitha Betson, who left in July to return home to Australia and rejoined the team Saturday, made her season debut Sunday. She had two rebounds and an assist in seven minutes. … CU had 13 offensive rebounds, turning those into 12 points.
Colorado 75, Miami-Ohio 55
MIAMI-OHIO (7-4)
Scalia 5-9 6-8 18, Singer 3-8 2-2 9, Tretter 5-11 3-4 14, Jurjo 0-6 0-0 0, De Vries 2-8 1-1 5, Gonzalez Planella 2-5 0-0 4, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Hurst 0-0 0-0 0, Elley 1-4 0-2 3, VanTimmeren 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-53 12-17 55.
COLORADO (8-3)
Walker 4-6 1-2 9, Sanders 1-2 1-1 3, Greer 3-8 5-6 12, Masogayo 8-14 3-4 19, Dutat 6-8 1-2 13, Gooden 1-1 0-0 2, Wooten 2-10 4-4 10, Nworie 1-1 0-0 3, Crook 2-3 0-0 4, Hamalainen 0-2 0-0 0, McErlane 0-0 0-0 0, Betson 0-1 0-0 0, Zadel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 15-19 75.
Miami-Ohio 16 14 17 8 – 55
Colorado 22 21 18 14 – 75
3-point goals – Miami 5-26 (Scalia 2-5, Singer 1-4, Tretter 1-4, Elley 1-4, De Vries 0-4, Jurjo 0-2, Gonzalez Planella 0-2, Taylor 0-1), Colorado 4-15 (Wooten 2-4, Greer 1-4, Nworie 1-1, Dutat 0-2, Hamalainen 0-2, Walker 0-1, Betson 0-1). Rebounds – Miami 21 (Tretter 4), Colorado 43 (Greer 12). Assists – Miami 13 (Singer 4), Colorado 17 (Walker 4). Steals – Miami 12 (Tretter 3), Colorado 9 (Greer, Wooten 3). Turnovers – Miami 18, Colorado 20. Total fouls – Miami 16, Colorado 16. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 2,315.
