The Colorado women’s basketball team secured a 55-48 victory over Kansas in the second round of the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. With this win, Colorado advances to the quarterfinals.
Colorado overcame an early deficit and led by one point after the first quarter. In the second quarter, they outscored Kansas by a significant margin and maintained their lead through the rest of the game.
Head coach JR Payne commented on the team’s performance: “I said to the team after ‘that sure wasn’t pretty, but in March, it doesn’t have to be pretty as long as it goes in the win column,'” Payne said. “I’m really proud of our team for how we competed tonight. It was definitely a battle. I thought it was a very physical game, and I thought our execution was really good, but just great team effort. Different people in foul trouble throughout the entire game, but players stepped up and played heavier minutes in some spots than they’re used to. Really proud of our squad tonight.”
Statistically, Colorado outperformed Kansas with more rebounds (39-25), bench points (24-16), points off turnovers (16-14), assists (11-8), and blocks (6-3). The Buffaloes also held Kansas to just 15% shooting from three-point range.
Freshman forward Logyn Greer recorded a career-high four blocks along with 10 points and six rebounds—the most blocks by any Colorado player in a single game this season. Sophomore forward Tabitha Betson contributed five points, five rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal. Junior guard Desiree Wooten had 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
With this result, Colorado moves to an all-time record of 36-36 against Kansas and records its third consecutive win over them. The Buffaloes are now 11-15 in Big 12 Tournament play overall and improve their conference tournament record to 42-38.
This marks Colorado’s first win as a six-seed in conference tournament play—having been seeded sixth only twice before without advancing—and head coach JR Payne’s career record improves to 185-126 (.594).
In other second-round games at the tournament on March 5th, lower seeds prevailed except for Colorado’s win: Kansas State beat Texas Tech; BYU defeated Utah; Arizona State overcame Iowa State.
Next up for Colorado is a matchup against No. 20/18 Baylor on Friday evening at T-Mobile Center. This will be streamed live on ESPN+, with additional coverage available via live stats links on CUBuffs.com.
Historically against Baylor in Big 12 Tournament play, Colorado has yet to secure a victory (0-1) and holds an overall record of 8-15 versus Baylor. Earlier this season, Colorado narrowly lost to then-No.16 Baylor by four points in Waco.
For further details about schedules or results for Colorado women’s basketball or updates on social media platforms such as Instagram or Twitter @CUBuffsWBB fans can visit CUBuffs.com.
