The Colorado women’s basketball team was narrowly defeated by West Virginia, 48-47, in the semifinals of the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The Buffaloes, now with a season record of 22-11 and a conference record of 11-7, played a competitive game against the second-seeded Mountaineers.
Colorado kept the score close throughout much of the contest. After trailing by five early in the first quarter, they closed the gap to one point before tying the game at halftime. West Virginia extended its lead to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, but Colorado responded to finish that period down by four. The final quarter saw both teams exchanging leads, with West Virginia ultimately securing a one-point victory.
Head coach JR Payne commented on her team’s performance: “What an incredible tournament we’ve been privileged to be a part of,” Payne stated. “I’m really proud of how our team competed. After last week, I don’t think there were very many people outside of our locker room that believed we would come here and do what we’ve done. But we have a tremendous amount of belief in ourselves and in each other. We have a very resilient team, and I think we saw that on full display for three hard-fought games. I’m really proud of my team individually, collectively. […] So, two great Big 12 teams that are going to keep playing throughout March, and we’ll rest and recover and then be excited for whatever we have next.”
Statistically, Colorado outperformed West Virginia in several areas including rebounds (38-34), bench points (20-0), assists (8-5), and blocks (2-1). In particular, their defense limited West Virginia to just four points in the second quarter—the Mountaineers’ lowest scoring output for any quarter this season.
Junior guard Desiree Wooten reached a milestone during the game by surpassing 1,000 career points after scoring her 13th point; she finished with 14 points total along with two rebounds, one steal, and one assist. Junior guard Zyanna Walker contributed 16 points and five rebounds—marking her first time scoring over 15 points in back-to-back games.
Senior forward Anaëlle Dutat led all players with 13 rebounds while adding four points and an assist. Senior forward Jade Masogayo recorded seven points alongside three rebounds, three assists, and one block.
Freshman forward Logyn Greer had six points plus three rebounds, two assists, and one block; sophomore forward Tabitha Betson grabbed three rebounds; junior guard Maeve McErlane had one assist and one rebound; freshman center Jade Crook pulled down three rebounds; freshman guard Erianna Gooden added another rebound.
For West Virginia, Jordan Harrison led with 15 points and five rebounds.
Following this result, Colorado’s all-time record against West Virginia stands at 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference tournament matchups. The Buffaloes are now 12-16 all-time in Big 12 Tournament play and hold an overall conference tournament record of 43-39.
Coach JR Payne’s career coaching record improves to 186 wins against 127 losses (.594).
Wooten is now tied for second nationally since the start of the 1999-2000 season for most consecutive games with at least ten points off the bench—achieving this feat across sixteen straight games—and is also noted as being the first Colorado player since Linda Lappe (2001–02) to score at least ten off-the-bench points in three consecutive conference tournament contests.
Dutat’s tally of thirteen rebounds marks the highest single-game total for a Colorado player in a conference tournament since Jamee Swan achieved thirteen boards against Oregon State on March 6th, 2015.
The Buffaloes will use the upcoming week to rest ahead of Selection Sunday for the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament on March 15 at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN. Further updates can be found on CUBuffs.com or via their social media accounts.
