Colorado women’s basketball lost to No. 16 Baylor, 56-52, in a closely contested game at Foster Pavilion on Thursday. The Buffaloes, now with an 11-5 overall record and 2-2 in Big 12 play, stayed competitive throughout the matchup against the Bears (14-3, 3-1 Big 12), which featured four lead changes and seven ties.
Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter, each scoring single digits. Colorado trailed by just four points with less than half a minute left but was unable to close the gap before time expired.
Junior guards Zyanna Walker and Desiree Wooten led Colorado’s offense with 16 and 13 points respectively. “That was like a heavyweight fight. Two very good teams, very good defensive teams, very good rebounding teams, went toe to toe tonight, and I’m actually really proud of both teams,” head coach JR Payne stated. “It was great competition – good, clean, aggressive play on both sides of the floor. […] To out-rebound these guys and have 22 offensive rebounds against Baylor is something that probably is not done very often, and so I’m really proud of that. […] Twenty-eight percent from the floor isn’t going to be successful very often, but the fact that we just played so hard and defended and all the other things gave us a chance to win. So, I’m really proud of how we played tonight.”
The Buffaloes finished with more rebounds (48-40), offensive boards (22), steals (10-5), points in the paint (32-18), and second-chance points (17-8) than Baylor.
The first quarter ended with Baylor ahead by two after several ties throughout the period. The Buffs took a brief lead early in the second quarter before heading into halftime tied at 23.
In the third quarter, Colorado built a small lead but Baylor responded with a run to retake control by four points entering the final period. In the fourth quarter, Colorado kept pace but could not overcome Baylor’s late free throws.
Statistically for Colorado: Walker had 16 points along with four rebounds; Wooten added 13 points; senior forward Anaëlle Dutat recorded a team-high 12 rebounds plus nine points; senior forward Jade Masogayo contributed nine rebounds; freshman Logyn Greer posted five rebounds; other contributors included Tabitha Betson, Jade Crook, Maeve McErlane, Erianna Gooden and Sophie Zadel.
With this result, Colorado moves to an all-time record of 8-15 against Baylor and stands at 111-151 in Big 12 conference games overall.
Next up for Colorado is an away game at Oklahoma State on Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena with tip-off scheduled for noon Mountain Time. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, while live stats are available through CUBuffs.com.
