Fast break
Why the Buffs won: Defense was stellar all night, holding Iowa State to its lowest point total of the year and 24.8 points below its average. The Buffs also dominated in rebounds (46-33) and hit clutch shots.
Three stars:
1. Desiree Wooten: Scored a season-high 24 points, five of them in the last 46 seconds to put the game away.
2. Jade Masogayo: Maybe her best all-around game of the season, with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
3. Tabitha Betson: Came off the bench to score eight points, including two huge 3-pointers. She also stepped up defensively.
Up next: The Buffs hit the road and visit Central Florida in Orlando on Sunday (12 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
Last week, the Colorado women’s basketball team found itself in two tight games on the road against two of the best teams in the Big 12 Conference.
The Buffaloes lost both games.
In another battle against a top team on Wednesday night, the Buffs came through.
Desiree Wooten scored a season-high 24 points, Tabitha Betson hit a pair of giant 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter and CU upset No. 19 Iowa State 68-60 at the CU Events Center.
“I think our team did a great job of really hearing those things throughout those last losses and internalized where can we be better, how can I be better?” CU head coach JR Payne said. “And I saw that; like, we saw the maturation of that down the stretch of this game, and any coach would just be so proud of that growth from one weekend to the next weekend.”
This is the seventh consecutive season the Buffs (12-6, 3-3 Big 12) have defeated at least one Associated Press Top 25 opponent, and they did it by coming up with key plays down the stretch in front of a season-best crowd of 4,183 at the Events Center.
Perhaps no plays were bigger than Betson’s back-to-back 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter.
CU held a 54-53 lead before Betson drained a 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 7 seconds to go. With 1:29 to play, she hit another, giving the Buffs a 60-53 lead.
“It was definitely big,” said Betson, who finished with eight points, two rebounds and two steals. “Of course I was super happy to see them go down, but I think a lot of it just comes down to the trust that the team has in me and the trust the coaches have in me to shoot that shot.”
CU didn’t get the clutch shots last week in losses at Baylor and Oklahoma State, but Betson and Wooten came through this time. Wooten hit a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left and the Buffs went 5-of-8 at the free throw line in the last 31 seconds to secure the win.
Wooten’s night included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter, seven straight points to close the first half and pull CU within 29-25, three 3-pointers, and stingy defense that helped force Iowa State guard Jada Williams into six turnovers.
“I mean, it’s really meaningful,” Wooten said of her performance. “I’m proud today but back to work tomorrow. There’s a lot of holes in my game. I can still grow.”
While Betson and Wooten hit big shots, the Buffs as a unit played exceptional defense against an Iowa State (14-4, 3-3) team that has now lost four in a row. The Cyclones are missing two two-year starters, but still have star Audi Crooks.
A 6-foot-3 junior center who came in leading the nation with 28.3 points per game, Crooks scored a season-low 17 points.
In addition to Betson and Wooten, the Buffs got clutch performances from others, as Jade Masogayo had 15 points and five rebounds, Anaelle Dutat nearly had another double-double (nine points, 12 rebounds) and Zyanna Walker filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
All of them, and others, delivered when it mattered most.
“Just staying locked in, like finishing all four quarters,” Wooten said. “Like (Payne) said, we just came off two tough losses that came down to little things, so I think we executed all the little things in that fourth quarter stretch.”
In doing so, the Buffs snapped a two-game skid and evened up their conference record.
“That was awesome. I’m so proud,” Payne said. “I’ve told everybody that’ll listen, we have such a great group of young women in our program and they’re so coachable and very resilient and want to be successful and want to see each other be successful.”
Colorado 68, No. 19 Iowa State 62
IOWA STATE (14-4, 2-4 Big 12)
J. Williams 3-9 1-2 9, Hare 2-9 1-3 7, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 5-11 2-4 16, Crooks 7-14 3-5 17, Beaty 3-7 0-0 8, A. Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Paulk 0-1 0-0 0, Taulelei 1-1 0-0 2, Tanke 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 22-57 7-14 62.
COLORADO (12-6, 3-3 Big 12)
Greer 0-4 0-0 0, Masogayo 6-12 3-5 15, Dutat 3-11 2-2 9, Walker 4-8 2-2 10, McErlane 0-2 0-0 0, Gooden 0-3 0-0 0, Wooten 8-18 5-7 24, Crook 0-2 0-0 0, Betson 2-4 2-2 8, Nworie 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-66 14-18 68.
Iowa State 16 13 13 20 – 62
Colorado 13 12 17 26 – 68
3-point goals – ISU 11-27 (Harris 4-8, Hare 2-7, J. Williams 2-4, Beaty 2-4, Tanke 1-1, Wilson 0-2, Paulk 0-1), Colorado 6-16 (Wooten 3-6, Betson 2-3, Dutat 1-3, Walker 0-2, Greer 0-1, Crook 0-1). Rebounds – ISU 33 (Crooks 15), Colorado 46 (Dutat 12). Assists – ISU 15 (J. Williams 5), Colorado 11 (Walker 4). Steals – ISU 12 (Beaty 3), Colorado 9 (Walker 3). Turnovers – ISU 17, Colorado 17. Total fouls – ISU 17, Colorado 15. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 4,183.
