Fast break
Why the Buffs won: Their defense was dominant early and they hit shots to build a big lead.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Desiree Wooten: Finished with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.
2. CU’s Zyanna Walker: Scored 19 points and added four rebounds, two steals and two assists.
3. CU’s Logyn Greer: Freshman had nine points and four rebounds.
Up next: The sixth-seeded Buffs will face No. 2-seeded and No. 15-ranked West Virginia in the Big 12 tournament semifinals Saturday (4:30 p.m. MT, ESPN+) in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The top two seeds in the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament are moving on to the semifinals.
Then, there are the two surprise teams: Zyanna Walker’s current squad at Colorado, and her old team at Kansas State.
“Oh man, it’s March; anything can happen,” Walker, a junior guard, said with a smile after helping the Buffaloes to a 62-53 upset of No. 20 Baylor at the T-Mobile Center on Friday night. “It’s March. The great teams are going to be great, and teams are going to fight. Everybody’s fighting for a chance at something special. We are, I’m sure (the Kansas State Wildcats) are, too. Anything can happen.”
The sixth-seeded Buffaloes (22-10) dominated third-seeded Baylor (24-8) early and then hung on in the fourth quarter of the quarterfinals. They will face second-seeded and No. 15 West Virginia on Saturday in the semifinals.
No. 1-seed TCU will face 12th-seeded Kansas State – where Walker played the previous two years – in the other semifinal.
Playing in the last quarterfinal of the day, CU joined the final four by relying on Desiree Wooten (21 points) and Walker (19 points). CU has reached the conference semifinals for the first time since 2023 in the Pac-12. The Buffs also beat an Associated Press Top 20 team for the fourth time this season, strengthening their NCAA Tournament resume.
“Oh man, yeah, really proud of how we played tonight,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I thought we were very prepared and very excited for this opportunity. Sometimes in the Big 12, when you only get to play someone once, and in that one time, you don’t perform the way you wish you had, sometimes you don’t get to play that game again for an entire year. So this was a really great opportunity for us because we were frustrated with the way we finished the one game we did play with Baylor this year. We were just really excited for the opportunity to play them again.
“Just overall great team effort. It wasn’t perfect in any sense of the word, but I thought we did exactly what we needed to do to be successful. So, proud of our effort, for sure.”
On Jan. 8, the Buffs lost to Baylor, 56-52, in Waco, Texas. They had a season-worst .284 shooting percentage in that game and still had a shot to win.
This time, CU trailed just once, at 2-0, and led by as many as 17 points before Baylor rallied late. The Bears pulled within seven on three occasions in the fourth, but CU didn’t let the lead get below that.
“I just think the first time we played them, we kind of just beat ourselves,” Walker said. “We were just missing easy layups, just turning the ball over and just unforced turnovers. So this time, we were really locked in. We knew we had to just do the little things and just do the simple basketball things to win the game.”
CU had a double-digit lead most of the game until failing to score during the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, which allowed Baylor to pull within 54-47.
“It was expected,” Walker said of the Baylor rally. “They’re a great team, so we knew they were going to hit a run eventually. But it’s important for us to just be able to stop that run, and we did that.”
Baylor kept CU’s forwards in check, as Jade Masogayo, Anaelle Dutat and Tabitha Betson combined for just 11 points (they did have 15 rebounds, however). Wooten and Walker took advantage and carried the scoring load.
“I think it just turned out that way,” said Wooten, who hit three early 3-points to help CU build a 31-14 lead. “I think we have chemistry together. I think we play well together. People been calling us the dynamic duo, so I guess we’ve just been living up to it.”
This week, the Buffs have been a dynamic team that shook off a rough final week of the regular season – losing to Utah and BYU – to win their first two in Kansas City and likely punch their NCAA Tournament ticket.
“I think (being a close-knit team) becomes critical because, like Zy’s saying, everyone is fighting for their lives at this point,” Payne said. “Really, really good basketball is going to happen no matter what. For us, chemistry is a big part of our success, so I think we really lean into that chemistry. … I think that’s what makes this group so special.”
Colorado 62, No. 20 Baylor 53
COLORADO (22-10)
Masogayo 1-5 1-4 3, Dutat 2-4 1-2 5, Betson 1-2 0-0 3, Walker 6-14 6-10 19, McErlane 0-2 0-0 0, Wooten 8-16 2-2 21, Greer 3-5 3-3 9, Crook 0-1 0-0 0, Gooden 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-50 13-21 62.
BAYLOR (24-7)
K. Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Littlepage-Buggs 3-8 4-5 10, Fontleroy 1-9 0-0 2, Scott 5-21 3-4 14, Van Gytenbeek 1-4 0-0 3, Abraham 4-5 2-4 10, M. Johnson 0-2 1-2 1, Deng 2-5 2-2 6, Brow 2-2 0-0 5, Nelms 1-3 0-4 2, Pemberton 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-62 12-21 53.
Colorado 20 17 17 8 – 62
Baylor 10 15 15 13 – 53
3-point goals – Colorado 5-13 (Wooten 3-7, Walker 1-3, Betson 1-1, McErlane 0-2), Baylor 3-21 (Scott 1-7, Van Gytenbeek 1-3, Brow 1-1, Fontleroy 0-5, Deng 0-2, K. Johnson 0-1, M. Johnson 0-1, Nelms 0-1). Rebounds – Colorado 33 (Masogayo, Dutat 6), Baylor 37 (Littlepage-Buggs 10). Assists – Colorado 11 (McErlance, Wooten 3), Baylor 10 (Brow 3). Steals – Colorado 7 (Dutat 3), Baylor 5 (5 players with 1). Turnovers – Colorado 15, Baylor 14. Total fouls – Colorado 21, Baylor 21. Fouled out – Masogayo. Attendance – 4,771.
