The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) took care of business on Wednesday, defeating the Central Florida Knights (7-7, 0-4 Big 12) 81-62. The Buffs seemingly won the game in the first five minutes, jumping to a 13-0 lead halfway through the opening quarter.
The early surge was led by three-point shooting and chemistry from senior guard Frida Formann and junior forward Jade Masogayo. The Buffs would carry that momentum to finish the opening quarter with a confident 20-point lead.
“We have to look to get transition baskets going, some of our best players are some of the quickest in the Big 12, and we're not giving them easy looks,” said UCF head coach Sytia Messer in response to the team’s constant slow starts.
Formann’s 16 points would lead Colorado to a 48-21 halftime lead. Everything in the half went in CU’s favor, as the Buffs shot 60% from the field and made eight threes. That compared greatly to the Knights, who shot 22% from the field and 1/10 from behind the arc in the first twenty minutes.
The Knights did put together an improved second-half effort, including a 16-0 run in the third quarter, but they dug themselves into too large of a whole with 11 turnovers and only two assists in the first half.
UCF outscored CU in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to mount the unwieldy comeback. Formann led the Buffs in scoring, finishing with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists. Masogayo got 16 of her own, but it was senior guard Kindyll Wetta who had the most underrated performance, posting eight points, five rebounds and six assists.
The Knights’ offense constantly looked stagnant and relied heavily on senior guard Kaitlin Peterson, as their scheme normally does. She came into the game averaging 18 field goal attempts per game while leading the Big 12 in minutes played. On Wednesday, she put on another triumph with a game-leading 24 points while only sitting for 60 seconds.
“It wasn’t going to be just one person’s job to guard her, it was going to be everybody's job. When she had the ball, we wanted to make sure we were playing the gaps and providing support to where it was needed,” Colorado head coach JR Payne said about preparing to face Peterson.
However, the biggest stat that led to the Buffs’ victory was that 23 of their 29 made field goals came off an assist. The offensive unit was always moving and finding the open player for 11 made threes. That ratio compares to UCF’s seven assists on 15 made field goals.
Next, the Buffaloes prepare to host the Kansas Jayhawks (11-4, 1-3 Big 12) on Saturday at the CU Events Center. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. MT.
Kommentit