KANSAS CITY, Mo. – “Nothing easy” reads Colorado’s warmup shirts as its quarterfinal challenge against the No. 1-seeded (AP No. 8) TCU Horned Frogs (28-3) lies ahead.
The Buffs snuck out of the Big 12 Championships’ second round on Thursday with a narrow three-point win over Arizona. Their reward: the regular season Big 12 champ. The Horned Frogs were 16-2 in conference play highlighted by grad transfer Hailey Van Lith’s Big 12 Player of the Year campaign. TCU is also led by center Sedona Prince, who averages 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per game.
In their matchup on New Year's Day, the Buffs traveled to Fort Worth and took a 13-point loss. Jade Masogayo had 14 points, while Van Lith and Prince combined for 29 of TCU’s 63 points.
A year prior, Kindyll Wetta shut down Van Lith in CU’s upset win over the No. 1-ranked LSU Tigers. This season, Van Lith had her number as Wetta fouled out of the game.
In Colorado’s victory Thursday, Masogayo struggled, scoring only five points on 2-for-8 shooting. Wetta was also in foul trouble against Arizona. While the Buffs took the victory despite these shortcomings, the Buffs will need a bounce-back performance from Masogayo, and Wetta to limit contact when guarding Van Lith.
The Horned Frogs have two of the Big 12’s best players, but they force the least turnovers in the conference (13.5). Colorado commits an average of 18.2, tied for the most in the Big 12. In the Buffs’ fourth quarter against Arizona, they only committed one turnover, which aided the comeback effort to advance to the quarterfinals.
While the Buffs will have to play a near-perfect game to upset Big 12’s top seed, this season is still one to celebrate. This season’s run is just the third time since 1997 that CU has won at least two games in a conference tournament. However, with a win against TCU, the NCAA tournament would be within reach.
“It means so much to me to be able to win and get on this roll now,” Tabitha Betson said after the win Thursday. “I’m trying to keep this rolling and get another win.”
Colorado looks to continue its season against No.1-seeded TCU on Friday. Tip-off from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City is set for 12:30 p.m. MT (ESPNU).
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