The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team is back in the Big 12 after a long absence, thanks to conference realignment.
When Colorado left the conference after the 2010-11 season, Linda Lappe was the head coach. Now that the Buffs are back it’s JR Payne, who was nicknamed JR by her father in honor of the character Larry Hagman played on the TV show “Dallas.”
Payne played her college basketball at Saint Mary’s and was an assistant coach at three schools before she took over the program at Southern Utah. After a stop at Santa Clara, she took over the Buffs in 2016.
It was a slow build, but the last three seasons have been fruitful for the Buffs. It includes three straight NCAA Tournament berths and two Sweet 16 berths, including last year when Colorado beat Kansas State in the second round to get there.
Colorado finished last season 24-10.
Here’s a preview of the Colorado Buffaloes’ upcoming season.
Odds
Vegas Insider gave Colorado +50000 odds to win the national championship. The Big 12 coaches voted the Buffs to finish ninth in the preseason poll.
Three Players to Watch
G Frida Formann: With the departure of Aaronette Vonleh to Baylor, Formann is the leading returning scorer from last season. She averaged a career-best 12.5 points per game, tied the CU record for made 3-pointers (82) and enters this season as Colorado’s all-time 3-point field-goal leader (men or women) with 260 career makes.
F Lior Garzon: The former Oklahoma State star transferred out of Stillwater to join the Buffs for her final season in college. She averaged nine points per game a year ago. Two years ago she set the Cowgirls’ single-season 3-point record. She can fill it up.
F Nyamer Diew: Another Big 12 transfer, she played her entire career at Iowa State and was a quintessential role player. She only averaged 5.9 points and 3.1 rebounds a year ago, but she can start or come off the bench. She can score or be a defensive stoppers. She can be whatever Colorado needs her to be.
Biggest Strength
Big 12 experience. There is something to be said for tapping into talent that has experience with the conference you’re joining. Both Diew and Garzon played multiple years in the conference as significant contributors and know how things works. A third, JoJo Nworie, transferred in from Texas Tech but has dealt with injuries her entire career. Between the three, they can help the Buffs re-adjust to a conference they left more than a decade ago.
Biggest Weakness
Interior play. It isn’t just that Vonleh left for Baylor. Last year’s leading rebounder, Quay Miller, isn’t back either. So the Buffs need an infusion of offense and rebounding from their interior players. It’s not clear where it’s going to come from. If Nworie is healthy, her 6-5 length will come in handy. Two players worth watching are transfer forwards Jade Masogayo, who averaged 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in his freshman season at Missouri State, and Tabitha Betson, an Australian forward who was named the Big 12 preseason freshman of the year.
Season Prediction
The losses of Vonleh and Miller really hurt the Buffs inside and there is a lot of inexperience there, which could be problematic against teams with tall centers. There is quality perimeter talent on this team, and Diew could get a real showcase for her talent with a team that needs her to be a bigger scorer than she’s ever been. If the infusion of Big 12 talent comes in to help Formann, and Betson is the player the league’s best freshman, as coaches believe she is, the Buffs can challenge for the top half of the conference. A good projection is 17-19 wins going into the Big 12 Tournament.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
