When JR Payne was hired at Colorado in 2016, she took over a struggling women’s basketball program that didn’t know how to win.
Hours on the recruiting trail led to Payne and her staff finding the players they needed.
A collection of those first players the staff recruited put on a show Saturday, wrapping up an exceptional regular season with a 60-45 rout of Oregon State on senior day at the CU Events Center.
Seniors Mya Hollingshed, Sila Finau and Peanut Tuitele helped deliver the first 20-win season at CU in nine years. The Buffs (20-7, 9-7 Pac-12) then secured the No. 5 seed for the Pac-12 Tournament when Oregon knocked off Utah, 73-65, about an hour later. The Buffs will play No. 12 seed Washington on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
“They’ve been everything to this program for the past four years,” Payne said of her seniors. “It hasn’t ever been easy. It hasn’t ever been smooth sailing, but these guys have committed to being great Buffs and have done whatever their team needed them to do in the moment, in the summer, in the offseason. Just throughout their time here, they’ve been an incredible example to all of us in what being a Buff should look like.”
After the game, the three seniors were honored and it was a fitting cap to a celebratory day.
Sophomore Frida Formann scored 15 points and Hollingshed had 13 points and eight rebounds in a dominating win. Tuitele added eight points and six rebounds, while Finau had three points, five rebounds and three steals.
This game was bigger than just a win against Oregon State, however.
Three years ago, this group of seniors wrapped up their first year together with a last-place finish in the Pac-12. They went 2-16 in conference play in 2018-19. The next year, they were 10th, going 5-13 against the conference.
This season, the Buffs have secured their first 20-win season, first winning conference record and potentially their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.
They capped the regular season with a thrilling double-overtime win against Oregon on Wednesday and Saturday’s win that snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Beavers (13-12, 6-9).
“Itap incredibly special,” Tuitele said. “We’ve never swept the Oregons and to get this sweep, itap really special, especially on senior day. It means the world to me, because our team bought in and they really worked hard for us seniors and we also worked hard for the team. So, itap incredibly special that this happened today.”
CU struggled out of the gates, falling behind 12-6 after the first 4:20, but dominated from there. Formann sparked a 13-2 run to close the first quarter. Three 3-pointers and a pair of Tuitele buckets highlighted a 15-0 run in the second quarter.
Then, after Oregon State pulled within 45-37 in the third, Hollingshed hit a pair of layups to cap a 12-1 run that gave CU its biggest lead, 57-38, with 3 minutes to play.
“I think we came out and played Colorado basketball,” Finau said. “We’re really defensive-minded and I think thatap what stepped it up from the second quarter on. I was just really proud of my team for that. I’m just glad we came out with a win.”
Although there were a lot of emotions, Hollingshed said the Buffs didn’t have a tough time focusing on the task.
“Our coaches made that emphasis before the game to kind of limit the distractions and just focus on what we’re doing at hand,” Hollingshed said. “Our goal is to win the game at the end of the day and then we can face those emotions after the game. I think we did a pretty good job with that. We played with a lot of energy, a lot of defense and we just came out with a win. So itap a good day.”
When it was over, the emotions spilled over for the players and Payne. This season is far from over for the Buffs, but Saturday was a chance to honor a group that has put CU women’s basketball back on the map.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever cried at senior day until today,” Payne said. “Not because we haven’t had really special seniors in the past. Itap just, we’ve been through a lot together. This is hard. What we do is really hard, emotionally, physically, mentally. I think when you go through many years of difficult – not that there aren’t great things as well – but it just hits a little bit different.
“I was very proud, and continue to be very proud of these guys. I remember our first recruiting conversations four and five and six years ago, where we talked about building a legacy and building a championship program and that itap not just basketball. Itap so much bigger than basketball if you want to build something that that will last. All of these guys bought into that and believed in that and have done that, made a commitment to do something about it and that is what makes it so special.”
Fast break
What went right: Rebounding and defense were on point from the jump. The Buffs out-rebounded the Beavers 41-30, including 13-4 on the offensive glass. They also held the Beavers to 37.5 percent shooting.
What went wrong: After a strong first half on offense, the Buffs struggled to score in the second half, putting just18 points on the board. They made just 28.6 percent of their second-half shots.
Star of the game: Frida Formann. Matched her season-high with 15 points, doing 3-for-6 from the 3-point line. She also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Whatap next: The Buffs will play in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Colorado 60, Oregon State 45
OREGON STATE (13-12, 6-9 Pac-12)
Corosdale 2-6 1-1 6, Kampschroeder 2-4 1-4 6, von Oelhoffen 1-10 1-2 3, Codding 2-3 0-0 4, Brown 4-5 1-1 9, Mannen 0-1 0-0 0, Marotte 0-3 0-0 0, Mitrovic 2-6 0-0 4, Mack 4-7 1-1 10, Adams 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 18-48 6-11 45.
COLORADO (20-7, 9-7 Pac-12)
Sherrod 1-6 1-2 3, Sadler 1-5 0-0 2, Finau 1-4 0-0 3, Hollingshed 6-13 0-0 13, Tuitele 3-10 2-2 8, Jones 2-3 0-0 5, Formann 5-12 2-2 15, Miller 3-6 2-2 9, Blacksten 0-1 0-0 0, Wetta 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-62 7-8 60.
Oregon State 16 10 12 7 – 45
Colorado 22 20 9 9 – 60
3-point goals – Oregon State 3-17 (Corosdale 1-3, Kampschroeder 1-3, Mack 1-3, von Oelhoffen 0-5, Codding 0-1, Marotte 0-1, Mitrovic 0-1), Colorado 7-25 (Formann 3-6, Hollingshed 1-6, Finau 1-4, Miller 1-3, Jones 1-1, Sadler 0-2, Tuitele 0-2, Blacksten 0-1). Rebounds – Oregon State 30 (Corosdale 5), Colorado 41 (Hollingshed 8). Assists – Oregon State 9 (Corosdale, Mitrivoc, Mack 2), Colorado 14 (Sherrod 5). Steals – Oregon State 11 (von Oelhoffen 3), Colorado 14 (Sadler 4). Turnovers – Oregon State 20, Colorado 15. Total fouls – Oregon State 11, Colorado 13. Fouled out – None. A – 2,042.
Pac-12 Women’s TournamentMichelob ULTRA Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.WednesdayTV: Pac-12 NetworksGame 1: No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Washington, 1 p.m.Game 2: No. 8 Oregon State vs. No. 9 Arizona State, 3:30 p.m.Game 3: No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 USC, 7 p.m.Game 4: No. 6 Utah vs. No. 11 California, 9:30 p.m.ThursdayTV: Pac-12 NetworksGame 5: No. 4 Arizona vs. 5/12 Winner, 1 p.m.Game 6: No. 1 Stanford vs. 8/9 Winner, 3:30 p.m.Game 7: No. 2 Oregon vs. 7/10 Winner, 7 p.m.Game 8: No. 3 Washington State vs. 6/11 Winner, 9:30 p.m.FridayTV: Pac-12 NetworksGame 9 (Semifinal 1): Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7 p.m.Game 10 (Semifinal 2): Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m.Sunday, March 6 TV: ESPN2Game 11: Championship, 4 p.m.
