The Colorado women’s basketball team will open next season in the national spotlight against the national champs.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Buffaloes will face defending champion LSU on opening day of the 2023-24 season, Nov. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance, the Buffs are expected to be a preseason top-25 team, while LSU is projected to be in the national title hunt once again. The Tigers will likely be a preseason top-five team.
This will be the first time in CU history that the Buffs will open the season against a ranked opponent.
“We are honored to be included in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas and to be playing LSU on opening night,” head coach JR Payne said in a press release. “It will certainly be an exciting environment to kickoff the 2023-24 season. We have loved playing in Las Vegas with the Pac-12 Tournament and are excited about this really cool opportunity.”
The game will be part of a quadruple-header. Other games will include the USC women taking on Ohio State, along with a pair of men’s games: Georgia vs. Oregon and USC vs. Kansas State.
The game time, as well as TV details and a date for ticket sales will be announced at a later time.
Led by Hall of Fame head coach Kim Mulkey, LSU won its first-ever national title last season, knocking off Iowa in the championship game.
CU has faced the defending national champion six previous times, most recently during the 2021-22 season against Pac-12 rival Stanford. Prior to that, CU had not faced the defending champs since the 2005-06 season against Mulkey’s Baylor squad, when both teams were in the Big 12. Only twice have the Buffs battled the defending champs in non-conference play: the 1988-89 season (Louisiana Tech, where Mulkey was an assistant coach)) and the 1990-91 season (Stanford).
LSU, which went 34-2 last season, returns first-team All-American center Angel Reese, who averaged 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds last year. The Maryland transfer posted 34 double-doubles in her first season at LSU, including in all six games of the NCAA Tournament.
Flau’jae Johnson (11.0 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game) also returns after being named the SEC freshman of the year.
Reese and Johnson are the only returning starters, but LSU has added high-profile transfers Anessah Morrow and Hailey Van Lith. Morrow was a third-team All-American at DePaul, ranking fourth nationally in scoring (25.7 per game) and seventh in rebounding (12.2 per game). Van Lith was the star of Louisville’s run to the Elite Eight. She earned All-American honorable mention after posting 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
LSU also brings in the nation’s top freshman class, led by guard Mikaylah Williams, the No. 2-ranked player in the 2023 class by ESPN, and post Aalyah Del Rosario (No. 7).
CU has an impressive resume of its own, as the Buffs are coming off the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in 20 years. After going 25-9 last year, CU returns four starters and eight of its 10 rotational players.
First-team All-Pac-12 selections Quay Miller (13.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg) and Jaylyn Sherrod (11.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.1 apg) lead the way. Forward Aaronette Vonleh (12.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and guard Frida Formann (12.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) also return to the starting lineup.
Guard Kindyll Wetta (5.4 ppg, 3.3 apg) leads a deep bench that includes five incoming freshmen. The Buffs also added transfers Maddie Nolan (Michigan) and Sara Rose-Smith (Missouri).
CU and LSU have met four times in women’s basketball, but the last meeting came on Nov. 27, 2004, in Boulder. The teams have split the series, 2-2, with two games in Boulder (1-1) and two at neutral courts.
Colorado’s non-conference schedule also includes a visit to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, for the Paradise Jam for games against Cincinnati (Nov. 23), Kentucky (Nov. 24) and North Carolina State (Nov. 25).
Several games are still being finalized, but the Buffs will also have a home date with Oklahoma State and road games at Air Force, New Mexico State and SMU.
