As the 2024-25 women’s basketball season came to a close, Colorado coach JR Payne had no idea what to expect out of her team the next season.
CU had come up just short of the NCAA Tournament – the Buffs were the first team out, ending a run of three consecutive trips to the tournament.
Six of the 14 players from that team graduated. Four others transferred. Another – Tabitha Betson – went back home to Australia in the summer before deciding to rejoin the team in December.
In short order, Payne and her staff put together a new roster for this season. And, it turned out to be a resurgent and successful campaign.
“This is my favorite team I’ve played for by far,” said guard Zyanna Walker, who played at Louisville and Kansas State before coming to CU last summer. “Everybody’s a family, coaches and players together as one. Itap just never been like that for any of the programs I played for. We’re just so close as a team, so of course this one is super special for sure.”
With all the unknowns of a rebuilt roster, CU was picked before the season to finish ninth in the Big 12. The Buffs (22-12, 11-7 Big 12) finished sixth, and were one win away from fourth. Then, the Buffs went 2-1 in the conference tournament, losing in the semifinals by one point.
That all was good enough to get to the NCAA Tournament once again. So, even though the time in the tourney was short – CU was ousted by Illinois, 66-57 on Saturday night in the first round in Nashville – there wasn’t a hint of belief by Payne that her team failed to meet its potential.
“No chance,” she said. “You had 10 new players: five freshmen, five transfers. You lose pretty much 90 percent of your offensive productivity (from last year) and … no, not at all (feeling disappointed).
“I mean I think a lot of people would look at that and say itap pretty unbelievable what this team did, and how many top 25 teams did we beat this year?”
Along the way, the Buffs beat four top 25 teams, including Big 12 champion TCU. In four other games against top 25 teams – at Louisville and Baylor, and twice against West Virginia – the Buffs lost by a combined 17 points.
CU was never really blown out in a game, either. Of the 12 losses this season, nine came by nine points or less. The three others were all close games in the fourth quarter before CU faltered in the final minutes.
“I mean, (to do all of that) with some deficiencies on the offensive end I think it was pretty remarkable,” Payne said.
Offensively, the Buffs averaged just 67.5 points per game, but they shot a solid 47.8% on two-point field goals, and their free throw percentage (.730) was the best of any of Payne’s 10 teams in Boulder.
From 3-point range, however, the Buffs hit at a .273 clip, the second-lowest in program history since the 3-point line was introduced in 1986-87 (the 1990-91 team finished at .260).
The Buffs also missed point guard Kennedy Sanders, one of the four returners from last year. She played in 10 games and underwent season-ending hip surgery in December. Guard Claire O’Connor, a transfer from Gonzaga who was expected to be a top 3-point threat, played in just eight games in November before a season-ending foot injury.
Despite all of that, the Buffs were, as usual, scrappy on defense, which gave them a shot every night.
Opponents averaged just 59.6 points and hit .396 from the field. In 26 of 34 games, CU’s opponent scored less than its season average.
Illinois, which averages 77.1 points per game, hadn’t won a game all season when scoring less than 70 until pulling through against the Buffs. (The last time Illinois won with less than 70 was, ironically, in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, by the same 66-57 score, against Creighton).
In the end, this wasn’t one of the great teams in CU history, but it was just the 17th to get to the NCAA Tournament. It was also the group that got the program back to The Dance after falling short last year. And, itap a group Payne likely won’t ever forget.
“I thanked them for showing up every day with a joyful spirit,” Payne said. “Being a college athlete is really hard. There’s so many cool things about it, but there’s also so many really difficult physically, emotionally, mentally things that are hard about it. And this group, I’m not kidding guys, like every day showing up with a joyful spirit.
“I’m just really being thoughtful and appreciative of the time that we had with them.”
