Baylor
Colorado
WBB Concludes Quick Homestand with Colorado on Saturday
1/3/2025 10:16:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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RV/24 BAYLOR BEARS (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
RV/24 BAYLOR (11-3, 1-0 Big 12) vs COLORADO BUFFALOES (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) Jan. 4, 2025 • 2:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ TALENT: Kyle Youmans (pxp), Jim Haller (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via FOX Sports Radio 93.9FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com. Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Lori Fogleman (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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COLORADO BUFFALOES (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) Location: Boulder, Colo. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: JD Payne (Saint Mary's (CA), 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas –Sarah Andrews is not sure what that was in Wednesday's 84-61 loss to Oklahoma State at the Foster Pavilion – it didn't look anything like the Baylor team that blew out Kansas by 20 points in its pre-Christmas conference opener – "but we've got to get back to being the Baylor defense we were."
That's exactly what Andrew and the Bears (11-3, 1-1) will try to do when they host the Colorado Buffaloes (10-3, 1-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday to finish off a two-game homestand at Foster Pavilion.
While coach Nicki Collen said she wasn't sure "which was worse, our offense or our defense," it did seem like the Bears' biggest struggles were on the defensive end. OSU shot 55.2% for the game, including a sizzling 77.3% (17-22) in the second half, when the Cowgirls outscored Baylor, 48-27.
"We let our offense affect our defense," Collen said. "We're a program that isn't defined by one or the other, but I do believe we're at our best when we're defending, we're getting stops, we're getting in transition. It's not about the creation of turnovers, it's about the creation of possessions and not taking the ball out of the net. So, that was frustrating."
Andrews said the Bears "let them have some open shots."
"Once they hit the first few, the rim was really big for them, and they knocked down shots all night," said Andrews, who's averaging 12.0 points and 5.6 assists per game. "But we never contested shots, we never made them do anything different. So, we've got to get back to being the Baylor defense we were."
Collen said she "stewed on it" for 36 hours, "and then (had to) move on today."
"I was prepared to be over it yesterday and wasn't," she said. "I know myself well enough to know that. I thought there were a lot of lessons from that game. I often say the film is never as bad or never as good as you think. And it was pretty bad. That's probably why I stewed a little longer."
The Bears lead the all-time series with Colorado 12-8, including 6-2 in Waco, but haven't played the Buffaloes since they left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 following the 2011 season.
Colorado was 24-10 last season, reaching the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 63-50 win over Kansas State. CU coach JR Payne went heavy into the transfer portal to get three of this year's top four scorers – 6-1 grad forward Lior Garzon (12.2 ppg) from Oklahoma State, 6-3 junior forward Jade Masogayo (11.7 ppg) from Missouri State and 6-2 grad forward Nyamer Diew (6.5 ppg) from Iowa State.
"I think they're a team that's come together come together really well in terms of figuring out," Collen said. "When you have 10 new players on your roster, that's a unique challenge early in the season to figure things out. Defensively, it starts with (5-9 junior point guard) Kindyll Wetta. She gets after it. She averages more assists (6.4) than points (5.5). She's a point guard that wants to get shots for everyone."
The Buffs also lost a number of players in the portal, including 6-3 senior center Aaronette Vonleh (13.6 ppg, 5.5 rebounds) to Baylor, the Preseason Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year.
"I want Nettie to play basketball," Collen said. "I think the game could be emotional enough. It's more about her teammates wanting to help her than it is about her having a little bit of extra (motivation). I think she didn't have a bad experience at Colorado. JR Payne is a good coach, and she gave Nettie an opportunity to kind of put herself in position to be successful, to be on draft boards, to be in position to be recruited by Baylor and South Carolina."
Making her Baylor debut as a midyear transfer from Florida, 5-7 grad transfer Aliyah Matharu was 0-for-5 from the floor, 1-of-2 from the line and added one rebound and a steal in 11 minutes off the bench in Wednesday's game.
"I think she's starting to get the hang of things," said senior guard Yaya Felder, who scored a team-high 16 points in the loss to OSU. "It's not going to come fast. She's still getting used to everything. So, I think she'll be okay."
Saturday's game will be streamed by ESPN+, with Emmy Award-winning TV host and reporter Kyle Youmans and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.
Game notes
• Baylor continues conference play at Foster Pavilion against Colorado in the first of two tilts in the new 16-team Big 12 league schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• With Colorado back in the Big 12 Conference after departing as a charter member in 2011, the Bears will face the Buffaloes twice in the 2024-25 conference slate, once in Waco and once in Boulder. BU will also see Houston and TCU in home-and-away series this season.
• Baylor suffered a 23-point setback against Oklahoma State in its conference home opener on New Year's Day, the worst loss in a home conference game since Iowa State defeated the Bears 88-43 on Feb. 8, 1997.
• Baylor holds the all-time record against the Buffaloes, 12-8, with the two programs facing off each year as part of the first 15 years of the Big 12 Conference (1996-2011). The Bears defeated Colorado in each of the last eight contests, last taking an 81-59 victory in March 2011.
• The last win Colorado saw over a Baylor squad was in 2004, as the Buffaloes put a 10-point win over BU at the Ferrell Center.
• Currently No. 67 in the NET, Colorado has a conference win over then-No. 14 West Virginia, 65-60, before a loss at TCU as the first of two games in their Texas roadtrip.
• The Buffs are 2-2 on the road with a pair of wins coming against Utah Tech and Wyoming.
• Frida Formann (13.6), Lior Garzon (12.2) and Jade Masogayo (11.7) each average double figures in points, while Sarah-Rose Smith leads the squad in rebounds at 5.9 per game.
• Waco welcomed Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh to the Bears' roster for the 2024-25 season.
• Netty joined Baylor after an All-Pac-12 stint with the Buffaloes that featured the 2023 Most Improved Player honor and led Colorado in points scored in 2024, averaging 14 points per game.
• She is Baylor's sixth-consecutive Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, the program's 11th all-time, and shares the honor with TCU's Hailey Van Lith.
• In Netty's first game in the green and gold, the senior turned in 16 points in just shy of 21 minutes. Shooting 6-of-8 from the field, the Oregon native sunk her third-career 3-pointer, making one in each season at Colorado.
• Vonleh had just the fifth double-double of her career in Game No. 3 against East Texas A&M, tabbing 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• Netty scored her Baylor-best point total against LA Tech with 21 and had a career high rebound total against New Orleans with 12.
