THAT VEGAS MAGIC
Buffs aim to capture more of it at Pac-12 tournament
It was in Las Vegas that the Colorado women’s basketball team delivered a message to the nation that it was going to be a force this season.
Exactly four months later, the Buffaloes are back in Las Vegas, hoping to send a reminder to the nation — and themselves — that they are still one of the elite teams.
On Wednesday, the 18thranked Buffs will face Oregon in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It’s not the same venue, but not far from where CU stunned and dominated defending national champion and then-no. 1 LSU, 92-78, on Nov. 6 in the season opener.
“Hopefully we can kind of recreate what we had there and that confidence that we were playing with,” senior guard Maddie Nolan said.
Ranked No. 20 going into that game against LSU, the Buffs certainly weren’t expected to beat the mighty Tigers. They actually controlled the entire game, however, and that result propelled them to No. 5 in the next week’s rankings. It also set the tone for a 20-3 start that kept CU in the top eight of the national rankings for 14 consecutive weeks.
Having lost five of its past six games, however, CU has dropped in the rankings four weeks in a row. And, the Buffs come into Vegas as underdogs once again — not against Oregon, but in terms of winning this week’s tournament.
“We know that losing five out of six games is not us,” senior Quay Miller said. “I think that if anything that just put that chip back on our shoulder that (associate head coach Toriano Towns) has been talking about that we’ve been missing.”
Regular-season champion and No. 2-ranked Stanford is the favorite, as usual. But, redhot No. 5 USC, in the top five for the first time in 30 years; rock steady UCLA (ranked No. 7); and resurgent Oregon State (No. 13) are also among the top four seeds and they come in with much more momentum than the Buffs. Even sixth-seeded Utah (No. 22) finished stronger than CU.
During the past couple of seasons, however, CU has thrived in the underdog role.
“I felt like people were waiting for us to lose so they can be like, ‘Colorado wasn’t meant to be in that position anyways,’” Miller said. “But I think for us, we play better when people say those things about us. … We like when no one talks about us. We like being the underdog and I think that we work best when we are underdogs.”
If Monday’s practice in Boulder is any indication, this could be a good week for the Buffs. Just two days after a surprising and crushing 72-63 loss to Washington State in the home finale, CU hit the court on Monday with a renewed fire.
“We were so focused, so much energy,” head coach JR Payne said. “It was awesome, so
we feel really good. We’ve got sort of a mission in mind (this week) and just excited to play again.”
From the moment CU lost to Iowa in the Sweet 16 on March 24, 2023, to end a sensational run, the mission has been to get back and go farther. Not that anyone overlooked the regular season, but Payne senses her veteran club having a different mindset with the postseason now here.
“I really do,” she said. “I think we did a good job of that from two years ago to last year of really just trying to learn from mistakes and be better in the postseason. I think we’ll do the same thing again this year.”
The first step in that is beating Oregon. The Ducks finished last in the Pac-12 and have lost 13 in a row, which includes two losses to the Buffs. CU dominated the last meeting, 90-57, on Feb. 9 in Boulder.
Beat Oregon again and CU will get a rematch with Oregon State, but Payne isn’t worried about her team looking ahead.
“I don’t think anybody on the team or in the program will overlook anybody,” Payne said. “We’re too smart for that. We’re too veteran for that. But definitely, we just want to come out and play well.”
The Buffs did that the last time they were in Vegas and they’re hoping to do so again this week.
“We’re just ready to pick it back up and make a big run,” junior Aaronette Vonleh said. “We’ve been kind of in a slump with the losses we’ve had, but like this is the time where it matters the most.”