Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball

Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado Buffaloes
	2025–26 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team
University	University of Colorado Boulder
First season	1975; 51 years ago
Head coach	JR Payne (10th season)
Location	Boulder, Colorado
Arena	CU Events Center ; (capacity: 11,064)
Conference	Big 12
Nickname	Buffaloes
Colors	Silver, black, and gold;
NCAA Division I tournament Elite Eight
	1993, 1995, 2002
Sweet Sixteen	1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2023, 2024
Other NCAA Division I tournament results
Sweet Sixteen	1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2023, 2024
Appearances	1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
AIAW tournament appearances
	1981, 1982
Conference tournament champions
	1989, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997
Conference regular-season champions
	1989, 1995
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team represents the University of Colorado Boulder and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.

Conferences

Colorado plays in the Big 12 Conference. The Buffaloes were a member of the Big 12 from 1997 to 2011, following the formation of the conference through the merger of the Big Eight Conference and several members of the Southwest Conference. Colorado then competed in the Pac-12 Conference from 2011 to 2024 before rejoining the Big 12 in 2024.^[2]

Coaches

Colorado's head women's basketball coach is JR Payne. Payne was hired prior to the 2016–17 season. She replaced Linda Lappe, who was fired at the end of the 2015–16 season with a 7–23 record.^[3]

On March 28, 2016, JR Payne became head coach at Colorado. The eighth head coach in program history, Payne replaced Linda Lappe, who was fired after managing only a career 33–57 (.367) record in Pac-12 play. JR Payne inherited a program that finished 7–23 (2–16 Pac-12) in Lappe's final season. JR Payne's 2018–19 Colorado team began Pac-12 conference play with 11 straight losses, the worst start to conference play in program history.^[4] JR Payne's 2018–19 Buffs lost on the road to #4 ranked Oregon 102–43, the 59-point loss was the worst loss in 35 years, and the 4th worst in program history.^[4] The Buffs home win against USC on February 10, 2019 allowed CU to prevent from having both the first 12 game losing streak in program history, and the first winless conference season in program history.^[5]

Roster

2025–26 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Erianna Gooden	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Northside HS	Fort Smith, AR
G	1	Zyanna Walker	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Wichita Heights HS Kansas State	Wichita, KS
G	2	Kennedy Sanders	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	RS So	Chaska HS	Chaska, MN
G	3	Desiree Wooten	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	RS Jr	Manfield Timberview HS North Texas	Dallas, TX
C	4	JoJo Nworie	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	RS Sr	Texas Tech	Lagos, Nigeria
G	7	Claire O'Connor	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Lakeside School Gonzaga	Bellevue, WA
C	8	Jade Crook	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Fr	BA Centre of Excellence;Lake Ginninderra College	Albury, Australia
G	10	Isa Hämäläinen	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	European School of Luxembourg 1	Lorentzweiler, Luxembourg
F	11	Logyn Greer	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Fr	Friends' Central School	Lansdowne, PA
G	13	Maeve McErlane	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Jr	Academy of Notre Dame de Namur DePaul	Philadelphia, PA
F	14	Jade Masogayo	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Fossil Ridge HS Missouri State	Fort Worth, TX
F	15	Anaëlle Dutat	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Lycée Victor Hugo Rhode Island	Cesson, France
F	17	Tabitha Betson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	DME Academy	Melbourne, Australia
F	22	Sophie Zadel	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Fr	Alamo Heights HS	San Antonio, TX

Head coach

JR Payne (Saint Mary's)

Assistant coach(es)

Toriano Towns (Saint Mary's)
Taelor Karr (Gonzaga)
Matt Hower (Colorado State)
Jordynn Hernandez (UT Arlington)
Shelley Sheetz (Colorado)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: April 28, 2026

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with (W)
Source^[6]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason	Coaches' poll	AP poll
Carol Hochsprung (Intermountain) (1975–1976)
1975	Carol Hochsprung	2–11	2–10
Carol Hochsprung:		2–11 (.154)	2–10 (.167)
Jerry Zancanelli (Intermountain) (1975–1978)
1975–76	Jerry Zancanelli	8–12	5–8
1976–77	Jerry Zancanelli	14–12	5–8
1977–78	Jerry Zancanelli	18–14	5–8
Jerry Zancanelli:		40–38 (.513)	15–24 (.385)
Rene Portland (Intermountain) (1978–1980)
1978–79	Rene Portland	22–9	10–3		AIAW Regional
1979–80	Rene Portland	18–11	9–1		AIAW Regional
Rene Portland:		40–20 (.667)	19–4 (.826)
Sox Walseth (Intermountain) (1980–1982)
1980–81	Sox Walseth	28–5	10–0		AIAW First Round
1981–82	Sox Walseth	28–8	8–2		AIAW First Round
Sox Walseth (Big Eight Conference) (1982–1983)
1982–83	Sox Walseth	21–8	7–5
Sox Walseth:		77–21 (.786)	25–7 (.781)
Ceal Barry (Big Eight Conference) (1983–1996)
1983–84	Ceal Barry	10–18	3–11
1984–85	Ceal Barry	6–22	2–12
1985–86	Ceal Barry	21–9	9–5	2nd
1986–87	Ceal Barry	14–14	6–8
1987–88	Ceal Barry	21–11	8–6		NCAA Second Round (Play-In)
1988–89	Ceal Barry	27–4	14–0	1st (W)	NCAA Second Round (Bye)	19	9
1989–90	Ceal Barry	17–11	10–4
1990–91	Ceal Barry	18–11	8–6
1991–92	Ceal Barry	22–9	11–3	2nd (W)	NCAA First Round
1992–93	Ceal Barry	27–4	12–2	1st	NCAA Elite Eight	9	10
1993–94	Ceal Barry	27–5	12–2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	10	5
1994–95	Ceal Barry	30–3	14–0	1st (W)	NCAA Elite Eight	5	2
1995–96	Ceal Barry	26–9	9–5	(W)	NCAA Second Round	18	17
Ceal Barry (Big 12 Conference) (1996–2005)
1996–97	Ceal Barry	23–9	12–4	T–2nd (W) (Big 12)	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	15	18
1997–98	Ceal Barry	12–16	5–11	8th
1998–99	Ceal Barry	15–14	7–9	T–8th	WNIT Sixteen
1999–2000	Ceal Barry	10–19	4–12	10th
2000–01	Ceal Barry	22–9	11–5	4th	NCAA Second Round	23	20
2001–02	Ceal Barry	24–10	11–5	T–3rd	NCAA Elite Eight	9	12
2002–03	Ceal Barry	24–8	11–5	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	19
2003–04	Ceal Barry	22–8	11–5	3rd	NCAA First Round	24	17
2004–05	Ceal Barry	9–19	2–14	T–11th
Ceal Barry:		427–242 (.638)	192–134 (.589)
Kathy McConnell-Miller (Big 12 Conference) (2005–2010)
2005–06	Kathy McConnell-Miller	9–21	3–13	11th
2006–07	Kathy McConnell-Miller	13–17	6–10	T–7th
2007–08	Kathy McConnell-Miller	19–15	5–11	9th	WNIT Semifinals
2008–09	Kathy McConnell-Miller	11–18	3–13	12th
2009–10	Kathy McConnell-Miller	13–17	3–13	11th
Kathy McConnell-Miller:		65–88 (.425)	20–60 (.250)
Linda Lappe (Big 12 Conference) (2010–2016)
2010–11	Linda Lappe	18–16	6–10	T–8th (Big 12)	WNIT Quarterfinals
Linda Lappe (Pac-12 Conference) (2011–2016)
2011–12	Linda Lappe	21–14	6–12	10th (Pac-12)	WNIT Quarterfinals
2012–13	Linda Lappe	25–7	13–5	4th	NCAA First Round	19	19
2013–14	Linda Lappe	19–15	6–12	T–9th	WNIT Quarterfinals
2014–15	Linda Lappe	15–17	6–12	T–9th
2015–16	Linda Lappe	7–23	2–16	12th
Linda Lappe:		105–92 (.533)	39–67 (.368)
JR Payne (Pac-12 Conference) (2016–2024)
2016–17	JR Payne	17–16	5–13	T–9th	WNIT Third round
2017–18	JR Payne	15–16	5–13	9th
2018–19	JR Payne	12–18	2–16	12th
2019–20	JR Payne	16–14	5–13	T–9th
2020–21	JR Payne	12–11	8–8	6th	WNIT Quarterfinals
2021–22	JR Payne	22–9	9–7	5th
2022–23	JR Payne	25–9	13–5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	15	21
2023–24	JR Payne	24–10	11–7	T–5th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	16	15
JR Payne (Big 12 Conference) (2024–present)
2024–25	JR Payne	21–13	9–9	9th	WBIT Second round
2025–26	JR Payne	22–12	11–7	6th	NCAA First Round
JR Payne:		184–126 (.594)	78–98 (.443)
Total:		940–638 (.596)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament results

The Buffaloes have appeared in 17 NCAA Tournaments, with a record of 21–17.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1988	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Eastern Illinois #2 Long Beach State	W 78−72 L 64–103
1989	#3	Second Round	#6 UNLV	L 74–84
1992	#7	First Round	#10 Southern Illinois	L 80–84 (OT)
1993	#4	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#5 UC Santa Barbara #1 Stanford #2 Texas Tech	W 81−54 W 80–67 L 54–79
1994	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Marquette #6 Oregon #2 Stanford	W 77−74 W 92–71 L 62–78
1995	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Holy Cross #9 SW Missouri State #4 George Washington #3 Georgia	W 83−49 W 78–34 W 77–61 L 79–82
1996	#3	First Round Second Round	#14 Tulane #6 Auburn	W 83−75 L 61–66
1997	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#15 Marshall #7 Stephen F. Austin #3 Tennessee	W 69−49 W 75–74 L 67–75
2001	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Siena #3 Vanderbilt	W 98−78 L 59–65
2002	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Southern #6 LSU #2 Stanford #1 Oklahoma	W 88−61 W 69–58 W 62–59 L 60–94
2003	#6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#11 BYU #3 North Carolina #2 Villanova	W 84−45 W 86–67 L 51–53
2004	#6	First Round	#11 UC Santa Barbara	L 49–76
2013	#5	First Round	#12 Kansas	L 52–67
2022	#7	First Round	#10 Creighton	L 74-84
2023	#6	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#11 Middle Tennessee #3 Duke #2 Iowa	W 82–60 W 61–53 (OT) L 77–87
2024	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Drake #4 Kansas State #1 Iowa	W 86–72 W 63–50 L 68–89
2026	#10	First Round	#7 Illinois	L 57–66

References

^ University of Colorado at Boulder NIL Brand Guidelines (PDF). January 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
^ Kirk, Alexander (August 8, 2024). "CU Buffs officially back in Big 12 Conference". 9NEWS. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
^ Woods, Jon (March 7, 2016). "Linda Lappe steps down as Colorado women's basketball coach". RalphieReport.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "CU Buffs women dominated by Oregon Ducks".
^ "Hollingshed, Robinson Lead Buffs To First Pac-12 Win".
^ "Media Guide" (PDF). University of Colorado. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 11 Aug 2013.

External links

Official website

[1] University of Colorado at Boulder NIL Brand Guidelines (PDF). January 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2023.

[2] Kirk, Alexander (August 8, 2024). "CU Buffs officially back in Big 12 Conference". 9NEWS. Retrieved April 28, 2026.

[Linda_Lappe_steps_down_as_Colorado_women's_basketball_coach-3] Woods, Jon (March 7, 2016). "Linda Lappe steps down as Colorado women's basketball coach". RalphieReport.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.

[BuffsLose-4] "CU Buffs women dominated by Oregon Ducks".

[5] "Hollingshed, Robinson Lead Buffs To First Pac-12 Win".

[Media_Guide-6] "Media Guide" (PDF). University of Colorado. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 11 Aug 2013.

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v t e Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball
Venues	Balch Fieldhouse (1974–1979) CU Events Center (1979–present)
Culture & lore	History "CU Fight Song" Ralphie the Buffalo CU Pep Band
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Big 12 Conference women's basketball
Current teams	Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils Baylor Bears BYU Cougars Cincinnati Bearcats Colorado Buffaloes Houston Cougars Iowa State Cyclones Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Oklahoma State Cowgirls TCU Horned Frogs Texas Tech Lady Raiders UCF Knights Utah Utes West Virginia Mountaineers
Championships & awards	Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament Player of the Year Freshman of the Year Defensive Player of the Year
Conference challenges	Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge (2013–2023) Coast-to-Coast Challenge (2021–2022)
Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26