Throughout JR Payne’s tenure as head coach, the Colorado women’s basketball team has built a reputation for being nasty on defense.
Led by associate head coach Toriano Towns, the Buffaloes have been dominant on defense at times and that’s what fueled their run to the Sweet 16 last year.
Nine games into this season, however, the Buffaloes (8-1) aren’t playing up to their standard on that end of the floor, despite stellar results and a No. 8 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25.
“I don’t think we’re defending as well as we have in the past certainly,” Payne said.
The Buffs will continue to work on that Tuesday when they face UT Arlington and throughout the rest of the month as they’ll finally have ample practice time.
“This is no excuse, it’s just the reality: we’ve spent so much of our time the last three weeks in game prep mode – whether we have a day off and then we have one day to prepare, only two days to prepare – that we haven’t spent a lot of time on ourselves as far as just basic stuff, like shell defense,” Payne said. “Things like that where you’re not going against an opponent’s offensive sets. You’re just simply playing good, tough defense together against whatever the offense is doing. I think we need that and we’ll definitely get that in the next couple of weeks after this game tomorrow.”
The Buffs rank 10th in the Pac-12 in points allowed (62.7 per game), but of greater concern is that they are last in field goal percentage defense (opponents are hitting shots at a 40.7% rate) and 11th against 3-pointers (32.3%).
“Dead last, that’s terrible,” Payne said of the Buffs’ field goal percentage defense.
On the plus side, CU gives up the fewest amount of shots per game (53.8) in the Pac-12 because they’ve been very good at forcing turnovers. Opponents are committing 19.4 turnovers per game.
The Buffs have also been decent in limiting second-chance opportunities.
“I think we’re doing a good job on the defensive glass,” Payne said. “That’s been a priority for us.”
Still, that hasn’t been as good as Payne would like. The Buffs are grabbing 74.1% of available rebounds on the defensive end, but that ranks sixth in the Pac-12.
To Payne’s point, however, the Buffs haven’t had a lot of practice time to fix some issues.
The season began four weeks ago, and the Buffs have already played nine games. They had five days off between the third and four games, but it’s been a whirlwind ever since.
Shortly after returning from a trip to Dallas to play SMU on Nov. 18, the Buffs were home for a couple of days before traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands for three games over three days during the Thanksgiving break. They then had a 12-hour travel day, followed by one day to prepare for a home game against Boston last Tuesday.
The Buffs had three days to prepare for Air Force last week and had one of their better defensive games, limiting the Falcons to 33.8% from the floor and 13.6% from 3-point range in a 74-58 win on Saturday.
It’s a fairly quick turnaround from Saturday to Tuesday’s matchup with UT Arlington, but after Tuesday, the Buffs play just once more (Dec. 21 vs. Northern Colorado) before the Pac-12 Conference opener against Utah on Dec. 30.
Payne is looking forward to some much-needed practice time as the Buffs aim to shore up their defense.
“We want to make everything better in the next two weeks, but obviously defensively we have a lot of work to do,” Payne said. “We’re getting ready to play the No. 1 offense in the country (Utah) opening night of conference play, so that’ll be a huge priority.”
No. 8 CU Buffs women’s basketball vs. UT Arlington Mavericks
TIPOFF: Tuesday, 11 a.m., CU Events Center in Boulder
TV/RADIO: Online – Live stream at CUBuffs.com/630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 8-1; UT Arlington 1-7
COACHES: Colorado — JR Payne, 8th season (127-94; 228-207 career). UT Arlington — Shereka Wright, 4th season (48-39)
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado — G Frida Formann, 5-11, Sr. (15.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.1 spg, .473 FG%, .452 3PT%, 1.000 FT%); C Quay Miller, 6-3, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg); G Tameiya Sadler, 5-8, Sr. (5.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.1 spg); G Jaylyn Sherrod, 5-7, Sr. (12.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.4 apg, 2.1 spg, .487 FG%); C Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3, Jr. (15.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.2 apg, .678 FG%); G Kindyll Wetta, 5-9, Jr. (7.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, .545 FG%). UT Arlington — G Gia Adams, 5-7, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.5 spg); F Avery Brittingham, 6-1, Sr. (12.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 spg, .451 FG%, .385 3PT%); G Taliyah Clark, 5-11, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg); G Hannah Humphrey, 5-8, Jr. (8.1 ppg, .364 3PT%); G Nya Threatt, 5-6, So. (7.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg); F Adela Valkova, 6-2, Sr. (6.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .513 FG%)
NOTES: CU returns home after a 74-58 win at Air Force on Saturday. … This game has an early tip because it’s Field Trip Day for local schools. … In the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday, CU slipped a bit to No. 8. The Buffs were tied at No. 7 with LSU last week, but actually picked up 14 more points in the voting this week (639 points vs. 625 last week). … CU is 3-0 at home this season. … In regular season non-conference home games under Payne, the Buffs are 45-2 and have won 34 in a row. … This will be CU’s first-ever meeting with UT Arlington. … Formann is the only player in the Pac-12 with a perfect free throw percentage. She is also tied for second in the Pac-12 with 3.1 made 3-pointers per game. … CU is shooting 49.1% on the season and the Buffs have been at 44.9% or better in all eight wins. The Buffs have also had at least 20 assists in seven of their eight wins. … Colorado will be UTA’s second Power 5 opponent. The Mavericks lost to Texas 110-64 on Nov. 14. … UTA’s lone win came on Nov. 25 against North Carolina A&T, 87-76. … As a player, Wright was a star at Purdue and played for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA. … Wright was Sun Belt coach of the year in 2021-22 after leading the Mavericks to the conference tournament title and spot in the NCAA Tournament.
