For the first time since the preseason, the Colorado women’s basketball team has slipped out of the Top 10 in the Associated Press rankings.
Following a 77-76 buzzer-beating loss at Utah on Friday, the Buffaloes fell to No. 11 in the latest poll released on Monday. The Buffs narrowly missed the top 10, finishing with 519 points in the voting, while No. 10 Kansas State had 520.
CU (20-5, 10-4 Pac-12) had been in the top 10 for 14 consecutive weeks, the third-longest streak in program history. The 1994-95 team had the longest streak, at 16 weeks, while the 1993-94 team was in the top 10 for 15 consecutive weeks.
Ranked No. 20 in the preseason, CU vaulted to No. 5 after a season-opening win against then-No. 1 and defending champion LSU. The Buffs had been at No. 8 or higher ever since, but have now lost two straight games. Still, the Buffs are in the top 25 for the 22nd consecutive week, dating back to last season. That’s the fourth-longest streak in program history.
South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 and the rest of the top six did not change from last week, with Ohio State at No. 2, followed by Pac-12-leading Stanford, Iowa, Texas and North Carolina State.
USC jumped three spots to No. 7 after an impressive win at Oregon State on Sunday. Virginia Tech is No. 8, followed by Oregon State. The Beavers moved up two spots despite Sunday’s loss to USC because they beat then-No. 9 UCLA on a buzzer-beater on Friday. OSU had a six-game winning streak (two of those against CU) snapped by USC.
In addition to Stanford, USC, Oregon State and CU, the Pac-12 has UCLA (No. 12) and Utah (No. 18) in the rankings.
Although CU’s two straight losses have come against great teams – Oregon State and Utah – and by only a combined seven points, the Buffs are aiming to regroup. They visit USC on Friday and UCLA on Feb. 26.
“Execute. That’s it. Point blank, period,” head coach JR Payne said of what the Buffs need to do to get back on track. “We play hard. We can score, we can defend, but we’re not executing on either side the way we need to.”
Why they aren’t is the question Payne and the Buffs will try to answer this week.
“We have to figure out why,” Payne said. “It’s just staying connected. We absolutely know we have everything we need, from players to coaches to support staff. We have everything we need. We’ve just got to make sure we’re locked in on really trying to execute at a high level.”
Nearing milestones
With nine assists at Utah, Jaylyn Sherrod moved closer to becoming just the third player in program history with 600. She sits at 591, ranking behind Kennedy Leonard (664, 2015-19) and Bridget Turner (612, 1985-89) on the career list.
Kindyll Wetta, meanwhile, had two assists, giving her 295 for her career and passing Lexy Kresl (294, 2011-15) for 20th on the career list. Wetta needs just five assists to become the 18th Buff to reach 300.
Notable
On Monday, USC’s JuJu Watkins was named the Pac-12 player of the week and freshman of the week, sweeping both awards for the third time this season. She averaged 27.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 2.3 blocks in three games, while earning freshman of the week honors for the 13th time.
