Buffs Return to Action at Arizona State
TEMPE, Ariz. — When the Colorado women's basketball team takes the court at Desert Financial Arena on Friday (3 p.m. MT) it will have been almost a week removed from the program's biggest win in school history.
That's just fine with head coach JR Payne, who would prefer to leave the past in the past, for now.
"The Stanford game is well in the review mirror," Payne noted. "I spent the last 48 hours watching Arizona State film, trying to figure out what it is that Arizona State is going to do and what we need to do to be successful against them. Certainly, we celebrated for about two days. Lots of social media and things like that but the biggest thing is to figure out what it is that we did so well that gave us that opportunity so we can continue to do those things [the rest of the season]."
Colorado (6-6, 5-6 Pac-12) has been in the national spotlight since upsetting No. 1 Stanford last Sunday. The Buffaloes are receiving votes for the first time this season in the WBCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. ESPN Women's Hoops picked the Buffs' upset as its Win of the Week. Senior Mya Hollingshed was named Player of the Week by both ESPN Women's Hoops and the Pac-12 Conference. Freshman Frida Formann was also the center of attention, picking up Freshman of the Week honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Pac-12.
But none of that matters come Friday.
"I'm hoping I don't have to do very much of that [grounding the team]," Payne continued. "I'm hoping that our veterans and our upperclassmen will be able to do that for me. Like I said, I haven't even thought about Stanford since Monday afternoon when I started working on the ASU scout. Personally, I'm well past it, but I will make sure that our team is also completely dialed into Arizona State."
The message has come across loud and clear.
"That's how it is in the Pac-12," Forman explained. "There's always another opponent that requires just as much attention because everyone is just so good. We are all very aware that we have to move on and focus on the next thing. We just want to take those feelings and confidence that we have now and use it [moving forward]."
Arizona State (7-3, 3-3 Pac-12) has had a bit of a rough stretch of late. ASU hasn't played since Jan. 3, having its last four games postponed. The Sun Devils have only played two games, California and Stanford, since the Dec. 20 postponement in Boulder. ASU has been hard to put points against this season. The Sun Devils have allowed the fewest points in the conference (55.0) this season.
"They [ASU] are going to be really tough," Payne acknowledged. "Very gritty. Very physical. They will never back down. They are going to compete for 40 minutes with no slip-ups. I love that about their program. It's something that we want to be known for in our program."
Friday's game will be live-streamed online (CUBuffs.com/WatchWBB).
The Buffaloes will be back on the Pac-12 Networks when they finish up the weekend at No. 10 Arizona. Sunday's game at UofA is set for 1 p.m. MT. Cindy Brunson and Joan Bonvicini will have the call.
Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will have the call for both games across the Colorado Radio Network. It will also be available online at CUBuffs.com/Listen and the TuneIn app.