Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball

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

Colorado Buffaloes
2024–25 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team
University	University of Colorado Boulder
First season	1975; 50 years ago (1975)
Head coach	JR Payne (9th season)
Conference	Big 12
Location	Boulder, Colorado
Arena	CU Events Center (capacity: 11,064)
Nickname	Buffaloes
Colors	Silver, black, and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1993, 1995, 2002
Other NCAA 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
AIAW tournament appearances
1981, 1982
Conference tournament champions
1989, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997
Conference regular-season champions
1989, 1995

Conferences

Colorado players defend a shot by an Air Force Falcons women's basketball opponent during a 2023 game at Clune Arena

Colorado plays in the Pac-12 Conference. Prior to the 2011–12 season, they played in the Big 12 Conference. The Buffaloes joined the Big 12 in 1997 when the Big 12 was formed, following the merger of the Big Eight Conference with several former members of the Southwest Conference. Colorado is scheduled to rejoin the Big 12 Conference beginning 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 only managing only a career 33–57 (.367) record in Pac-12 play. JR Payne inherited a program that only 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/#4 ranked Oregon 102–43, the 59 point loss was the worst loss in 35 years, and 4th worst in program history.^[5] 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.^[6]

Roster

2022–23 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jaylyn Sherrod 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) GS Rasmay HS Birmingham, AL G 1 Jadyn Atchison 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Cedar Hill HS Cedar Hill, TX G 2 Tameiya Sadler 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr St. Patrick-St. Vincent HS Washington Vallejo, CA G 3 Frida Formann 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Falkonergårdens Gymnasium Bagsværd, Denmark G 4 Sara-Rose Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence Missouri Victoria, Australia G 5 Kennedy Sanders 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Chaska HS Chaska, MN F 11 Quay Miller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) GS Kentridge HS Washington Renton, WA G 13 Lele Tanuvasa 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr St. Mary's HS Eureka, CA G 15 Kindyll Wetta 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Valor Christian HS Castle Rock, CO C 21 Aaronette Vonleh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr West Linn HS Arizona West Linn, OR G 22 Shelomi Sanders 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) RS Fr Rockwall-Heath HS Jackson State Rockwall, TX G 23 Mikayla Johnson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Fr Bartlett HS Anchorage, AK G 24 Maddie Nolan 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) GS Zionsville Community HS Michigan Zionsville, IN F 25 Brianna McLeod 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Kings Christian Brampton, ON G 31 Sophie Gerber 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Desert Mountain Scottsdale, AZ F 32 Ruthie Gerber 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Bridgeport HS Bridgeport, NE F 45 Charlotte Whittaker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) GS St Andrew's College Cust, New Zealand	Head coach JR Payne (Saint Mary's) Assistant coach(es) Toriano Towns (Saint Mary's) Alex Earl (Arizona State) Taelor Karr (Gonzaga) Matt Hower (Colorado State) Shelley Sheetz (Colorado) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with (W)
Source^[7]

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) (2010–2011)
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–present)
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:		143–103 (.581)	58–82 (.414)
Total:		927–615 (.601)
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 15 NCAA Tournaments, with a record of 21–15.

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
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