The Historic Impact of Colorado Women's Basketball Upsetting Texas Tech

Led by coach JR Payne, the Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball program is enjoying a run of success that hasn't been seen in Boulder since the 1990s.

While Payne remains primarily focused on leading the Buffs to the NCAA Tournament, Colorado's upset win over the No. 20 Texas Tech Lady Raiders on Saturday secured the program's fifth straight 20-win season, a stretch that hasn't been hit since 1992-97. Then, legendary coach Ceal Barry led the Buffs to six consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 30-win campaign and a trip to the Elite Eight in 1994-95.

Historic Impact Colorado Women's Basketball Upsetting Texas Tech Buffaloes Red Raiders Ceal Barry NCAA Tournament Chances CU — Mar 7, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes forward Jade Masogayo (14) shoots the ball while defended by TCU Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince (13) during the third quarter at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images | Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

Payne was particularly pleased by Colorado's (20-8, 11-5 Big 12) ability to step up on senior night, which honored forwards Anaëlle Dutat and Jade Masogayo.

“I'm just really excited with how we played tonight on senior night," Payne said, per CU. "You always want to win, we always want to play well, but to do it on senior night against a ranked team in the way that we did, to finish so strong and have so many people contribute. I haven't seen the stats, but I think we had a really balanced scoring night with many different people contributing in double figures, and our effort on the glass was unbelievable. It's really cool that we could get the win for our seniors."

THE BUFFS PULL AN UPSET! 😤

✔️ BIG TIME WIN FOR Colorado securing a DUB over No. 20 Texas Tech 75-68. They were led by Desiree Wooten's 19 PTS who was huge throughout the game.#NCAAWBB x @CUBuffsWBB pic.twitter.com/hBsldJzBcC
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) February 22, 2026

Dutat and Masogayo combined for 18 points, Zyanna Walker led the Buffs with 18 of her own, and Desiree Wooten contributed 16.

"We really believe in ourselves down the stretch, and we believe in each other," Payne said. "We believe in our execution. We know we can guard. We're really feeding into that. I can hear them talking in timeouts where they're saying, ‘This is what we do. ’ We just believe that we're going to be successful."

Colorado's NCAA Tournament Chances

If the season ended now, the Buffs would feel good about their March Madness resume. They currently sit in fourth place in the Big 12 standings and were a projected No. 12 seed in ESPN's latest projection.

Colorado is looking to reach its first NCAA Tournament since Jaylyn Sherrod, Aaronette Vonleh and Frida Formann led the Buffs to the Sweet 16 in 2024. In tune with today's college climate, Colorado's current roster doesn't feature any remaining players from that veteran-laden 2023-24 team.

MORE: NFL Legend Barry Sanders Speaks Candidly on Deion Sanders' Star Power

MORE: Why Julian Lewis Suddenly Matters More In The Big 12

MORE: Joseph Williams Drops Powerful Social Media Post Amid Colorado's Winter Workouts

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE

Two regular season games remain, beginning with the Utah Utes visiting the CU Events Center on Tuesday evening. After that, Colorado will take on the BYU Cougars in Provo on Saturday.

“What I love about their program is they are the same every single day they show up," Payne said of Utah. "Kind of like how I talk about AD (Dutat), they just show up and they run their action. They're very disciplined and they do their thing."

Tip-off between the Buffs and Utes is set for 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+.