The Colorado women’s lacrosse team hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2019.

With the CU graduation now in the books, the work to end that drought already has begun.

Head coach Ann Elliott Whidden offered no excuses for her team’s quick exit from the postseason, a loss last week at home against Arizona State in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament.

The Buffaloes were stacked with a roster capable of ending that NCAA Tournament drought this season, with Madeline Pisani coming off an all-time scoring season and veteran goalie Danielle Heintz leading the defense.

Heintz, though, was supplanted by freshman Elena Oh after just a few games. Then injuries hit. Not many of them, but CU lost key players to season-ending injuries in senior Morgan Pence, who ranks ninth all-time in program history in assists, and sophomore Emily Dodd, who was poised to build on a standout season.

While the Buffs lose Pisani, they are set to return Oh and Dodd, as well as four of their other five 20-point scorers in Maddie Shoup (30 goals, 13 assists), Lily Assini (23 goals, 16 assists), Teagan Ryan (25 goals, four assists) and Jaimey Hill (15 goals, eight assists). The list of possible returnees also includes junior Jess Peluso, the Big 12 defensive player of the year.

“In the end, we missed a couple things defensively there and just had to do a better job,” said Elliott Whidden, who owns a 130-75 record as the only head coach in program history. “There’s no excuses for any bit of it. But I think this team, it’s not that we couldn’t get it done. Here, we were probably one week too short. If we get to play (this week) this team turns it around and it’s a different story. But you don’t get that opportunity and there’s no excuse for that. I’ve got to find a way to do a better job for them.”

Notable

The CU men’s golf team begins play at the NCAA Northwest/Bremerton (Wash.) Regional on Monday. The Buffs are seeded sixth and are one of a conference-record 11 Big 12 programs who will compete among the six regional tournaments. … The Colorado outdoor track and field team begins the three-day Big 12 Conference championship meet Thursday in Lawrence, Kan. … The women’s soccer team completed its spring exhibition schedule by winning the Colorado Cup for the ninth time. Five of CU’s six midseason transfers were able to practice with the Buffs this spring. … Freshman Sydney Givens was named the MVP of the CU women’s golf team. Givens led CU in stroke average (73.59) and score in relation to par (plus-1.69), both of which set program records for a freshman. … Freshman Myla Wilkes from the track and field team nearly broke the team record in the 200-meter dash last week at the Desert Classic in Tucson, Ariz., finishing in 23.57 seconds.

The CU outdoor record is 23.45. … A total of 67 student-athletes received their degrees during Thursday’s commencement ceremony.