Bouler>> Jade Masogayo felt some pregame jitters on Thursday night, but they didn’t last long.

The Colorado junior scored four early points to settle in, and finished with a game-high 19 points to help the Colorado women’s basketball team to an 81-66 victory against Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center in the home opener.

“That was pretty up and down,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “Lots of good things, lots to learn still.”

In addition to Masogayo’s big night, Nyamer Diew had 14 points, Johanna Teder had 10 points and senior Kindyll Wetta posted a career-high 10 assists for CU.

Freshman Tabitha Betson had a good night, as well, with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.

A year ago, UNC jumped to a 14-0 lead before CU cruised to a 20-point win. This time, it was CU getting off to a fast start, going up 12-2 just four minutes in. Wetta set the tone with a jumper right away and three assists in the early surge – two of those assists to Masogayo.

“Kindyll was really good at attacking and getting to those paint touches,” Teder said.

It wouldn’t be an easy night for the Buffs, though, because the Bears hung around most of the game.

CU took a 41-27 lead on a Lior Garzon 3-pointer midway through the second quarter, but went 3-for-15 over the next nine minutes. During that time, UNC sliced the Buffs’ lead down to 49-41 midway through the third quarter.

Kennedy Sanders then sparked a 10-1 CU run that bumped the lead to 59-42 late in the third. That would be CU’s biggest lead, but UNC didn’t go away. Tatum West scored six points in a 16-8 UNC surge that cut the Buffs’ lead to 70-61 with 3:33 to play.

Tabitha Betson and Johanna Teder hit late 3-pointers to seal the victory for the Buffs.

“Proud of our ability to weather the storm,” Payne said. “I thought we did a great job of really sticking together.”