Colorado women’s basketball coach JR Payne hasn’t had any need to scout Gonzaga in years, considering the teams haven’t met since 2008.

Payne is quite familiar with the Bulldogs, however.

“I love Gonzaga,” Payne said. “It’s the first place I ever coached. I was there for five years (from 2000-05). For those of us that spent time there, we say we’re Zags for life, but not on Sunday. Will not be a Zag on Sunday.”

On Sunday, Payne’s Buffs will host Gonzaga in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

“It’ll be really fun,” Payne said after the Buffs’ 73-41 rout of Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday. “Two very good teams, very different style than (Southeastern Louisiana). They’re really big. They’ve got a couple of very dominant players. It’s gonna be a really good game.”

The Bulldogs are led by Yvonne Ejim, who earlier this month was named the West Coast Conference player of the year and defensive player of the year for the second year in a row. Earlier this week, she was named Associated Press All-American honorable mention for a second time, and she played last year for Canada in the Summer Olympics.

Gonzaga point guard Allie Turner was All-WCC first team and the WCC freshman of the year.

CU, meanwhile, counters with a veteran squad led by senior point guard Kindyll Wetta, junior forward Jade Masogayo, as well as a group of developing freshmen.

While Payne hasn’t coached at or against Gonzaga in years, she does have history with Bulldogs coach Lisa Fortier. They worked together for one year at Gonzaga, in 2004-05 — Payne’s last year with the Zags and Fortier’s first.

As head coaches, they’ve matched up five times, all while Payne was at Santa Clara. Payne is 2-4 all-time against Gonzaga, including 2-3 against Fortier.

So, while Payne and the Buffs will do everything they can to get a win and move on in the WBIT, Sunday will have some extra meaning.

“Their coach is a very good friend of mine,” Payne said. “We’ve known all of them for well, 25 years, probably, so definitely a program that we cheer for a lot, and it’s really awesome (to match up).”