With five minutes to play on Sunday, the Colorado women’s basketball team didn’t have any players with double-digit points.
By the end of the game, though, the Buffaloes had a 65-45 win against Southern, three players in double figures and five players with at least seven points.
“That’s very balanced,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I think we have a lot of different players that are confident to step up.
“We have a lot of good players on our team. I don’t think we have anybody on our team that’s going to score 25 a night, but we have a lot of people that (can score).”
Now in her ninth season at CU, Payne has typically had a balanced team without a dominant scorer. But the balance might be more a part of the formula this year than ever before.
Featuring 10 new players, the Buffs (4-1) have relied on several different people at times and will look to be balanced again when Utah State visits Boulder on Tuesday.
Junior forward Jade Masogayo leads the Buffs with 10.6 points per game.
She’s been in double figures three times, but had just two points against Southern. Others stepped up, though, led by Johanna Teder’s 11 points.
This season, there are seven Buffs averaging at least 5.8 points, and six have had at least one double-digit game. That doesn’t even include senior Frida Formann, who made her season debut on Sunday and scored nine points. Formann is CU’s top returning scorer, averaging 12.5 points a year ago.
“I feel like we have a lot of depth,” said freshman Tabitha Betson, who had 10 points against Southern. “It’s a little less stressful. When you’re relying on one or two players every night, it’s like you live and die by them. We have a team where at any given night someone else can step up and have a good game.”