For some teams, the situation Colorado found itself in Wednesday night could have been critical.

On the road, the CU women’s basketball team had just two points from leading scorer Frida Formann in the first half, while second-leading scorer Jade Masogayo spent 17 straight minutes on the bench with foul trouble.

Rather than fold, the Buffs thrived, taking a nine-point lead into halftime and eventually beating host BYU 67-66 for their first road win in conference play.

Once again, the Buffs’ bench came through, led by a season-high 22 points from Nyamer Diew.

“She has had a great two weeks of practice,” Payne said of Diew. “She has been high energy, lots of talk. At this point, I think most players are hurting a little bit, whether it’s a foot or a back or whatever, and her attitude has been awesome.”

Led by Diew, the Buffs (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) have depth to withstand an off night by a starter or two on most nights.

CU is 22nd in the nation — and first in the Big 12 — in bench scoring, at 27.3 points per game. The Buffs’ bench outscored BYU’s reserves 39-12. It was the 15th time in 20 games that CU has had the advantage in bench points.

Payne and her staff have tinkered with the starting lineup a bit, using six different combinations this season. Some of that has been because of injury, and some has been trying to find the right five to lead off a game.

Regardless, the Buffs routinely have significant contributions from the bench. Wednesday’s game was the sixth time this season that the Buffs’ leading scorer wasn’t in the starting lineup. Fifteen times, a reserve has scored in double figures.

Diew, Johanna Teder, Tabitha Betson, Grace Oliver and Kennedy Sanders have been consistent contributors off the bench.

“I think everyone on the roster is really capable of playing and contributing,” Payne said. “We have so many players that can play that we’re just going to keep plugging people in. Having an unselfish group, that really helps, because then nobody really cares (who has the most points). They’re just ready when their name is called, and that’s been good for us.”

In addition to Diew, Betson came off the bench at BYU for six points and two big defensive plays late. Overall, CU’s last 11 points against BYU were scored by non-starters.Charity stripe

Over the years, the Buffs haven’t exactly been an elite free-throw shooting team. In Payne’s previous eight seasons, CU has an average ranking of 209th nationally in free throw percentage, finishing 199th or worse six times.

On Wednesday, however, the Buffs went 14-of-15 from the line and currently sit 132nd, which is on pace for the program’s best ranking since 2015-16 (119th).

Although it’s just a slight bump from last year (72.1%), the Buffs’ current percentage of 72.2 is on pace to be the best since 2014-15. CU doesn’t get to the line often but has shown improvement since the calendar flipped to 2025.

In the past eight games, starting Jan. 1 at TCU, the Buffs are shooting 78.0% from the line, compared to 69.5% in the first 12 games. They are 27-of-31 (87.1%) in the past four games.

Sanders (.917, 11-of-12), Garzon (.857, 24-of-28), Diew (.833, 25-of-30) and Formann (.813, 26-of-32) have led the way for CU at the line.

Notable

The Buffs outrebounded 16 of their first 17 opponents but haven’t outrebounded any of the past three. They were even with Cincinnati and BYU, and finished minus-1 against Kansas State. … After committing 51 turnovers during a two-game trip to West Virginia and Cincinnati — the worst two-game total for CU in 18 years — the Buffs have committed just 26 in the past two games combined.