Losing both games on a road trip to Texas didn’t damage the confidence of the Colorado women’s basketball team.

It did, however, spotlight some of the areas in which the Buffaloes have to improve.

“We’re good; 100% we’re good,” Buffs junior Jade Masogayo said. “I think we’re gonna be just fine. Just got to fix some things, but we’ll be all right.”

CU (10-4, 1-2 Big 12) returns home Wednesday to battle Central Florida. The Buffs are looking to get back in the win column after losing at TCU and Baylor last week.

There are plenty of statistical areas to evaluate in figuring out what the Buffs are doing well or what they are struggling with in the early part of Big 12 play. Yet, in the eyes of head coach JR Payne, it comes down to competing.

“I’m really encouraging the team to really compete,” she said. “If we need rebounding, you’ve got to be best rebounder in practice. If we need shooting, you’ve got to be in the gym getting up shots. That’s sort of where we are.

“We’re confident. We know we can beat anybody on our schedule, but we really need a more competitive mindset.”

That starts in practice, and it hasn’t been anywhere near where Payne wants it to be at this stage of the season. There’s plenty of time to fix that, with 15 conference games to go, but Payne said, “I just think we need to ramp it up. I really do.”

Because the competitiveness hasn’t been up to par, Payne and her staff still aren’t sure what they’re going to get from certain players night in and night out. That could cause lineup changes or playing time decisions based upon who steps up in practice on a given day.

“Halfway through the season, we’re still trying to figure out best lineups,” Payne said. “I keep telling the team, like, we have more good players than we’ve ever had, but when you’re even with somebody, you have to find a way to beat them out. Otherwise, it just is going to be like figuring out who’s on today.

“That’s sort of what it’s felt like, honestly, as a coach. So-and-so had a great shoot-around today; I think they’re ready to go. Let’s go. Or they come in and they play aggressively and play well, their minutes are going to get extended.”

When Masogayo talked about the Buffs being OK, it’s because she sees the potential of the team. Payne sees it, too, but they haven’t reached that potential.

“There’s lots still to work on and improve,” Payne said. “We feel like we have everything we need to be successful and just have to keep working at it.”

Offensively, the Buffs weren’t at their best last week, but they were pleased with their overall defensive effort and take some confidence from that.

“I feel like defensively, we did pretty good,” Masogayo said. “We did pretty good containing certain players getting certain shots up and stuff like that. We held them below their average scoring-wise. So just continue to do that. Just be more intense on defense and lock in that way.

With a new roster and playing in a new conference, there certainly are some expected kinks to iron out. The Buffs are hoping those issues will improve as they move forward.

“I feel like every loss is pretty much a lesson,” Masogayo said. “A lot of things to be learned out of that (trip to Texas) and we’re just trying to make sure that we fix those mistakes so we have a better outcome for UCF.”