They lost two of their top three scorers. Same with two of the Buffaloes’ top three rebounders, as well as the most consistent of the regular 3-point shooters.
Still, by today’s standards it’s an abundance of riches that has greeted JR Payne at the outset of her 11th season as head coach of the Colorado women’s basketball team.
Some didn’t play much. A couple others had their seasons cut short due to injuries. Still, Payne’s Buffs return seven players from last season. With second-leading scorer Zyanna Walker and second-leading rebounder Logyn Greer in that mix, a program whose culture has paved the way to five straight 20-win seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances in the past five years has the foundation in place to maintain those streaks.
“I think the biggest difference is just that we do have seven returners,” said Payne, whose club held its first preseason practice Wednesday. “Which is so helpful. Although last year’s team, even with only a few returners, it was such a great group of girls, it was actually pretty seamless. But this year’s been very seamless, especially with the extra practices we had for the Portugal trip.”
While CU’s early-August trip to Portugal might’ve been thin on competition — the Buffs won one game 127-24 — it offered an opportunity for those holdovers to offer a crash course in program expectations for the newcomers.
Guard Aniya’ Foy shot .358 on 3-pointers in 36 games as a first-year player last season at Kansas State. Another former Big 12 rival, guard Brooke Walker, averaged 5.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27 games last year at Utah. Anete Adler, a 6-foot-5 center from Boston, was an All-Defensive Team selection in the Patriot League. Mecailin Marshall was the American Conference Freshman of the Year last season at Tulane.
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“We’ve done a good job getting to know each other on and off the court, building chemistry, learning each other’s personalities,” Zyanna Walker said. “The offense we run, it’s very important we know where each other likes to play, and how we like to play. We’re always going to be aggressive defensively, and I think offensively we’ll be aggressive as well. We’ll be able to score the basketball from all three levels.”
Defense remains the Buffs’ calling card, and with the veterans Walker and Greer leading the way, CU expects to feature the familiar long-limbed defensive versatility that has spurred the recent run of NCAA Tournament appearances.
Offensively, the Buffs struggled from long range last season, finishing with a .273 mark on 3-pointers. But a return to form from two returnees, guards Claire O’Connor and Kennedy Sanders, could help the Buffs solve that problem. O’Connor’s first season in Boulder last year was limited to eight games due to a foot injury, but she shot .408 on 3-pointers for Gonzaga two years ago. Sanders, now going into her fourth season at CU, shot .321 on 3-pointers through 10 games last year before getting sidelined by a hip injury.
Payne said honing the team’s overall toughness will be a preseason priority before CU opens the season Nov. 4 at home against Morgan State.
“For me, by far the biggest thing is developing that toughness that we’ve always been known for,” Payne said. “I think that’s a hallmark, cornerstone of our program, and we’re not where we need to be. We will get where we need to be, but we’re not there yet.”
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