Basketball season is only ramping up in Boulder, as the CU Women’s Buffs now prepare for the most important game in their history. Fifth-ranked UCLA is coming to take on the third-ranked Buffs in Boulder on Friday evening. This contest will be the first time two top-five ranked teams will play each other in Colorado basketball history, for both the men and women. Unsurprisingly, the Lady Buffs aren’t shying away from the challenge and pressure that comes with such a historic moment in CU basketball.
“We’re just really excited [to play UCLA],” said Buffaloes head coach JR Payne. “This game will be only the third top-ten matchup in the history of Colorado basketball and we’re just excited to keep that going. We just have to keep that energy going from our community.”
The women’s crazy weekend doesn’t end after Friday either, but rather it’s only getting started. Just two days after taking on No. 5 UCLA, they have to face No. 6 University of Southern California in Boulder on Sunday. If the Lady Buffs can manage to win both games, they’ll undoubtedly be the second-ranked team in the entire country in next week’s poll, ranked only behind South Carolina.
Over the last three months, CU’s women have been kicking ass and taking names. The Lady Buffs opened their season by upsetting No. 1 ranked Louisiana State and haven’t slowed their roll since. The team currently has a nearly impeccable 15-1 record and sits as the sole leader of the Pac-12 conference for the first time in school history, which is the best women’s hoops conference in the entire country this season.
The AP Poll, which is college basketball’s most prestigious ranking system, currently has Colorado ranked as the third-best basketball team in the entire country. To put into perspective how impressive that is, the Lady Buffs hadn’t even been ranked within the top ten since 1995. The 2024 women’s basketball team is easily the best Buffaloes team fielded in Boulder since the 1990 football team that won the national title.
The Boulder community is beginning to recognize the greatness displayed by Colorado’s women, as attendance numbers for their games are reaching record highs. Over 9,000 fans made the trek to the CU Event Center to watch the Lady Buffs defeat eighth-ranked Stanford, which is the ninth-largest turnout in program history.
“I’m super proud of our team, but also our community,” Payne said after defeating Stanford, . “They really showed out today and I think it was a great experience. I’m hoping we’ll continue to build on that. t’s so fun to play in front of a crowd like that… When we have that energy in the building, it makes a huge difference.”
Friday’s game in Boulder is likely to be yet another record-breaker, as it looks to be the first sellout crowd since at least the 1990s. Around 11,000 fans look poised to be in attendance at the CU Event Center to watch the historic game. Most universities, outside of Iowa and South Carolina, have trouble filling seats at women’s games. Boulder can now consider itself among the upper echelon of women’s basketball support bases, which is a major milestone in a state that’s notorious for having a lack of women’s professional sports.
Despite the high demand for tickets, their prices are still relatively low. Fans can get into the CU Event Center on Friday for only $10. The Buffs feed off of the immense energy that Boulder provides them, and they’ll need it this weekend.
“Energy is so contagious. Energy really impacts the game for us, for the crowd, and everywhere,” said Colorado star point guard Jaylyn Sherrod. “It’s just a fun environment to play in and it gets us going, so it’s really something we appreciate.”
