DENVER — Broomfield freshman Bella Barajas was conflicted at the state wrestling tournament Saturday evening.
Standing inside the tunnels at Ball Arena, now in street clothes, she beamed when asked about her sister, Shayla Martinez, the early headlining champion who had just won her second straight 5A girls 190-pound title.
As for Barajas’ own tournament — where she’d placed sixth at 170 pounds — her face momentarily fell before finding some consolation.
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez caps a perfect season, winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
“She placed (on the podium) her first season, and then went on to win twice,” Barajas said of Martinez. “I want to be wrestling for the top of the podium next year with her. I want to follow in her footsteps.”
Barajas eventually caved and said she was proud of herself for making the podium in her first season. But she was more interested in talking about her sister — the athlete and mentor.
Big sister was listening in.
“She wants to follow in my footsteps, I heard her say,” Martinez said as she shook her head and smiled, watching Barajas as she disappeared into the distance. “I want her to create her own footsteps for other people to follow and look up to.”
Martinez then paused. For the first time since winning gold Saturday, her eyes welled up with tears.
“My sister — she’s a hard worker,” Martinez continued. “She’s a three-sport athlete. I want her to keep her head up high. I’m so proud of her.”
Of course, Martinez would characterize the joy of winning her second straight state title largely through the fact that she got to wrestle on the same team as her sister.
But she could’ve framed it in many ways: like the fact that she called her shot to repeat an entire year ago, before she’d even left Ball Arena after last season’s state tournament.
This winter, she went on to declare that winning a second straight state title wouldn’t be enough — it needed to be on the back of an undefeated campaign.
“So last year she had one loss,” Broomfield first-year girls wrestling coach Luci Schement said last month when she was told Martinez put her undefeated goal in the public sphere. “And so this year, she wanted to come back better.”
Martinez never wavered. She finished a perfect 40-0 as a junior, registering 34 pins — 12 of which came inside the first 30 seconds of the match.
At the state tournament, she pinned everyone, sticking Loveland’s Abigail Stearns in the exact same time as she did in last year’s final — 63 seconds.
With her hand raised in victory Saturday, Martinez put up two fingers to signify the repeat.
She needed a few more to count all of the people she said helped her reach this moment.
She thanked the Broomfield boys team, whom she wrestled with, along with the girls team, during the season.
She highlighted the Eagles community and the one at Brighton High School, her training grounds during the offseason. (She even donned a half-and-half sweatshirt split between Broomfield and Brighton High School before and after her finals match.)
“Matilda Hruby,” Martinez said, naming Brighton’s 155-pound girls wrestler, who’d later wrestle in the night’s most anticipated match. Hruby was attempting to win her third title against Pomona’s Timberly Martinez, who was eyeing her fourth.
“I’ve been working with her for a long time and she really pushed me to be the best version of myself,” she added. “She got me here. I’m not going to lie.”
Martinez — who attends Monarch High — then cracked a wry smile, “I want to be like Matilda but create my own path, you know?”
That’s right. Even on her biggest day in the sport, Martinez couldn’t go long without thinking of her younger sister.
“She’s young. She’s our baby,” Martinez said. “I told her to keep her head up high and move forward. Like, ‘You’re still a champion in my eyes.’”
As for Martinez herself?
Well, she called her shot. Again.
“I’m coming for it all,” she said. “I meet hard opponents outside of Colorado, but I want to be the best, so I’m going to do whatever it takes. I want to be the best. I want to be big — something big.”
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez runs to hug her father Sam Barajas after capping a perfect season by winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez caps a perfect season, winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez capped a perfect season by winning her second straight state title in the Class 5A 190-pound bracket Saturday night at Ball Arena in Denver. (Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez caps a perfect season, winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez caps a perfect season, winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez caps a perfect season, winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
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DENVER — Broomfield’s Shayla Martinez runs to hug her father Sam Barajas after capping a perfect season by winning her second straight state title at 5A girls 190 pounds at Ball Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps)
Through the first couple months of the season, Anaelle Dutat was perhaps the most consistent player for the Colorado women’s basketball team.
A double-double threat nearly every game and one of the Big 12’s top rebounders, Dutat averaged 9.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in her first 18 games.
That suddenly changed about three weeks ago. During a six-game stretch, Dutat averaged only 2.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Colorado Buffaloes’ Anaëlle Dutat, center, shoots between Oklahoma State Cowgirls’ Micah Gray, left, and Achol Akot, right, at the CU Events Center in Boulder on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
“Honestly, I don’t know (why),” she said. “I didn’t feel more tired or anything. I don’t know; I just felt really passive, like a step behind on everything. I was trying to find solutions at that point. I’m like, I don’t even know what to do.”
A meeting and film session with head coach JR Payne earlier this week seems to have done the trick. Dutat didn’t put up big numbers in Sunday’s 80-79 upset of No. 14 TCU, but she was exceptional on defense. She then had 12 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday’s 73-63 win at Houston.
She and the Buffs will aim to keep the momentum going Saturday when BYU visits the CU Events Center.
“That TCU game was, like, a good start to going back to how I used to play,” the senior transfer from Rhode Island said. “I think the Houston one was just the same, following that TCU game, and I’m just trying to keep it like that.”
As CU makes a push for an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, it will need more big games from Dutat, a 6-foot forward.
“(The Houston game) was huge because she’s been someone that’s been so reliable and so trustworthy,” Payne said. “Everyone just trusts that she’s going to do her job and be where she’s supposed to be and things like that.
“But for someone that is coming down the home stretch of their college career, you want to perform and you want to contribute in a meaningful way, and we need her to because she is our best rebounder and one of our best defenders, an elite athlete that can create. So it was really great to see her be aggressive again.”
The entire team has been more aggressive in the past few weeks with the postseason looming. Since a 74-68 loss at Central Florida — which is tied for 14th in the Big 12 — on Jan. 18, the Buffs are 5-1, with the only loss coming against first-place and No. 19 West Virginia.
“I think we’re more urgent about getting to March Madness, the end of the season,” Dutat said. “We’re all working towards the same goal and because we’re seeing that it’s getting more and more tangible, I think we’re really all focusing on the same thing.”
While getting to the NCAA Tournament is the goal, Payne’s teams have always focused on the task at hand, rather than the big picture.
“When you’re able to focus on what’s directly in front of you, it allows you an opportunity to achieve your goal,” Payne said. “If you’re just worried about the goal that might happen a month from now, you probably won’t attain it because you won’t handle your business day-to-day.”
For now the task is taking on BYU, which has had mixed results in Big 12 play but has proven capable of playing with and beating some of the top teams in the conference.
“I think they’re really dangerous,” Payne said. “I think they are one of the more dangerous teams in the league, because they can be so good. They’re also just a team that I have a lot of respect for because I respect teams that are just going to work hard, play hard, do what they’re supposed to do, no complaining.”
That’s how CU has played of late, as it has moved into the top six of the Big 12 standings.
“I feel like we play more together,” Dutat said. “We have a better sense of how to play with each other, so I think it relates on the court and I think our off-court chemistry is getting better. Like, way, way better, and it’s translating to the on-court (chemistry), so it’s really fun.”
CU Buffs women’s basketball vs. BYU
TIPOFF: Saturday, 1 p.m., CU Events Center
TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KHOW 630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 17-8, 8-5 Big 12; BYU 17-8, 6-7 Big 12
COACHES: Colorado — JR Payne, 10th season (181-124; 282-237 career). BYU — Lee Cummard, 1st season (17-8).
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado — F Tabitha Betson, 6-2, So. (4.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg); F Anaelle Dutat, 6-0, Sr. (8.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.8 spg, .515 fg%); F Logyn Greer, 6-4, Fr. (9.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg); F Jade Masogayo, 6-3, Sr. (12.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.1 apg, .514 fg%); G Zyanna Walker, 5-11, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.3 spg); G Desiree Wooten, 5-8, Jr. (12.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.5 spg). BYU — G Sydney Benally, 5-9, Fr. (7.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4.4 apg); G/F Brinley Cannon, 6-1, So. (7.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 spg); G Delaney Gibb, 5-10, So. (16.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.9 spg); G Olivia Hamlin, 5-10, Fr. (12.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.8 spg); G Marya Hudgins,6-0, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, .368 3pt%); F Lara Rohkohl, 6-3, Sr. (7.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, .647 fg%)
NOTES: CU is 9-7 all-time against BYU, including a 67-66 win in Provo, Utah, on Jan. 29, 2025. That was the first meeting between the teams in 22 years. … BYU won the first six meetings with CU, all from 1975-80, but CU has won nine of the last 10, including seven in a row. … The Buffs are 12-2 at home. BYU is 4-4 in true road games. … In conference play, CU is ninth in the Big 12 in scoring (67.2 points per game), and BYU is 10th (67.1). Defensively, the Buffs are seventh (allowing 64.5 per game) and BYU is 10th (69.5). … In the past three games, Masogayo is 22-of-24 (.917) from the free throw line. … As of Friday, CU was No. 47 in the NET rankings, while BYU was at No. 56. … Cummard was an assistant at BYU from 2019 to 2025 before being promoted for this season. He played for BYU from 2005 to 2009, earning All-American honors. … CU great Shelley Sheetz, who starred for the Buffs from 1991-95, will be recognized Saturday as she will be added to the Buffs’ Wall of Honor. Sheetz, now an assistant coach for the Buffs, was CU’s first-ever Associated Press All-American, in 1995.
There are just 16 Flock Safety cameras in Thornton.
But those electronic eyes, mounted to poles at intersections throughout this city of nearly 150,000, brought out dozens of people to the Thornton Community Center for a discussion on how the controversial license plate-reading cameras are being used — and whether they should be used at all.
Law enforcement agencies cite the automatic license-plate readers, or ALPRs, as a powerful tool that bolsters their ability to locate and stop suspects who may be on their way to committing their next assault or robbery.
But Meg Moore, a six-year resident of the city who is helping spearhead opposition to Flock cameras, said she worries about how the rapidly spreading surveillance system is impacting residents’ privacy and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Thornton’s Flock camera data can be seen by more than 1,600 other law enforcement agencies across the country.
“We want to make sure this is truly safe and effective,” she said in an interview.
The debate over Atlanta-based Flock Safety’s cameras, which not only can record license plate numbers but can search for the specific characteristics of a vehicle linked to an alleged crime, has been picking up steam in recent years. The discussions have largely played out in metro Denver and Front Range cities in recent months, but this year they reached the state Capitol, where lawmakers are pitching a couple of bills to tighten up rules around surveillance.
In Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston has been butting heads with the City Council over the issue. Johnston is so convinced of Flock’s value in combating crime that in October, he extended the contract with the company against the wishes of much of the council. Denver has 111 Flock cameras.
In Longmont, elected leaders took a different approach. Its City Council voted in December to pause all sharing of Flock Safety data with other municipalities, declined an expansion of its contract with the company and began searching for an alternative.
Louisville beat its Boulder County neighbor to the punch by several months, disabling its Flock cameras at the end of June and removing them by the start of October. City spokesman Derek Cosson said privacy concerns from residents largely drove the city’s decision.
Steve Mathias, a Thornton resident for nearly a decade, would like to see Flock’s cameras gone from his city. Short of that, he said, reliable controls on how the streetside data is collected, stored and shared are paramount.
“In our rush to make our community safe, we’re not getting the full picture of the risks we’re facing,” he said. “We’re making ourselves safe in some ways by making ourselves less safe in others.”
The hot-button debate in Thornton played out at last month’s community meeting and continued at a City Council meeting last week, where the city’s Police Department gave a presentation on the Flock system.
Cmdr. Chad Parker laid out several examples of Flock’s cameras being instrumental in apprehending bad actors — in cases ranging from homicide to sex assault to child exploitation to a $5,700 theft at a Nike store.
As recently as Monday, Thornton police announced on X that investigators had tracked down a man suspected of hitting and killing a 14-year-old boy who was riding a small motorized bike over the weekend. The agency said a Flock camera in Thornton gave officers a “strong lead” in identifying the hit-and-run suspect within 24 hours.
At the Feb. 3 council study session, police Chief Jim Baird described Flock’s camera system as “one of the best tools I’ve seen in 32 years of law enforcement.”
But that doesn’t sway those in Thornton who are wary of the camera network.
“I’m not a fan of building toward a surveillance state,” Mathias said.
The hazards of a system like Flock, he said, lie not just in the pervasive data-collection methods the company uses but also in who eventually might get to see and use that data — be it a rogue law enforcement officer or a hacker who manages to break into Flock’s database.
“A person who wants us to do us harm with this system will have as much capability as the police have to do good,” he said.
A Flock Safety license plate recognition camera is seen on a street light post on Ken Pratt Boulevard near the intersection with U.S. 287 in Longmont on Dec. 10, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera)
Crime-fighting tool or prone to misuse?
In November, a Columbine Valley police officer was disciplined after he accused a Denver woman of theft based in large part on evidence from Flock cameras, according to reporting from Fox31. The officer mistakenly claimed the woman had stolen a $25 package in a nearby town and said he’d used Flock cameras to track her car.
“It’s putting too much trust in the hands of people who don’t know what they’re doing,” DeFlock’s Will Freeman said of so many police agencies’ adoption of the technology.
Last summer, 9News reported that the Loveland Police Department had shared access to its Flock camera system with U.S. Border Patrol. That came two months after the station reported that the department gave the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives access to its account, which ATF agents then used to conduct searches for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Parker, the Thornton police commander, said any searches connected to immigration cases or to women from out of state who are seeking an abortion in Colorado — another scenario that’s been raised — “won’t ever touch our system.” State laws restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities and with other states’ abortion-related investigations.
“Any situation I feel uncomfortable about or that might be in conflict with our policies or with Colorado law, I will revoke their access — no problem,” he said.
Thornton deputy city attorney Adam Stephens said motorists’ Fourth Amendment rights are not being violated by the city’s Flock camera network. During last week’s meeting, he cited several recent court cases that, in essence, determined that there is no right to privacy while driving down a public roadway.
In an interview, Stephens said Thornton was “in compliance with the law.”
Flock spokesman Paris Lewbel wrote in an email that the company was “proud to partner with the Thornton Police Department to provide technology used to investigate and solve crimes and to help locate missing persons.”
Lewbel provided links to two news stories about minor children who were abducted and then found with the help of Flock’s cameras in Thornton and elsewhere.
At the council’s study session last week, Parker provided more examples of Flock’s role in fighting crime and finding missing people in Thornton. They included police nabbing a suspect who had hit and killed a pedestrian, locating a burglar who was suspected of robbing several dispensaries, and tracking down an 89-year-old man with dementia who had gotten into his car and gotten lost.
“It allows us to find vehicles in a manner we weren’t able to previously,” Parker said of the camera network.
Thornton installed its first 10 Flock cameras in 2022 and then added five more — plus a mobile unit — two years later. The initial deployment was in response to a spike in auto thefts in the city, which peaked at 1,205 in 2022 (amid an overall surge in Colorado). Thornton recorded 536 auto thefts last year.
The city says Flock cameras have been involved in 200 cases that resulted in an arrest or a warrant application in Thornton over the last three years.
Thornton police have access to nearly 2,200 other agencies’ Flock systems across the United States, while nearly 1,650 law enforcement agencies can access Thornton’s Flock data, according to data provided by the city.
For Anaya Robinson, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the networked nature of Flock cameras across wide geographies is a big part of the problem. By linking one police agency’s Flock technology with that of thousands of other police departments, it “creates a surveillance environment that could violate the Fourth Amendment.”
The sweeping nature of Flock’s surveillance is also worrisome, Robinson said.
“You’re not just collecting the data of vehicles that ping (a police department’s) hot list (of suspicious vehicles), you’re collecting the data of every vehicle that is caught on a Flock camera,” he said.
And because the technology is relatively inexpensive — Thornton pays $48,500 to Flock annually for its system — it’s an affordable crime-fighting tool for most communities. But that doesn’t mean it should be deployed, DeFlock’s Freeman said.
Fight remains a largely local one
State lawmakers are crafting bills this session to limit the reach of surveillance technologies like Flock’s.
Senate Bill 70 would put limits on access to databases and the sharing of information. It would prohibit a government from accessing a database that reveals an individual’s or a vehicle’s historical location information, and it would prohibit sharing that information with third parties or with government agencies outside the controlling entity’s jurisdiction. Certain exceptions would apply.
Senate Bill 71 would direct a “law enforcement agency to use surveillance technology only for lawful purposes directly related to public safety or for an active investigation.” It also would forbid the use of facial-recognition technology without a warrant and would place limits on the amount of time data can be retained.
Both bills await their first committee hearings.
Thornton says it doesn’t use facial recognition technology. Its Flock data is retained for 30 days.
Regardless of what passes at the state Capitol, the real fight over license plate readers of any type will likely continue to happen at the local level. Thornton’s council plans further discussions on Flock next month.
For Moore, the resident who is leading the charge against the cameras, potential surveillance of the immigrant community is what troubles her the most.
“We want to make sure we’re operating this so that it’s safe for all of our residents,” she said. “Getting rid of the cameras altogether is a tough sell. But there needs to be a conversation about guardrails.”
Mayor Pro Tem Roberta Ayala, a Thornton native, said she has heard a wide array of opinions from her constituents about the advantages and potential downsides of the technology.
“Could it be misused? Yes. Do we want to stop that? Yes,” she said.
But as a victim of crime herself, Ayala also knows the immense damage and disruption that crime causes victims and their families, be it a stolen vehicle or something much worse. And as a teacher, Ayala is concerned about achieving justice for the families of children who are harmed or abused.
“If it can save even five kids,” she said, “I want the cameras.”
The Buffs’ Jade Masogayo makes a shot and draws a foul from TCU’s Kennedy Basham on Sunday in Boulder. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Fast break
Why the Buffs won: They had one of their most efficient offensive performances of the season, hitting 49.2% of their shots from the field, 88.9% from the free throw line and committing just eight turnovers.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Jade Masogayo: Scored a season-high 23 points while hitting 9-of-10 free throws. Also had three rebounds and two assists.
2. TCU’s Olivia Miles: Tied her season high with 31 points, and also had five rebounds and two steals.
3. CU’s Logyn Greer: The freshman had one of her best games, with 17 points and five rebounds.
Up next: The Buffs will play at Houston on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
After missing a free throw with 58.3 seconds to play Sunday, Colorado’s Jade Masogayo couldn’t help but think back a week.
On Feb. 1, Masogayo missed five consecutive free throws in the final three minutes of regulation during a tight game at Kansas that the Buffs eventually won in overtime.
Fortunately for her and the Colorado women’s basketball team, there wasn’t a repeat of the previous Sunday.
Masogayo was clutch down the stretch this time around and converted a three-point play with 2.1 seconds left to lift the Buffaloes to an 80-79 upset of No. 14 TCU at the CU Events Center.
The senior forward, who finished with a season-high 23 points, tied the game with a layup while drawing a foul. She then stepped to the line and hit what proved to be the game-winning free throw.
“I said, ‘This going in right here, right now,’” she said. “’I don’t got no other choice. This going in right now.’”
TCU star Olivia Miles, who scored 31 points, hit the side of the backboard with a last-second 3-point attempt, sparking a CU celebration after its second win over an Associated Press ranked opponent this season.
“I mean, wow,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “What a resilient group we have here to take a team like that down the stretch, down eight two separate times. Our execution and aggressive mindset and ability to make big plays, so many people made big plays tonight.”
Masogayo in particular. She was fouled with 58.3 seconds to go and the Buffs trailing 76-74. She missed the first shot, though.
“Yeah, definitely on the one that I missed, I was pretty much taken back to Kansas,” Masogayo said.
She was 8-for-8 at the line against Kansas before going 1-for-7 in the last 3:29 of the fourth quarter that day, which led to the game going to overtime.
BOULDER , CO – FEBRUARY 8: Zyanna Walker (1) of the Colorado Buffaloes drives on Taylor Bigby (1) of the TCU Horned Frogs during the fourth quarter of the Buffs’ 80-79 win at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, February 8, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“I was just telling myself on the line, like, ‘Jade, we’re not going to do this again,’” she said. “’Like, come on, let’s just finish it.’ That was pretty much my mentality.”
She finished this time, hitting the second one, then tying the game with two free throws with 24.2 seconds left and winning it with her free throw at the 2.1-second mark. She went 9-for-10 at the line for the day.
“Jade was obviously incredible down the stretch,” Payne said.
It was hardly a solo effort.
Freshman Logyn Greer had her best game in Big 12 play, scoring 17 points and pulling down five rebounds. She had 10 of her points in third quarter, after CU had fallen behind by eight.
Desiree Wooten energized the Buffs with 12 first-quarter points before finishing with 19. Zyanna Walker had 15 points and four steals while locking down on defense.
Anaelle Dutat and Tabitha Betson combined for just six points, but those all came in the fourth quarter, cutting TCU’s eight-point lead to four.
“Lots of different people made winning plays tonight, offensively and defensively,” Payne said, while praising the defensive efforts by Dutat, Walker and Betson. “Just great team effort. I’m really, really happy about this one.”
CU led by 11 in the first quarter and never trailed in the first half. Then, TCU’s Donovyn Hunter and Miles got hot, sparking a 13-5 surge to start the third quarter.
Miles drilled a 3-pointer with 5:46 to play in the third to put the Horned Frogs up 47-39, prompting Payne to call a timeout. The TCU senior was hit with a technical foul for taunting, though, and CU capitalized. Wooten hit the ensuing two free throws and Walker a quick jumper to slice the deficit to 47-43 in just nine seconds.
“We thought we could get a four-point swing out of it, and we did,” Payne said. “So that was really important. Good execution by the team.”
TCU got the lead back to eight, 74-68, with 6:55 to go, but Dutat and Betson hit some big shots, while the Horned Frogs lost two of their key players in the paint. Marta Suarez, a 6-foot-3 forward who finished with 20 points, fouled out with 4:02 to go. Then, 6-foot-7 Clara Silva fouled out with 58.3 to go.
That all helped CU, sparked by a lively crowd of 2,240, to close the game on a 10-3 run over the last 2:35.
“I thought the energy in the arena was so good,” she said. “I think anyone that comes to watch us play sees that it’s really fun. It’s a really fun couple of hours. So, I just hope we can really get great crowds the last few games.”
BOULDER , CO – FEBRUARY 8: Desiree Wooten (3) of the Colorado Buffaloes drives on Clara Bielefeld (16) of the TCU Horned Frogs during the fourth quarter of the Buffs’ 80-79 win at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado on Sunday, February 8, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Notable
CU’s previous ranked win came against then-No. 19 Iowa State, 68-62, on Jan. 14. … The Buffs have 18 wins against AP Top 25 teams under Payne, including 15 in the past five seasons. … TCU leads the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 55.3 points per game. CU was the first team to reach the 80-point mark against the Horned Frogs in regulation. Only Utah scored more overall, beating TCU 87-77 in overtime on Jan. 3. … The Buffs were just 4-of-19 from 3-point range in the previous two games, but went 4-for-6 in the first quarter Sunday and finished 6-for-13.
Colorado’s Tabitha Betson, right, shoots Wednesday against West Virginia. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
There are no easy game days in Big 12 women’s basketball, which is how Zyanna Walker likes it.
“I like how competitive it is,” the Colorado guard said of playing in the Big 12. “You’ve got to show up every night, no matter who you’re playing. Top or bottom of the conference, you’ve got to be up, ready to play, especially on the road.”
On Sunday, the Buffs face perhaps their biggest challenge on the Big 12 slate when No. 14-ranked TCU visits the CU Events Center. The defending league champion Horned Frogs are tied atop the conference standings coming into Sunday.
“Oh, I love it,” Walker said. “When you’re a competitor, you like to play with the best of the best. They’re on top of the conference, so we know that we have an opportunity to play with them on our home floor, so we’re going to take that.”
The Buffs had a three-game win streak snapped with a 61-55 loss to No. 20 West Virginia on Wednesday and look to get back on track. It was the sixth loss by seven points or less, with each one containing correctable mistakes.
“I think when we turn on the film, we’re going to see that there was a lot of really missed opportunities that were (on) us,” head coach JR Payne said.
This has been a team that’s shown the ability to make quick corrections, however.
“I think we’re a pretty coachable group,” Payne said. “When we’re coachable like that, it allows us to grow. … I think that we’ll see something, we’ll say, ‘Yeah, that was my fault,’ and be better next time.”
Being coachable has allowed the Buffs to rebound from losses at Louisville, at Arizona State, at Oklahoma State and at UCF. After each of those losses, the Buffs were locked in and won the next game.
“I think it’s amazing,” sophomore Tabitha Betson said. “Honestly, being a part of a group that is willing to learn and willing to listen to each other and the coaches and willing to grow is really special. It’s not super common. I think us also being young, as well, means that everyone’s ready to soak up information and ready to fix and change and move on. So I think it’s great.”
The Buffs will put that to the test against TCU, which leads the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing just 54.3 points per game, while ranking third in scoring offense, at 80.3. The Horned Frogs are also second in the conference in rebounding margin (plus-9.1).
TCU is led by national player of the year candidate Olivia Miles, who is averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game. She’s the only player in the country averaging at least 14.0 points, 6.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds.
Payne said the Buffs have to have better organization than they did against West Virginia. If they do, they’ve got a chance to pick up a big win.
“It’s just important that you lock in for every game because you’ll see somebody get upset every other night, every week (in the Big 12),” Walker said. “It’s just important that you lock in and focus on the game that’s ahead.”
Colorado Buffaloes’ Logyn Greer, left, puts up a shot past West Virginia Mountaineers’ Riley Makalusky, right, at the CU Events Center in Boulder on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
CU Buffs women’s basketball vs. No. 14 TCU
TIPOFF: Sunday, 1 p.m. MT, CU Events Center in Boulder
TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KHOW 630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 15-8, 6-5 Big 12; TCU 21-3, 9-2 Big 12
COACHES: Colorado — JR Payne, 10th season (179-124; 280-237 career). TCU — Mark Campbell, 3rd season (76-19; 115-43 career).
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado — F Tabitha Betson, 6-2, So. (4.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .364 3pt%); F Anaelle Dutat, 6-0, Sr. (8.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.8 spg, .517 fg%); F Logyn Greer, 6-4, Fr. (9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg); F Jade Masogayo, 6-3, Sr. (11.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, .492 fg%); G Zyanna Walker, 5-11, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg); G Desiree Wooten, 5-8, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.6 spg). TCU — G Taylor Bigby, 6-1, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, .380 3pt%); G Donovyn Hunter, 6-0, Jr. (12.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, .371 3pt%); G Olivia Miles, 5-10, Sr. (19.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 7.0 apg, .508 fg%); G Maddie Scherr, 5-10, Sr. (5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, .389 3pt%); C Clara Silva, 6-7, So. (10.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, .615 fg%); F Marta Suarez, 6-3, Sr. (15.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.4 apg).
NOTES: CU is 1-3 against Associated Press Top 25 opponents this year, with the win coming against then-No. 19 Iowa State, 68-62, on Jan. 14. … The Buffs are 11-2 at home this year and 26-5 in the last two years. TCU is 4-2 on the road, with losses at Utah and Texas Tech. … CU leads the series 4-2, including victories in the WNIT in 2008 and 2014. TCU won both of last year’s matchups, 63-50 in Fort Worth and 69-62 in the Big 12 Tournament. … This will be TCU’s first visit to Boulder since March 19, 2014, in the WNIT. … Through the first six Big 12 games, Dutat was averaging 10.3 points and 10.2 rebounds. In the last five games, however, she’s averaged just 2.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. … Miles has posted four triple-doubles this season. CU has four in its 52-season history. … TCU ranks second in the Big 12 with 9.1 made 3-pointers per game and second in 3-point percentage (.360). CU is 15th in the league with 4.0 made 3s per game and last with a .259 3-point percentage.
A skier sustained a head injury at Eldora Mountain Resort and was taken to the hospital by helicopter on Monday afternoon.
About 1:08 p.m., the Boulder County Communications center received a report that a skier had a head injury, according to Carrie Haverfield, a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. The skier, a 24-year-old man, was seen sliding down one of the runs and was believed to have a head injury, Haverfield said.
No one saw the man hit his head, and there was no visible trauma to the man or his helmet, she said.
The man was taken to the hospital by a Med Evac helicopter.
Eldora’s ski patrol, the Nederland Fire Protection District, American Medical Response and the sheriff’s office responded to the call.
Two small dogs were killed in separate attacks when coyotes jumped Lafayette fences into backyards that faced open space in less than one week.
An adult Pomeranian was killed in northwest Lafayette around 7 a.m. Saturday when a coyote attacked it in a backyard that faces open space in the 2800 block of Shoshone Trail, according to Lafayette Police Department Sgt. Jeremy Molander. Another dog, an adult cocker spaniel, was killed in northeast Lafayette around 10 a.m. Tuesday in a similar backyard in the 1200 block of Hawk Ridge Road, Molander said.
Both dogs were outside unattended when the coyotes attacked, Molander said in an email.
“Although it is fairly rare, pets can sometimes look like prey to wildlife,” the Lafayette Police Department wrote in a social media post.
Police notified the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife of both attacks, Molander said.
Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for the wildlife agency, said it is important for residents in the Lafayette, Erie and Broomfield areas, particularly those who live near open space, to know they are living in “coyote country.”
Van Hoose recommended pet owners keep an eye on their dogs and make noise when opening doors to let pets outside, particularly around dawn and dusk when coyotes are most active.
“Keeping an eye on your pets is a huge, huge deal and part of being a responsible pet owner,” she said.
The parks and wildlife department has additional recommendations for people to stay safe and protect pets in the presence of coyotes, according to the department’s website.
• Secure garbage, pet food, birdfeeders and compost piles
• For residents with coyotes near their homes, consider radios, motion-activated lighting, strobe lights, sirens or odor deterrents.
• Keep pets up to date on vaccines.
• Keep cats indoors and always supervise pets when they’re outdoors.
• If a dog must be kept outside, keep it in a fully enclosed kennel.
• Keep pets on a short leash and never let them play or interact with wildlife.
A person was driven to a hospital Tuesday morning after an injury at Eldora Mountain Ski Resort that involved arterial bleeding, which nearly prompted a helicopter transport.
The person was injured in a non-collision incident, according to Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Carrie Haverfield. Haverfield did not know the confirmed cause of the injury.
A medical helicopter was requested but was not sent, Haverfield said. On Tuesday, wind gusts at Eldora were expected to be as high as 34 mph, according to the ski resort website.
Information about the person who was injured was available.
A former Arvada teacher arrested Monday for reportedly creating and selling child sexual assault material was found to have violated St. Vrain Valley School District policies in 2023 for interactions he had with students at Erie Middle School, and officials recommended the teacher not return to the district.
That finding was not shared with Jefferson County School District when it hired the teacher, according to an arrest affidavit.
SVVSD officials said Wednesday that they were evaluating whether they could fire the teacher, 39-year-old Patricio Alejandro Illanes, when he resigned in late 2023.
Illanes faces 40 counts of sexual exploitation of a child in addition to 10 counts of unlawful practice of occupation or profession, according to a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office release.
Illanes reportedly photographed or took videos of at least 10 students at four different schools or youth program locations, including Centaurus High School, New Meridian High School and Erie Middle School, over the course of nine years, according to an arrest affidavit.
In 2023, a school employee reported to an Erie police school resource officer that he had overheard a 14-year-old boy describe an interaction he had with Illanes to another student.
The boy said Illanes had asked him to stay after class to help him with a video project, and the boy agreed, according to the affidavit. Illanes then instructed the boy to remove his shirt and shoes and pretend to be a lifeguard. The student said Illanes told him that he would pretend to chloroform him and instructed the student to pretend to be knocked out.
When Erie police interviewed Illanes, he “provided a similar story” but said he never touched the students inappropriately and that their shirts remained on, according to the affidavit. Illanes gave police the videos he had recorded, which showed the interaction described by the student, but with the student wearing a lifeguard shirt over a long-sleeve shirt.
Two other minors later told police Illanes asked them to help him with a project, then videotaped or photographed them in costumes.
In an October 2025 interview with police, Illanes said he did not use the videos for sexual gratification and understood the incident was “not an appropriate thing,” according to the affidavit.
The Erie police criminal investigation into the incident was “unfounded,” according to the affidavit.
An SVVSD internal investigation found that Illanes had violated district policies and recommended that he “not return” to Erie Middle School or any school in the district.
Illanes resigned in December that year. He was hired to work at Arvada Senior High School in 2024.
When Illanes resigned, SVVSD was evaluating whether it had “sufficient grounds” under state teacher employment laws to fire him, according to Kerri McDermid, the district’s chief of staff and strategic priorities.
Jefferson County School District officials told police they never received the SVVSD internal investigation report, and had they known about it, they wouldn’t have hired Illanes, the affidavit stated.
SVVSD officials told police Jeffco officials had not asked for the report and that they had been served a court document restricting them from sharing it, but did not provide the court document to police, according to the affidavit.
McDermid said the SVVSD human resources department and Illanes’ former supervisor at Erie Middle School do not have a record of receiving a reference or information request from Jeffco officials until October 2025. At that time, the district provided the information they were allowed to disclose under law, she said.
The Nederland Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the $120 million purchase of the Eldora Mountain Ski Resort, bringing an end to the town’s roughly 16-month effort to capture ownership of the closest ski resort to Denver.
Nederland will pay for the purchase through revenue bonds that are backed by the resort’s earnings, including those from lift ticket rentals, food and drinks, and other activities at the resort. The town says that residents are not responsible for repaying those ponds, nor is the town’s general fund on the hook. Once the debt is paid off, Nederland has said, free cash flow could exceed $5 million. Nederland announced its intention to purchase Eldora in July and has been exploring the possibility since August 2024.
Nederland, a town of about 1,500 people nestled next to the Barker Reservoir, is purchasing Eldora from POWDR, a Utah-based company that bought the resort about a decade ago and also owns Copper Mountain. POWDR will continue to operate Eldora for the next two winters. From there, the company 303 Ski will operate Eldora. The town believes it can build a financial reserve in the first few years of ownership that would cushion the blow of a bad snow year. Eldora’s 700 employees will become municipal staff.
Nederland also plans to annex the mountain, which will allow it to collect sales tax revenue and control land use. The town anticipates that sales tax revenue could bring as much as $2 million annually.
A memo to the trustees says that the resort’s facilities and core infrastructure are well maintained and are positioned to support continued and sustainable operations.
“The resort is in good overall condition and represents a high-quality, viable asset for the community,” the memo says.
As the purchase enters its closing stage, Nederland now needs to obtain a special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service that’s on “substantially the same terms” as the current permit held by Eldora, according to the asset purchase agreement. Nederland must also enter a new agreement with Alterra Mountain Company to stay on the Ikon Pass.
Through the asset purchase agreement, Nederland purchases “key assets” that are vital to keep the ski area operating, from land to buildings to equipment to permits.
Bank of America and RBC Capital Markets are co-underwriters for the revenue bonds.
Ned heads and Eldora powder hounds were cautiously optimistic in a July community gathering about the town’s move to purchase the mountain. Some saw it as potentially a big risk, while others saw it as an opportunity for the small town to bring in more revenue and open the mountain during the offseason.
Town officials said that there will be more community engagement opportunities about the purchase in the future.
Around the country, there are few college basketball venues better than The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Over the past year, Fernando Lovo has seen that up close as the athletic director at New Mexico.
In transitioning to his new job as the athletic director at Colorado, Lovo knows the importance of a strong game day experience for fans of all sports and hopes to bring that to Boulder.
The Colorado Buffaloes bench celebrates a three point basket against the UC Davis Aggies at CU Events Center in Boulder on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
“It’s huge. That’s really important to me,” Lovo, who begins his job at CU this week, told BuffZone. “I’m fanatical about the game day experience. It’s something that I took from my time at the University of Texas. I saw how impactful it was to create. It’s not just a game. It’s got to be an event. It’s got to be engaging. It’s got to be dynamic.”
Last year, New Mexico ranked 24th nationally in men’s basketball attendance, averaging 13,051 fans per game. The Lobos’ women’s basketball team ranked 26th nationally, at 4,843 per game.
By comparison, CU was 69th nationally in men’s basketball attendance last year (7,038) and is averaging just 5,802 fans at home this year (not counting the game against Portland State when the general public wasn’t allowed at the Events Center due to dangerous wind conditions in the area). In women’s basketball, the Buffs averaged 2,967 fans (54th) last year and just 2,045 so far this year (82nd). Both numbers should increase as the Buffs get into conference play this month.
In football, the Buffs have done well in attendance under head coach Deion Sanders, but slipped this past year as the team sputtered to a 3-9 record. The Buffs averaged 52,514 fans at Folsom Field in 2024, and 50,459 this past season.
Lovo understands that putting a winning product on the court or field is essential to attendance, but said the game day experience has to be more than about getting people to the games.
“We’ve got to be creative with our scripting of our in-game scripts to keep people involved,” he said. “It’s not enough just to say, ‘Hey, come watch a game.’ That’s not the way we’re going to approach things. We’re going to look at how do we do things outside the venue? Inside the venue?”
Lovo said CU has to give fans a reason to decide they want to come to a CU event in the first place. Then, he said, it’s important to make it easy to get into building.
“Make parking ingress really easy, really convenient for them; getting into the building really easy,” he said.
Lovo said it’s then important to make the atmosphere exciting for fans once they’re inside the building.
“Obviously, we need to compete at a high level, but we’ve got to make it fun,” he said. “We’ve got to make it engaging. And that’s something that I focus on heavily, and I thought we did a really good job with that here at New Mexico, and engaged our fans. We’ve got great fans there at CU and I can’t wait to build on what’s already going on there, which I know is a lot of really good stuff, and try some things that hopefully catch people’s attention.”
The CU Events Center may not ever match The Pit, but Lovo is looking forward to trying to get the Buffs there.
“The Pit was tremendous in terms of the excitement and the environment, and that’s what we need (at CU),” he said. “We need that at our venues. Our home venues have to really create an advantage for us. They have to. That’s our job as administrators.
“We need to create a really exciting environment, and like I said, make it really fun and engaging for our fans, so that if people are in the stands and they’re loud, it has a tangible impact on winning and losing; it just does. That’s undeniable, so we’re going to work really hard at that.”
After a pleasant days-long stretch of warm weather often eclipsing the 70-degree mark, northern Colorado and metro Denver will see quite a change in conditions starting Friday night.
Instead of breaking records for heat, temperatures will drop substantially and snow will begin falling in the far northern mountains tonight, spreading southward into the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and Summit County by late Saturday afternoon.
By late Saturday night, the National Weather Service predicts areas of snow to develop along the Interstate 25 corridor and along the adjoining eastern plains, with travel impacts continuing into Sunday morning. Some of those areas of snow could start out as rain earlier Saturday evening before turning to snow.
Just how severe those travel impacts will be in metro Denver are still in question.
“There is considerable uncertainty with regard to the amount of snow, since we anticipate bands of snow,” according to a weather service bulletin issued Friday afternoon for the metro area. “Thus, some areas may receive very little or no snow, while others get a few inches.”
Higher amounts of snow are assured for some of Colorado’s northern mountains, with the National Weather Service forecasting around 10 inches for Winter Park, 5 inches for Breckenridge and half a foot of the white stuff for Keystone. The predicted weekend snowfall for some of Colorado’s snow-starved ski resorts will come as welcome news to an industry that has seen a decidedly dry start to the season.
Meteorologists are calling for a low of 20 degrees Saturday night, a low of 14 degrees Sunday night and a low of 21 degrees Monday night in the metro area. But by Tuesday and towards New Year’s Day, temperatures will top out in the 40s and 50s with little precipitation expected.
A woman was rescued after falling 30 feet while climbing in Eldorado Canyon State Park on Sunday afternoon.
The woman, 44, fell at about 2:41 p.m. Sunday while climbing the White Lightning route, and it took about two hours to rescue her, according to a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office press release. She fell when her safety gear dislodged from the rock she was climbing, the release states.
The woman, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to a hospital with a head injury after crews got her out through steep, unstable terrain, according to the sheriff’s office.
Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Mountain View Fire Rescue and Eldorado Canyon State Park staff responded to the call.
Residents were ordered to evacuate Monday evening as crews responded to a wildfire that sparked west of Boulder amid red-flag conditions.
The fire, initially reported as one to two acres, grew to about three acres, according to Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Vinnie Montez.
As of about 9 p.m., the fire, which was reported around 5:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Wild Turkey Trail in Fourmile Canyon, had stopped spreading forward and crews were in the mop-up phase, according to Fire Duty Officer Seth McKinney.
Winds remain a concern, McKinney said, and fire crews remained on scene, attacking hot spots and strengthening the containment line. Evacuation orders remain in place.
No structures had been lost as of about 8 p.m., according to sheriff’s office spokesperson Carrie Haverfield.
Residents who live in the areas along Four Mile Canyon Drive southeast of Gold Run Road near Crisman were ordered to use Evening Star Road to evacuate, according to a Boulder County Everbridge alert. Residents should avoid Wild Turkey Trail, the alert said.
An evacuation warning that was issued for residents along Four Mile Canyon Drive northwest of Boulder Canyon Drive, including the Seven Hills area and parts of Switzerland Trail and Sunshine Canyon Drive, was lifted around 9:45 p.m., according to Boulder County Sheriff’s Office maps of the evacuation areas.
Before the evacuation warning was lifted, there were about 662 people and 449 structures in the areas under evacuation order and evacuation warning, according to Montez. It’s not clear how many people and structures are in the evacution order area.
The east lot of the Boulder County Justice Center at 1777 6th St. was open to evacuees who needed a place to park. The west lot was being used to stage first responders.
Others should avoid the area so first responders can respond up the narrow canyon, Montez said in a video post to social media.
The sheriff’s office did not have information about the cause of the fire.
Much of Boulder County was under a Red Flag Warning until 5 p.m. on Monday amid unseasonably high temperatures, low humidity and wind, according to the National Weather Service. The warning came only three days after a windstorm brought 100-plus mph winds to the county.
Monday night’s blaze was not the first wildfire the area has seen. In September 2010, the Fourmile Canyon Fire burned about 5,700 acres and destroyed 162 homes.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Internet Time Service Facility in Boulder lost power Wednesday afternoon, disrupting the agency’s atomic clock, spokesperson Rebecca Jacobson said.
The atomic clock, which uses cesium atoms to measure the exact length of a second, is used for GPS satellite networks, data centers, laboratories, aerospace, telecommunications, power generation and other systems that require ultra-precise timekeeping.
“In short, the atomic ensemble time scale at our Boulder campus has failed due to a prolonged utility power outage,” NIST researcher Jeffrey Sherman wrote in an email announcing the outage to users. “One impact is that the Boulder Internet Time Services no longer have an accurate time reference.”
When the outage started on Wednesday, some of NIST’s on-campus time distribution systems lapsed before the backup generator kicked in, causing a four-microsecond delay to the atomic clock, Jacobson said.
At least one “crucial” generator at the facility failed after the outage, according to Sherman’s email.
“For comparison, it takes about 350,000 microseconds to blink or 150,000 microseconds to snap your fingers,” Jacobson said.
As of Sunday morning, power remained out at the Boulder Department of Commerce — which houses NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration — according to NIST’s list of active internet time servers.
The time drift will be corrected once power is restored to the Boulder facility, Jacobson said.
Every year, Colorado women’s basketball coach JR Payne tries to set her team up with a nonconference schedule that will prepare it for the Big 12.
Payne believes her squad is ready to go in conference play this year, and she’ll find out for sure on Sunday when the Buffaloes visit Arizona State.
“I feel really good about our team going into conference play,” Payne said after the Buffs’ victory against Northern Colorado on Tuesday. “I think we’ve played a lot of different styles throughout the preseason. We’ve played teams that press, teams that zone, teams that switch. We’ve seen everything almost at this point, which is sort of the point of preseason, and we’ve grown a lot. Still lots to grow, but I’m excited to get going.”
Colorado Buffaloes Desiree Wooten puts up a shot against the Northern Colorado Bears at the CU Events Center on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
With 10 new players this season, CU has a squad with very little Big 12 experience, but the same is true for Arizona State.
Under first-year coach Molly Miller, ASU has just two players with Big 12 experience in returning Sun Devils Jyah Lovett and Makalya Moore, neither of which start. All five of ASU’s starters were at different schools a year ago.
Most of CU’s team was somewhere else last year, too, including guard Desiree Wooten. The junior guard is a transfer from North Texas and looking forward to her first Big 12 game.
“Yeah, I’m really excited,” said Wooten, who is averaging 10.8 points for the Buffs. “I’m ready to make an impact with my team, for my team, and I’m ready to compete.”
The most experienced Big 12 player in Sunday’s game will be CU’s Jade Masogayo, who was All-Big honorable mention a year ago.
Masogayo battled through a slow start to this season as she recovered from a knee injury. Since shedding the brace on her knee, she’s been dominant again, averaging 18.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in her last two games, while hitting 15 of 24 shots (.625).
Along with Masogayo, several other Buffs are settling into roles. Wooten has become a spark plug off the bench; freshman Logyn Greer is pacing the Buffs in scoring (11.6 points per game); and forward Anaelle Dutat is a consistent rebounder and defender.
Knowing the rigors of a Big 12 schedule, Masogayo said she’s ready to go into battle with her team.
“Absolutely,” she said. “It’s my last year. I’m ready to play some big games against some good teams and just more physicality. I’m excited for sure.”
CU went 9-9 in its return to the Big 12 last year. While the conference will have a much different look with so many new players, and a few new coaches, Masogayo expects the same level of intensity as last year.
Going into Saturday, there were just 12 undefeated teams in the country, with four of them (ASU, Iowa State, TCU and Texas Tech) in the Big 12. Half of the league is ranked in the top 45 of the NET rankings.
“Oh, for sure (the intensity ramps up in conference play),” Masogayo said. “Especially the physicality of it all, when it comes to the Big 12. It’s a lot, so it’s cool to be competitive in that aspect and just, you know, play basketball at a higher level.”
CU Buffs women’s basketball at Arizona State
TIPOFF: Sunday, 5 p.m., Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona
TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KHOW 630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 9-3, 0-0 Big 12; Arizona State 13-0, 0-0 Big 12
COACHES: Colorado — JR Payne, 10th season (173-119; 274-232 career). ASU — Molly Miller, 1st season (13-0, 310-55 career).
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado — F Anaelle Dutat, 6-0, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.9 spg, .529 fg%); F Logyn Greer, 6-4, Fr. (11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, .495 fg%); F Jade Masogayo, 6-3, Sr. (9.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.2 apg); G Kennedy Sanders, 5-8, So. (9.3 ppg, 2.2 apg, 1.9 spg); G Zyanna Walker, 5-11, Jr. (9.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.5 spg); G Desiree Wooten, 5-8, Jr. (10.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.6 spg). Arizona State — F McKinna Brackens, 6-1, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, .417 3pt%); F Heloisa Carrera, 6-2, So. (9.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .524 fg%); G Gabby Elliott, 5-10, Sr. (16.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.6 spg); G Jyah LoVett, 5-8, Jr. (5.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg); G Last-Tear Poa, 5-11, Sr. (6.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.6 apg); G Marley Washenitz, 5-7, Sr. (9.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.2 spg).
NOTES: Since 1996 (the year the Big Eight expanded to the Big 12), CU is 12-17 in conference openers. That includes a 4-9 mark during the Pac-12 era and 8-8 in Big 12 games. … CU won its league opener last year, upsetting No. 14 West Virginia, 65-60. … The Buffs went 1-8 in Big 12 road games last year. … CU is 14-16 all-time against ASU, but has won the last three meetings, including 89-54 on Feb. 26, 2025, in Boulder. Only four of the 20 players who appeared in that game will be in uniform Sunday. … ASU is off to the best start in program history. The previous best was a 9-0 start in 1992-93. … In the preseason, CU was projected for a ninth-place Big 12 finish in both the media and coaches polls, while ASU was projected for 11th in both polls. … Going into Saturday, ASU was No. 43 in the NET rankings, while CU was No. 65. … Prior to being hired at ASU, Miller went 117-38 in five seasons at Grand Canyon, including 32-3 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament last year. Before that, she went 180-17 in six seasons at her alma mater, Drury University.
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Four days after hurricane‑force winds tore through Boulder County, families still without power are leaning on neighbors and volunteers to get through the cold, dark aftermath.
Boulder County was hit with gusts reaching 112mph on Friday morning, causing extensive damage and severe power outages.
“It’s really hard. It’s pretty hard times,” said Mayte Cerceda, a Boulder County resident who woke up in the dark this morning as she and her family entered day 4 without power. “At night it’s really cold.”
The one question she and her family have been asking is “When will the power be back?”
Cerceda said her family spent Saturday morning throwing out all the food in their fridge, completely clearing it out, after losing power on Wednesday.
She said her family couldn’t find a solution during this difficult time.
That’s when Pinewood Church got involved to help.
“My family went on a walk in our neighborhood last night after some of the winds had died down. It was so intense, like going outside. It was so windy,” said Jess Manuel, the Lead Pastor at Pinewood Church and a Boulder County resident herself.
“We started seeing trees on cars and houses, and so that’s kind of when it hit us. ‘Hey, we don’t see anyone out here. We should try to see what kind of relief efforts we can do,” she recalled.
Pinewood Church announced Saturday that it would begin relief efforts for people impacted by the strong winds.
They brought volunteers together to repair damage and pack food for those who lost theirs during the outages.
Manuel said she wants people to know they are not alone.
“We have teams that are willing and ready. We have about 150 people on our serve team that are ready to go as soon as they get the message,” she exclaimed.
But while they’re lending a helping hand, Manuel and some of the other volunteers are dealing with similar situations at home.
Local
Back‑to‑back windstorms batter Colorado, leave tens of thousands without power
Manuel said she lost power on Wednesday, then it came back on for a little while on Thursday night before immediately turning off again.
“We don’t have a signal at our house. We don’t have Wi Fi,” she said. “The entire rubber roof of our house is completely gone, and so thankfully, it didn’t rain last night.”
“I think that was kind of everyone’s story. Even if you weren’t in the shut off, you kind of got shut off,” she said.
Mike Hegarty, one of the volunteers who showed up with Pinewood Church for relief efforts Saturday morning, said he did not have power either, saying he lost it early Friday morning.
Regardless, he believes it’s important to help others.
“This was just sort of a natural thing for us when there’s an emergency,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here, happy to be able to help the community.”
He and others are helping families like Cerceda’s find a solution.
“It makes us feel good, because now we have a little bit of a source of help,” Cerceda said.
To volunteer with Pinewood Church, text VOLUNTEER to +18332854418 or visit their website.
Boulder County residents enter day four without power as community steps in
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Texas Tech bought the best team on the planet, went 12-1, won the Big 12 title and earned a bye in the College Football Playoff. Utah posted a 10-2 record and beat the Buffs 53-7 in late October.
Sanders’ salary went up by nearly $5 million for 2025 after his new extension kicked in. The House vs. NCAA settlement required CU to share revenues with student-athletes starting this past July 1, with a cap of $20.5 million for this fiscal cycle. Yet it’s hard to imagine good players such as Miller and Byard taking pay cuts at their next ports of call, isn’t it?
Buffs officials saw the train coming years ago, even as the bills keep piling up. Which is why the indoor practice facility is now sponsored by Mountain States Ford Stores. And why artificial turf was installed at Folsom Field — so the stadium could be utilized more often as a host to revenue-driving events outside the athletic calendar.
Concerts and uniform sponsorships — UNLV will reportedly collect about $2.2 million annually over the next five years from Acesso Biologics, its new “Official Jersey Patch Partner” — will only cover so much. The student-athlete revenue sharing pool is expected to increase by 4% next year. Sanders is slated to make $11 million in 2027, $11 million in 2028 and $12 million in 2029.
The Buffs can’t play at the same poker tables as the Red Raiders and Utes — or retain star players — without a serious influx of cash. Utah is pointing the way now. Not CU.
Bowls? Bowls are nothing more than three-hour infomercials for some random chamber of commerce or provincial company you’ve never heard of; exhibitions propped up by Disney stiffs to eat up programming blocks over the holidays. When Iowa State and Kansas State would sooner eat a million bucks in league fines than join in, that ship’s sailed. (Not you, Pop-Tarts Bowl. You’re weirdly perfect. And perfectly weird.)
Fans? Fans are caught in the crossfire, casualties in the battle of dollars over sense. Ticket prices and point-of-entry fees will skyrocket. Pay-per-view will become more the norm than the exception. Universities will pass the cost to the consumer.
The Buffs vow that they won’t cut sports — and with only 13 non-football options offered, they don’t have much room on that front to cut, anyway. They’ve vowed that they won’t lop student-athlete services, although outgoing athletic director Rick George laid off two track coaches last spring.
Something’s gotta give. Of course, if Coach Prime wanted to help retain student-athletes, he could donate half of his $10 million salary to the revenue-sharing pool. That’s not happening.
In an effort to slow the chaos, FBS scholarships could require a minimum of two years of service at your initial college of choice coming out of high school. But that’s not happening, either.
As of early Friday morning, at least 11 CU players had expressed interest in transferring out. Among the Big 12 programs that didn’t change coaches (Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State), only West Virginia had seen more defections (19) as of mid-December than the Buffs.
Take out CU, the Wildcats, Cyclones and Cowboys, the remaining 12 programs had seen an average of 5.8 guys hit the portal.
“If you get good players, (the Buffs will) be good,” FOX Sports football analyst Geoff Schwartz told me. “It’s not that complicated when it comes to college football.”
Money alone won’t solve all of the Buffs’ football problems right now. It might ease some of the roster hemorrhaging, though. To that end, the Big 12 is close to finalizing a partnership with RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital, YahooSports.com reported, for what’s described as a league-wide credit deal. The firms would provide up to $500 million into a conference pool, from which individual members such as CU could borrow as much as $30 million.
Private investment interests and Title IX, given the degree to which Olympic sports lose money, could prove to be a volatile, and highly litigious, arrangement.
Then again, the Utes didn’t blink. In the Big 12, this is the stage. These are the stakes. And the price of the sizzle is headed in only one direction.
Crews rescued a climber who had become lost in Eldorado Canyon State Park without a working cell phone or headlamp early Thursday morning.
About 1:49 a.m., the Boulder Communications Center received a report of an overdue climber at the park, a popular destination for climbers, according to a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office release.
The climber, a 24-year-old man, had taken longer than expected to complete the Naked Edge route, and his headlamp and cell phone had run out of battery, the release said. When the man didn’t return for several hours, his family called for help.
In an operation that took six hours, rescue personnel used a drone to find the man, and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group helped the man down a technical descent.
The Boulder Police Department and Eldorado Canyon State Park rangers also assisted in the rescue operation.
In the release, the sheriff’s office said those venturing outdoors should tell someone their plans, establish check-in procedures and bring appropriate equipment to prevent potential emergencies and ensure safety.
Colorado football recruit Ben Gula, from Cypress Bay (Florida) High School, during a recruiting visit to the Boulder, Colorado, campus. (Photo courtesy of Ben Gula)
Offensive line might be the toughest position in college football to earn a starting job as a true freshman.
Ben Gula isn’t worried about history, though. He’s coming to Colorado next month with confidence.
“I definitely think year one, I’ll be a contributor,” said Gula, who signed with CU last week. He is set to graduate from Cypress Bay (Florida) High School and enroll at CU in January.
Since freshmen became eligible in 1972, only 16 have made starts at CU on the offensive line. Only three of those were centers, but all three of those have been recent. Van Wells was the first true freshman to start games at center for CU, in 2022 (six starts), while Hank Zilinskas made two starts in 2023 and Cash Cleveland made four starts in 2024.
Gula is hoping to join that group, and he knows there’s a spot open with this year’s starting center, Zarian McGill, graduating. He also knows it won’t be easy to win the job.
“If it’s not in it for me, which I believe it is, I still want to contribute to the guy in front of me, the guy behind me,” he said. “I just want to make everybody better because at the end of the day, I’m a football player at the University of Colorado, not just an individual.”
The 6-foot-5, 285-pound Gula was a four-year starter at Cypress Bay, starting 41 games overall and allowing just one sack in over 1,500 pass protection snaps. Mainly a left tackle, Gula has played all over the line and said CU projects him as a center.
“(I’ve been working on) footwork, pad level, just everything I can to ready myself,” he said. “I’m going to have some great coaching this spring here. … I’ve definitely done my best to be as explosive and ready as I can.”
A basketball player through much of his youth, Gula realized during his freshman year of high school that football could provide a better path to the future. Gula earned a start on varsity in the second game of his freshman year and took off from there.
“(Coaches) just kind of told me if I put some weight on, I’d be a real force to be reckoned with,” he said. “Ever since then, I’ve just done everything I can to be the best player I can.”
Gula recorded more than 250 pancake blocks during his prep career, and his smile beamed when asked what he likes about being a lineman.
“It’s amazing. I love it,” he said. “Being able to show that I can go out there and have a 20- or 25-pancake game and just completely dominate the people in front of me, it’s amazing. You know, what else can you really ask for? I enjoyed every single second of it and will continue to enjoy every single second of it because that’s what I want to learn how to do against some legit competition.”
Gula powered through some out-matched opponents in high school, but said he’s looking forward to going against his CU teammates in the spring.
“I’m very excited to see where I can stack out against those people,” he said. “I’m going to get dominated sometimes. Maybe I’ll dominate them. But I just want to have that fierceness and aggression through everything I have. I know I’m going to fail. I know I’ll have a lot of success. But just being able to go out there every day and do what I can is really what I aspire to do.”
Gula said he has studied the game quite a bit and looks forward to learning more about the game when he gets to CU.
“It’s strategic and blocking is not 100% always going to be flat-out through the roof, you’re going to try to run your face through this guy and blow him over,” he said. “It’s a lot more technical than a lot of people give credit to it. But I’m very excited.”
Gula had 21 scholarship offers, but he said CU stood out because of the overall environment, and the coaching he’ll get in the offensive line room.
“I think if more kids really realized how great Colorado really can be, especially the offensive line room, a lot of kids would commit here and a lot of other kids would be here,” he said. “But, you know, they’ll see eventually.”
