Colorado’s Anaelle Dutat drives to the hoop during a game against Texas Tech on Feb. 21, 2026, at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado. (CU Athletics)
Fast break
Why the Buffs won: They dominated the boards (34-18) and played exceptional defense in the fourth quarter to rally to the win.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Desiree Wooten: Finished with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and a career-high five steals.
2. CU’s Anaelle Dutat: On senior night, the senior had 11 points, eight rebounds and a steal.
3. Tech’s Jalynn Bristow: Scored a team-high 18 points, including going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, while posting five blocked shots and three steals on defense.
Up next: The Buffs host Utah at the CU Events Center on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Going into Saturday night, Colorado women’s basketball coach JR Payne knew the stakes for her team, but she didn’t talk about it.
“Did you guys talk about it?” she asked forward Anaelle Dutat and Desiree Wooten, who both said it wasn’t a topic among players.
“Awesome. We’re all on the same page,” Payne said with a smile. “That’s what I like to hear.”
CU wasn’t so worried about the stakes on Saturday night, but focused on the task at hand. And, with the game on the line, the Buffs cranked up their defense and rallied past No. 20 Texas Tech in the fourth quarter for a 75-68 victory in front of the largest crowd of the season at the CU Events Center.
Playing in front of 4,852 fans – including head football coach Deion Sanders – the Buffs shut down Texas Tech in the fourth quarter to beat an Associated Press Top 25 team for the third time this season. In the process, the Buffs secured a top-eight seed and first-round bye for the Big 12 Tournament and moved into fourth place.
“I’m just really excited with how we played tonight on senior night,” Payne said. “We always want to win, we always want to play well, but to do it on senior night against a ranked team and the way that we did it, to finish so strong and having so many people contribute – we had a really balanced scoring night with many different people contributing in double figures and our effort on the glass was unbelievable.”
Junior Zyanna Walker scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Buffs, while Wooten had 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals.
After the game, CU honored seniors Jade Masogayo and Anaelle Dutat, who both had key moments in the game, as well.
CU trailed by eight late in the third quarter, but rallied and took a 69-63 lead on a pair of Masogayo free throws with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left.
Colorado’s Jade Masogayo (center) defends against Texas Tech’s Sarengbe Sanogo during a game on Feb. 21, 2026, at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado. (CU Athletics)
Tech scored the next five points to pull within 69-68, but Wooten and Dutat combined for all six points in a 6-0 surge over the last 62 seconds to put the game away.
“I mean, I just live for these moments,” Wooten said. “I like the hard stuff, I like the tough stuff and I’m called up for it. I’m ready for it at all times.”
Tech (24-5, 11-5) had the second-best field goal percentage by a CU opponent all season (.578), but was just 2-for-9 in the fourth quarter. CU out-scored the Red Raiders 22-9 in the fourth, and Tech went 6:51 without a field goal during one stretch.
“I think it was more mindset,” Payne said of the defense in the fourth quarter. “I don’t think we really did anything different as far as what game plan was. I think it was just their mindset. I could hear them talking in timeouts about, ‘We defend, we guard, this is what we do.’ Then just really good communication defensively, but I thought the defense was unbelievable in the fourth.”
CU led 71-68 when Dutat turned the ball over on an inbounds pass with 46 seconds to play, but 13 seconds later, she stole the ball and went the other way, drew a foul and hit both free throws to put the Buffs up by five with 30.1 seconds left.
“Honestly, I was trying to make up for the (turnover) on the inbound,” Dutat said. “I’m not sure I’m going to be in-bounding much more after that, but I was just trying to make up for it and I got the steal and went for the layup. That’s about it.”
Led by Dutat, who had eight rebounds, CU once again dominated on the boards, 34-18 and went 10-for-10 on free throws in the fourth quarter to win their fifth game in a row. The Buffs had fourth quarter rallies in both wins this week.
“I think it speaks directly to the growth of the team,” Payne said. “I think we really believe in ourselves down the stretch.”
Notable
If CU can win both games next week – vs. Utah on Tuesday at BYU on Saturday – it’ll finish in the top four and get a double-bye for the Big 12 Tournament. … Tech’s 18 rebounds ties for the second-fewest ever by a CU opponent. The Buffs held Arizona to a record-low 17 on Tuesday. … The Buffs scored 27 points off 18 Tech turnovers and out-scored the Red Raiders 17-2 in second-chance points. … CU has posted five consecutive 20-win seasons, the second-longest streak in program history.
Colorado 75, No. 20 Texas Tech 68
TEXAS TECH (24-5, 11-5 Big 12)
Bristow 5-6 4-4 18, Nunez 2-4 0-0 4, Fritz 1-3 1-1 3, Sanogo 4-6 0-1 8, Maupin 5-11 0-0 12, Collins 4-7 4-4 13, Blacklock 0-0 0-0 0, Love 1-1 0-0 2, Malone 4-7 -0-0 8. Totals 26-45 9-10 68.
COLORADO (20-8, 11-5 Big 12)
Walker 6-10 5-8 18, McErlane 0-2 0-0 0, Masogayo 1-7 5-6 7, Dutat 4-6 3-3 11, Betson 3-6 0-0 7, Gooden 1-2 0-0 3, Wooten 5-11 4-4 16, Crook 0-0 0-0 0, Greer 6-11 0-0 13. Totals 26-55 17-21 75.
Texas Tech 23 14 22 9 – 68
Colorado 19 21 13 22 – 75
3-point goals – TT 7-13 (Bristow 4-5, Maupin 2-5, Collins 1-2, Nunez 0-1), Colorado 6-14 (Wooten 2-4, Walker 1-3, Betson 1-3, Greer 1-2, Gooden 1-1, McErlane). Rebounds – TT 18 (Nunez, Sanogo, Collins 3), Colorado 34 (Dutat 8). Assists – TT 14 (Nunez 5), Colorado 13 (Wooten 6). Steals – TT 9 (Bristow 3), Colorado 13 (Wooten 5). Turnovers – TT 18, Colorado 19. Total fouls – TT 17, Colorado 11. Technical fouls – Bristow. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 4,852.