Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Announce 2016-17 Schedule
September 21, 2016 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – The University of Colorado announced its full 2016-17 women's basketball schedule on Wednesday. The Buffaloes will play 29 regular-season games, including 18 Pac-12 games. Fourteen of the games will be broadcast nationally on Pac-12 Networks.
"We are very excited about the upcoming season and our 2016-17 schedule," head coach JR Payne said. "There is a healthy mix of high-caliber teams which will certainly challenge and prepare us for the rigors of the Pac-12. It will be fun to play some Colorado teams in UNC and Colorado State as well."
CU opens the season at Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. on Nov. 11 with its home opener two days later on Sunday, Nov. 13 against Air Force at 2 p.m. The University of Kentucky will make a trip to Boulder the following weekend on the 19th. Tipoff for that game is tentatively set for 7 p.m., but could be moved to an earlier time if CU's football team plays a night game the same day.
After a road trip to North Dakota State on Nov. 22, CU hosts the 30th Annual Omni Hotels Classic at the Coors Events Center with Boston College, SMU and St. Francis visiting Boulder on Nov. 25 and 26.
The Buffs will play four of their remaining five non-conference games at home in December, hosting Southeastern Louisiana on the 1st, Idaho State on the 3rd and Colorado State on Dec. 8. CU will play at Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 17 before wrapping up non-conference play at home with Wyoming on Dec. 21.
Colorado opens Pac-12 play in Los Angeles over New Year's weekend, playing at Southern California on Dec. 30 and UCLA on Jan. 1.
CU returns to Boulder for a four-game home stand beginning on Jan. 6 and 8 against Arizona and Arizona State. The Buffs will then host California and Stanford on the 13th and 15th, before hitting the road for Oregon and Oregon State on Jan. 20 and 22.
Rivalry week starts on Jan. 25 when CU hosts Utah at 7 p.m. for a Wednesday night game. The Buffs return the favor at Utah three days later, taking on the Utes in Salt Lake City on Jan. 28.
Colorado begins and ends the month of February with games against Washington and Washington State, hosting the Cougars on the 3rd and the Huskies on the 5th, and traveling to UW on Feb. 23 and WSU on the 25th. CU will travel to the Bay Area for a game at Stanford on Feb. 10 and California on the 12th. The Buffs play their final home games of the season on Feb. 17 and 19 against Oregon State and Oregon, respectively.
Payne is entering her first season as head coach at Colorado, joining the program with seven seasons of experience as a Division I head coach. She has a reputation for reviving programs; in her previous head coaching stops at Southern Utah and Santa Clara, the teams she inherited had a combined winning percentage of .322 in the seasons prior to her arrival before averaging 23.0 wins with a .708 winning percentage in her final seasons at each stop, including trips to the Women's NIT both years.
She inherits a young, but experienced team as nine of last season's 10 letterwinners return. Kennedy Leonard was an honorable mention all-Pac-12 award winner and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after averaging 12.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds. She also gained international experience of the summer, competing at the FIBA European U-20 games with Great Britain and finishing 11th in the tournament in scoring and sixth in assists. Alexis Robinson put together an excellent freshman campaign as well, averaging 7.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists a year ago.
Haley Smith returns for her senior season and was a double-digit scorer a year ago at 10.7 points per game, while averaging 5.7 rebounds. A sharpshooter, Smith connected on 40 percent of her 3-point attempts and 88.1 percent of her free throws. Lauren Huggins is another senior that returns to the lineup and led the team with 49 3-point field goals last season and averaged 7.2 points.
The Buffs must replace Jamee Swan, who was named all-conference honorable mention last season. She led CU in scoring (13.5) and rebounding (7.0), while defending the paint with 1.8 blocks per game. She has signed a contract to play in Luxembourg this season.
"We are very excited about the upcoming season and our 2016-17 schedule," head coach JR Payne said. "There is a healthy mix of high-caliber teams which will certainly challenge and prepare us for the rigors of the Pac-12. It will be fun to play some Colorado teams in UNC and Colorado State as well."
CU opens the season at Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. on Nov. 11 with its home opener two days later on Sunday, Nov. 13 against Air Force at 2 p.m. The University of Kentucky will make a trip to Boulder the following weekend on the 19th. Tipoff for that game is tentatively set for 7 p.m., but could be moved to an earlier time if CU's football team plays a night game the same day.
After a road trip to North Dakota State on Nov. 22, CU hosts the 30th Annual Omni Hotels Classic at the Coors Events Center with Boston College, SMU and St. Francis visiting Boulder on Nov. 25 and 26.
The Buffs will play four of their remaining five non-conference games at home in December, hosting Southeastern Louisiana on the 1st, Idaho State on the 3rd and Colorado State on Dec. 8. CU will play at Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 17 before wrapping up non-conference play at home with Wyoming on Dec. 21.
Colorado opens Pac-12 play in Los Angeles over New Year's weekend, playing at Southern California on Dec. 30 and UCLA on Jan. 1.
CU returns to Boulder for a four-game home stand beginning on Jan. 6 and 8 against Arizona and Arizona State. The Buffs will then host California and Stanford on the 13th and 15th, before hitting the road for Oregon and Oregon State on Jan. 20 and 22.
Rivalry week starts on Jan. 25 when CU hosts Utah at 7 p.m. for a Wednesday night game. The Buffs return the favor at Utah three days later, taking on the Utes in Salt Lake City on Jan. 28.
Colorado begins and ends the month of February with games against Washington and Washington State, hosting the Cougars on the 3rd and the Huskies on the 5th, and traveling to UW on Feb. 23 and WSU on the 25th. CU will travel to the Bay Area for a game at Stanford on Feb. 10 and California on the 12th. The Buffs play their final home games of the season on Feb. 17 and 19 against Oregon State and Oregon, respectively.
Payne is entering her first season as head coach at Colorado, joining the program with seven seasons of experience as a Division I head coach. She has a reputation for reviving programs; in her previous head coaching stops at Southern Utah and Santa Clara, the teams she inherited had a combined winning percentage of .322 in the seasons prior to her arrival before averaging 23.0 wins with a .708 winning percentage in her final seasons at each stop, including trips to the Women's NIT both years.
She inherits a young, but experienced team as nine of last season's 10 letterwinners return. Kennedy Leonard was an honorable mention all-Pac-12 award winner and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after averaging 12.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds. She also gained international experience of the summer, competing at the FIBA European U-20 games with Great Britain and finishing 11th in the tournament in scoring and sixth in assists. Alexis Robinson put together an excellent freshman campaign as well, averaging 7.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists a year ago.
Haley Smith returns for her senior season and was a double-digit scorer a year ago at 10.7 points per game, while averaging 5.7 rebounds. A sharpshooter, Smith connected on 40 percent of her 3-point attempts and 88.1 percent of her free throws. Lauren Huggins is another senior that returns to the lineup and led the team with 49 3-point field goals last season and averaged 7.2 points.
The Buffs must replace Jamee Swan, who was named all-conference honorable mention last season. She led CU in scoring (13.5) and rebounding (7.0), while defending the paint with 1.8 blocks per game. She has signed a contract to play in Luxembourg this season.
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