# 2020–21 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team represented the University of Colorado Boulder during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Buffaloes, were led by fifth year head coach JR Payne, played their home games at the CU Events Center and are a member of the Pac-12 Conference.
The Buffaloes finished the season 12–11, 8–8 in Pac-12 play to finish in sixth place. In the Pac-12 Tournament they were upset by eleventh seed Washington in the first round. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT. They defeated Louisiana and Nebraska before losing to Ole Miss in the quarterfinals to end their season.

## Previous season

The Buffaloes finished the season 16–14, 5–13 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the tenth seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they lost to USC in the first round. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2021* 6:00 p.m. | | Western State | W 77–50 | 1–0 | CU Events Center (17) Boulder, CO |
| November 28, 2020* 12:00 p.m. | | Air Force | W 88–46 | 2–0 | CU Events Center (17) Boulder, CO |
| December 4, 2020 3:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 10 Oregon | L 52–82 | 2–1 (0–1) | Matthew Knight Arena (1) Eugene, OR |
| December 6, 2020 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 17 Oregon State | L 53–70 | 2–2 (0–2) | Gill Coliseum (0) Corvallis, OR |
| December 8, 2020* 6:00 p.m. | | at Denver | L 84–85 | 2–3 | Magness Arena (0) Denver, CO |
| December 14, 2020 12:00 p.m., P12N | | Utah | W 80–50 | 3–3 (1–2) | CU Events Center (17) Boulder, CO |
| December 18, 2020 5:00 p.m., P12N | | No. 6 Arizona | L 59–62 | 3–4 (1–3) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| December 20, 2020 2:00 p.m., P12N | | Arizona State | Canceled | Canceled | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| January 1, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | Washington | W 60–50 | 4–4 (2–3) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 3, 2021 12:00 p.m., P12N | | Washington State | L 63–76 | 4–5 (2–4) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 8, 2021 5:00 p.m. | | at No. 9 UCLA | Canceled | Canceled | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| January 11, 2021 1:00 p.m., P12N | | at USC | L 52–56 | 4–6 (2–5) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 15, 2021 3:00 p.m., P12N | | California | W 75–59 | 5–6 (3–5) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 17, 2021 12:00 p.m., P12N | | No. 1 Stanford | W 77–72 $^{OT}$ | 6–6 (4–5) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 22, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | at Arizona State | L 47–51 | 6–7 (4–6) | Desert Financial Arena (0) Tempe, AZ |
| January 24, 2021 1:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 10 Arizona | Canceled | Canceled | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| January 29, 2021 6:00 p.m. | | Oregon State | L 64–72 | 6–8 (4–7) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| January 31, 2021 12:00 p.m., P12N | | No. 11 Oregon | Canceled | Canceled | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| February 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 6 Stanford | L 54–62 | 6–9 (4–8) | Maples Pavilion (1) Stanford, CA |
| February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m. | | at California | W 67–52 | 7–9 (5–8) | Haas Pavilion (0) Berkeley, CA |
| February 12, 2021 6:00 p.m. | | USC | W 66–56 | 8–9 (6–8) | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| February 14, 2021 1:00 p.m. | | No. 8 UCLA | Canceled | Canceled | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| February 19, 2021 1:00 p.m. | | at Washington State | W 60–57 | 9–9 (7–8) | Beasley Coliseum (200) Pullman, WA |
| February 21, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | at Washington | W 55–50 | 10–9 (8–8) | Alaska Airlines Arena (0) Seattle, WA |
| February 28, 2021 12:00 p.m., P12N | | at Utah | Canceled | Canceled | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2021* 9:00 p.m., P12N | (6) | vs. (11) Washington First Round | L 54–68 | 10–10 | Michelob Ultra Arena (18) Paradise, NV |
| WNIT ||||||
| March 19, 2021* 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Louisiana First Round | W 68–45 | 11–10 | My Town Movers Fieldhouse (300) Collierville, Tennessee |
| March 20, 2021* 4 p.m., FloHoops | | Nebraska Second Round | W 75–71 | 12–10 | My Town Movers Fieldhouse (300) Collierville, Tennessee |
| March 22, 2021* 6:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Ole Miss Quarterfinals | L 56–65 | 12–11 | My Town Movers Fieldhouse (300) Collierville, Tennessee |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not Ranked in Previous Week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |
Note: The Coaches Poll does not release a Week 2 poll, and the AP poll does not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.