# 2021–22 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team represented the University of Colorado Boulder during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Buffaloes, led by sixth year head coach JR Payne, played their home games at the CU Events Center and competed as members of the Pac-12 Conference.
The Buffaloes were the last undefeated DI women's college basketball in the 2021-22 season, losing their first game to #2 Stanford on January 14, 2022.

## Previous season

The Buffaloes finished the season 12–11, 8–8 in Pac-12 play to finish in sixth place. As the sixth seed in the Pac-12 women's tournament they lost to Washington in the First Round. They received an invitation to the WNIT where they defeated Louisiana in the first round and Nebraska in the second round before losing to Ole Miss in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Colorado Mines | W 63–52 | – | 9 – Sherrod | 6 – Tied | 4 – Wetta | CU Events Center (437) Boulder, CO |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2021* 5:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Oklahoma State | W 55–45 | 1–0 | 15 – Hollingshed | 8 – Tuitele | 6 – Sherrod | Gallagher-Iba Arena (1,575) Stillwater, OK |
| November 14, 2021* 2:00 pm, MW Network | | at Air Force | W 58–53 | 2–0 | 17 – Miller | 7 – Tied | 3 – Sherrod | Clune Arena (423) Colorado Springs, CO |
| November 19, 2021* 7:00 pm, Live Stream | | Marquette | W 69–53 | 3–0 | 22 – Hollingshed | 10 – Hollingshed | 2 – Tied | CU Events Center (1,227) Boulder, CO |
| November 22, 2021* 6:00 pm, Live Stream | | Samford | W 81–48 | 4–0 | 13 – Formann | 6 – Tied | 9 – Wetta | CU Events Center (878) Boulder, CO |
| November 23, 2021* 6:00 pm, Live Stream | | Texas Southern | W 79–47 | 5–0 | 20 – Hollingshed | 10 – Hollingshed | 6 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (969) Boulder, CO |
| November 27, 2021* 1:00 pm, Live Stream | | Louisiana Tech Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic | W 59–48 | 6–0 | 14 – Tuitele | 7 – Miller | 6 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (952) Boulder, CO |
| November 28, 2021* 12:00 pm, P12N | | Wisconsin Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic | W 67–51 | 7–0 | 18 – Hollingshed | 10 – Hollingshed | 5 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (1,075) Boulder, CO |
| December 3, 2021* 7:00 pm, Live Stream | | Dixie State | W 78–53 | 8–0 | 20 – Miller | 6 – Miller | 3 – Tied | CU Events Center (956) Boulder, CO |
| December 7, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | No. 25 | at Southern Utah | W 81–47 | 9–0 | 18 – Miller | 6 – Miller | 4 – Tied | America First Event Center (537) Cedar, UT |
| December 17, 2021* 6:00 pm, P12N | | SMU | W 78–55 | 10–0 | 20 – Miller | 7 – Hollingshed | 5 – Tied | CU Events Center (1,195) Boulder, CO |
| December 20, 2021* 1:00 pm, Live Stream | | San Francisco | W 80–56 | 11–0 | 23 – Hollingshed | 9 – Hollingshed | 4 – Wetta | CU Events Center (1,132) Boulder, CO |
| January 2, 2022 1:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Colorado program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Colorado program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Colorado program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Colorado program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Colorado program. | Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR |
| January 7, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | | USC | W 71–58 | 12–0 (1–0) | 18 – Hollingshed | 10 – Miller | 8 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (1,592) Boulder, CO |
| January 9, 2022 11:00 am, P12N | | UCLA | W 71–63 | 13–0 (2–0) | 25 – Sherrod | 7 – Hollingshed | 8 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (1,652) Boulder, CO |
| January 14, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 22 | No. 2 Stanford | L 52–60 | 13–1 (2–1) | 16 – Miller | 4 – Finau | 3 – Wetta | CU Events Center (3,744) Boulder, CO |
| January 16, 2022 12:00 pm, P12N | No. 22 | California | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the California program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the California program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the California program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the California program. | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the California program. | CU Events Center Boulder, CO |
| January 17, 2022 3:00 pm, Live Stream | No. 22 | at Oregon State | L 66–69 $^{OT}$ | 13–2 (2–2) | 18 – Miller | 11 – Hollingshed | 4 – Wetta | Gill Coliseum (3,854) Corvallis, OR |
| January 21, 2022 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 22 | at Arizona State | L 52–57 $^{OT}$ | 13–3 (2–3) | 12 – Miller | 8 – Miller | 5 – Wetta | Desert Financial Arena (2,190) Tempe, AZ |
| January 23, 2022 12:00 pm, P12N | No. 22 | at No. 10 Arizona | L 56–75 | 13–4 (2–4) | 11 – Tied | 10 – Hollingshed | 3 – Tied | McKale Center (7,103) Tucson, AZ |
| January 28, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Utah | W 66–62 $^{OT}$ | 14–4 (3–4) | 16 – Tied | 11 – Hollingshed | 3 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (2,165) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 30, 2022 12:00 pm, P12N | | Utah | L 67–78 | 14–5 (3–5) | 28 – Hollingshed | 7 – Hollingshed | 5 – Tied | CU Events Center (1,921) Boulder, CO |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | | Washington State | L 56–63 | 14–6 (3–6) | 14 – Miller | 5 – Hollingshed | 3 – Wetta | CU Events Center (1,205) Boulder, CO |
| February 6, 2022 12:00 pm, P12N | | Washington | W 66–43 | 15–6 (4–6) | 20 – Hollingshed | 6 – Tied | 4 – Hollingshed | CU Events Center (2,111) Boulder, CO |
| February 11, 2022 8:00 pm, P12N | | at California | W 73–56 | 16–6 (5–6) | 15 – Tuitele | 7 – Hollingshed | 7 – Sherrod | Haas Pavilion (2,194) Berkeley, CA |
| February 13, 2022 1:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 2 Stanford | L 46–63 | 16–7 (5–7) | 11 – Finau | 10 – Hollingshed | 4 – Sherrod | Maples Pavilion (3,038) Stanford, CA |
| February 18, 2022 8:00 pm, P12N | | at UCLA | W 67–54 | 17–7 (6–7) | 19 – Hollingshed | 7 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Pauley Pavilion (2,204) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 20, 2022 2:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | W 67–54 | 18–7 (7–7) | 16 – Hollingshed | 6 – Hollingshed | 3 – Tied | Galen Center (836) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | | No. 25 Oregon | W 86–83 $^{2OT}$ | 19–7 (8–7) | 17 – Sherrod | 10 – Hollingshed | 8 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (1,796) Boulder, CO |
| February 26, 2022 12:00 pm, P12N | | Oregon State | W 60–45 | 20–7 (9–7) | 15 – Formann | 8 – Hollingshed | 5 – Sherrod | CU Events Center (2,042) Boulder, CO |
| Pac-12 Women's Tournament |||||||||
| March 2, 2022 1:00 pm, P12N | (5) | vs. (12) Washington First Round | W 64–52 | 21–7 | 16 – Tuitele | 12 – Hollingshed | 4 – Hollingshed | Michelob Ultra Arena (3,044) Paradise, NV |
| March 3, 2022 1:00 pm, P12N | (5) | vs. (4) No. 14 Arizona Quarterfinals | W 45–43 | 22–7 | 12 – Hollingshed | 9 – Hollingshed | 4 – Wetta | Michelob Ultra Arena (4,122) Paradise, NV |
| March 4, 2022 7:00 pm, P12N | (5) | vs. (1) No. 2 Stanford Semifinals | L 45–71 | 22–8 | 12 – Wetta | 10 – Hollingshed | 2 – Tied | Michelob Ultra Arena (4,917) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 18, 2022* 11:30 am, ESPNews | (7 G) | vs. (10 G) Creighton First Round | L 74–84 | 22–9 | 27 – Sherrod | 9 – Tuitele | 5 – Sherrod | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,382) Iowa City, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | — | —* | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV* | RV^ | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 23 | RV | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | |
*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same. ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll.