Fast break

Why the Buffs won: CU won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Bears 38-22 and out-rebounding them 39-28. The Buffs also converted 22 UNC turnovers into 22 points.

Three stars:

1. Jade Masogayo: Before fouling out in the last couple of minutes, she posted a game-high 19 points, along with five assists and two rebounds. She made 8-of-12 shots.

2. Kindyll Wetta: Scored just four points, but she dished out a career-high 10 assists and kept the offense going all night.

3. Nyamer Diew: She finished with 14 points and three rebounds and hit two of her four 3-point attempts.

Up next: CU begins a two-game road swing on Sunday at Boise State, at 2 p.m. MT.

Jade Masogayo felt some pregame jitters on Thursday night, but they didn’t last long.

The Colorado junior scored four early points to settle in and finished with a game-high 19 points to help the Colorado women’s basketball team to an 81-66 victory against Northern Colorado at the CU Events Center in the home opener.

“I’m the type of person that has, like, early jitters when it comes to playing games and stuff like that,” Masogayo said. “But as soon as, like, I know my teammates are gonna get me going and stuff like that, I know I have a lot of support surrounding me, so it’s just great.”