Why the Buffs lost: Missing four starters, the Buffs were outmatched by the Bears, who hit 14 3-pointers and pulled away in the first half for an easy win.
1. Baylor's Bella Fontleroy: She scored 21 points, hitting six 3-pointers, while also recording six rebounds.
2. Baylor's Aaronette Vonleh: The former Buff didn't play much in the second half with the game out of reach, but she had 10 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.
3. CU's Jade Masogayo: Battled all night to finish with 16 points and four rebounds.
Up next: The Buffs visit No. 24 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday (1 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
It's rare when Colorado women's basketball coach JR Payne will be disappointed with her team's effort, and Wednesday was another game in which she was proud of how her team battled.
The injury-depleted Buffaloes simply had no answers for the 19th-ranked Baylor Bears, though.
Baylor drilled 14 3-pointers - the most against the Buffs this season - and cruised to an 84-62 rout of the Buffs at the CU Events Center.
"Baylor's a really great team, and I thought we played hard most of the game," Payne said. "Shots weren't really falling for us in the first half, and they were falling at a very high rate for them. So I think we got down to a number that was difficult to come back from, but I thought our effort was tremendous in the fourth quarter, in particular."
CU (17-9, 8-7 Big 12) saw its 10-game home winning streak come to a crashing close as Baylor led by as many as 38 points by the end of the third quarter. It was the largest deficit for a CU team since a 48-point loss to Oregon on Feb. 1, 2020.
Although the Buffs were able to weather injuries to roll past last-place Houston on Saturday, first-place Baylor (23-5, 13-2) was another animal.
Bella Fontleroy led the Bears with 21 points, including going 6-for-9 from 3-point range, while Jada Walker had 17 points and six assists. Aaronette Vonleh, a CU star the previous two years before transferring to Baylor, had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Baylor, which was just 4-of-14 from 3-point range during a win against the Buffs in Waco, Texas, on Jan. 4, went 14-for-31 on Wednesday.
"We kind of knew going in, some of them have really good percentages, and we needed to lock down," said CU senior Johanna Teder, who tied her season high with 14 points. "We just didn't execute some of the scout and they were making their shots, so that was the difference."
The Buffs played once again without regular starters Frida Formann (foot), Sara-Rose Smith (foot) and Kindyll Wetta (concussion), while another starter, Lior Garzon (foot) also missed the game.
"I'm not going to make any excuses, but the reality is, yeah, we're missing a lot of players that play in our rotation," Payne said. "It's difficult to ... you know, Baylor also is a really good team. At full strength here in Boulder, I think it might have been a different outcome, but that's not the cards we've been dealt."
Payne said Wetta should be returning soon, but she had no update on the others.
The Buffs' 10th different starting lineup of the season helped them get off to a solid start. A pair of Erin Sanders free throws cut the Baylor lead to 17-14 with 48.4 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bears, however, scored five points in the last 36 seconds of the quarter, including a halfcourt shot from Walker. The late first quarter surge sparked a 22-3 Baylor run that carried into the middle of the second quarter. That gave Baylor a 39-17 lead and CU never threatened again.
A bright spot for the Buffs was their freshmen, who continued to battle late in the game. Down 38 going into the fourth, CU outscored the Bears 24-8 in the final frame.
Powell (seven points, six rebounds), Grace Oliver (three points, five rebounds) and Kennedy Sanders (nine points, four assists) provided a spark.
"I'm truly proud of them," said Teder, who played with the youngsters much of the game. "Last game (against Houston) showed they have so much ahead, and they're really coachable.
"The last quarter (against Baylor) showed they can do everything asked, and sometimes you don't even have to ask. They will give everything. So it's been fun to play with them. They run, they get stops on defense. So yeah, respect and really proud of them."
Jade Masogayo, who missed the Houston game with an injury, led CU with 16 points, hitting 7-of-9 shots from the floor.
CU had been 7-0 at home in Big 12 games before Wednesday. ... Baylor's 84 points were the second-most allowed by CU this year. Iowa State had 86 in a 30-point win against the Buffs on Feb. 8. ... CU had a better field goal percentage, .442 to .415, but mostly because of the fourth quarter. The Buffs were 9-for-12 (.750) in the fourth, while Baylor was 1-for-10 (.100).
BAYLOR (23-5, 13-2 Big 12)
Vonleh 4-6 2-2 10, Fontleroy 6-10 3-4 21, Felder 2-9 2-3 7, Walker 5-10 5-6 17, Andrews 4-10 2-3 12, Matharu 3-13 0-0 8, Jennings 2-3 2-2 7, Abraham 1-2 0-1 2, Nelms 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 16-21 84.
COLORADO (17-9, 8-7 Big 12)
Diew 3-6 3-4 9, Masogayo 7-9 2-6 16, Oliver 1-4 0-0 3, Sanders 3-11 2-4 9, Teder 6-9 1-2 14, Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Powell 2-6 3-3 7, Betson 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 23-52 13-21 62.
3-point goals - Baylor 14-31 (Fontleroy 6-9, Andrews 2-6, Matharu 2-6, Walker 2-3, Felder 1-4, Jennings 1-1, Nelms 0-2), Colorado 3-14 (Sanders 1-5, Teder 1-3, Oliver 1-3, Powell 0-2, Betson 0-1). Rebounds - Baylor 39 (Vonleh 8), Colorado 34 (Powell 6). Assists - Baylor 17 (Walker 6), Colorado 11 (Sanders 4). Steals - Baylor 12 (Andrews 3), Colorado 10 (Johnson 3). Turnovers - Baylor 14, Colorado 20. Total fouls - Baylor 19, Colorado 20. Fouled out - None. Attendance - 3,182.