Colorado’s Anaelle Dutat shoots a layup during a women’s basketball game against Houston at the Fertitta Center in Houston on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (CU Athletics) Fast break Why the Buffs won: They dominated the paint, outscoring the Cougars near the hoop, 60-22 and out-rebounding them 41-32 . Three stars: 1. CU’s Anaelle Dutat: Posted her first double-double in a month, with 12 points and 13 rebounds. 2. CU’s Jade Masogayo: Another big game, as she finished with 20 points and three rebounds. 3. Houston’s Briana Peguero: Scored 21 points, including going 6-for-10 from the 3-point line. Up next: The Buffs host BYU at the CU Events Center on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+). HOUSTON – Colorado had to sweat more than it wanted in the closing minutes, but got the result it wanted. On Wednesday night, the CU women’s basketball team held off a late Houston rally to close out a 73-63 victory at Fertitta Center. The Buffs led by as many as 14 and held a 12-point lead over the last-place Cougars with 2 minutes, 49 seconds to play. The Cougars then dialed up their pressure and went on a 6-0 run to pull within 66-60 with 58 seconds to go. From there, the Buffs (17-8, 8-5 Big 12) outscored the Cougars 7-3 down the stretch to win their third consecutive road game. CU is 5-1 in its past six games after leading almost the entire night against the Cougars (7-17, 1-12). Houston’s only lead was at 2-0. “I told the team, everybody wants to just play a game, get up by 20 and cruise home and that’s not realistic, certainly against a team like Houston who continues to fight and compete for every second of the game,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “It wasn’t beautiful down the stretch, but I’m really proud of our team for their cohesion and their ability to execute some things.” Two quick CU turnovers sparked Houston’s 6-0 surge in the fourth quarter, but CU went 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 52 seconds. “To do what they had to do to secure a win against a really tough, scrappy team on the road is not easy to do,” Payne said. “So I’m really proud of our ball club for that.” CU’s Anaelle Dutat posted her fifth double-double of the season and first in a month, with 12 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Jade Masogayo had 20 points and three rebounds, while Desiree Wooten added 14 points and Logyn Greer 11. CU made just one 3-pointer but dominated near the hoop, outscoring the Cougars 60-22 in the paint. CU also had a 41-32 advantage in rebounds. “We feel like that’s a strength of ours in a couple of different ways,” Payne said of the dominance in the paint. “I think Jade Masogayo is one of the premier post players in the conference, so we like to get the ball inside, certainly in transition and in the half court to her. I thought Logyn Greer was incredible again tonight in the paint, being aggressive.” CU also got a lot of points from players making good passes to cutters to the hoop for layups. The Buffs finished with 20 assists on 31 buckets. “We have some good cutters on our team that can get paint touches and then some good penetration,” Payne said. “I thought we executed the game plan really well in order to do that today.” A 13-3 run that began late in the second quarter and ended early in the third gave the Buffs some breathing room, pushing the lead from three to 13 points, at 39-26. CU led by double digits most of the rest of the way, although was never able to completely pull away from the Cougars. Briana Peguero kept Houston in the game with 21 points, hitting six 3-pointers, including a bank-shot with 30 seconds left that cut the CU lead to six a second time. The Buffs were able to withstand the pressure, though, and win once again on the road. Prior to a Jan. 29 trip to Kansas State, the Buffs were 1-12 in Big 12 road games since rejoining the conference last year. They won at Kansas State to kick-start their current three game road win streak. “I think composure down the stretch (has been key on the road),” Payne said. “I think we lost a little bit of composure tonight down the stretch, but this group has really grown in that area and it’s an area that we’ve focused on a lot since (a Jan. 18 loss at Central Florida) and really focused on execution and being organized down the stretch.” Colorado 73, Houston 63 COLORADO (17-8, 8-5 Big 12) Walker 2-9 3-4 8, McErlane 0-2 0-0 0, Masogayo 8-10 4-5 20, Dutat 5-9 2-4 12, Betson 1-3 0-0 2, Gooden 1-3 0-0 2, Wooten 7-17 0-2 14, Crook 2-3 0-0 4, Greer 5-11 1-1 11, Zadel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-67 10-16 73. HOUSTON (7-17, 1-12 Big 12) Pitts 2-8 3-6 7, Peguero 7-14 1-1 21, Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Abdur-Rahim 3-8 3-4 9, Ross 5-7 0-0 10, Merchant 5-10 3-3 13, Bartlett 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-4 2-2 2, King 0-2 0-0 0, Anumele 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-55 13-18 63. Colorado                                 16        16        20        21        –           73 Houston                                   9          14        16        24        –           63 3-point goals – Colorado 1-10 (Walker 1-3, Betson 0-2, Wooten 0-2, Greer 0-2, McErlane 0-1), Houston 6-20 (Peguero 6-10, Abdur-Rahim 0-3, Jones 0-3, Hunter 0-2, Pitts 0-1, King 0-1). Rebounds – Colorado 41 (Dutat 13), Houston 32 (Pitts 8). Assists – Colorado 20 (McErlane, Wooten 4), Houston 9 (Pitts 3). Steals – Colorado 11 (Dutat 3), Houston 10 (Pitts 5). Turnovers – Colorado 18, Houston 21. Total fouls – Colorado 13, Houston 17. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 976. ...read more read less