When the schedule makers were trying to find a match for LSU, the defending National Champions, on opening night in Las Vegas, not a lot of teams were champing at the bit for the chance to face off with the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

When JR Payne and Colorado were presented with the opportunity, they jumped at it. Win, and you’re immediately on the map as one of the top teams early in this college basketball season. Lose, and you get a great idea of what it takes to match up with one of the nation’s best.

After Monday night, Colorado women’s basketball is officially on the map. It thoroughly outplayed the defending champs, beating LSU, 92-78, in a game it never trailed in the second half.

“What a great game,” Payne said after the game. “Just proud of our team. I’m always proud of our team, we’ve got great young women in our program. I love their tenacity, I love their fearlessness, I love their grit and toughness. It’s what we’re built upon. So, for a game like this that a large part of the world said no to, a large part of the world said ‘Why would you play that game?’ It was everything that we wanted. We wanted a challenge, we wanted to take our team into the national spotlight so that I could show the world how great they are.”

The Buffs struggled a bit offensively in the first quarter, trying to find their flow in the half court during a shaky first quarter. But, to their credit, they hung around thanks to Jaylyn Sherrod creating transition opportunities and Aaronette Vonleh getting easy buckets inside.

In the second quarter, Colorado really began to take control. Sherrod scored 12 points in the second quarter alone, helping the Buffs jump out to a 38-32 halftime lead.

“We kind of re-centered ourselves at halftime on what we needed to do to continue to be successful,” Payne said. “Don’t get outside of ourselves, just play great basketball one possession at a time. I think that allowed us to continue playing the way we were.”

LSU battled coming out of the half, as any defending champion would, but the best it could do was trade buckets with the Buffs in the second half. On the Colorado side, the final 20 minutes was the Frida Formann show. The Danish guard lit up the Tigers to the tune of 18 second-half points on 6-for-8 shooting from downtown. She got looks in transition, off of drive-and-kick actions, and coming off of screens. But no matter how the looks came, they seemingly all went down.

Formann also flashed some of her much-improved playmaking ability, running pick-and-rolls and making a few nice feeds down low to Vonleh, something that she’s clearly added to her game this offseason.

“When I’m in that mode, it’s hitting my hands and I’m just shooting it,” Formann said. “I think with this team, too, we know who’s getting hot. So I just know the ball’s gonna find me and my shot’s gonna be there.”

While Formann shined from beyond the arc, Vonleh continued to dominate in the paint, and the Buffs cruised through the second half to a very comfortable victory over the top team in the nation.

Freshman Mikaylah Williams led the way for the Tigers with 17 points in her collegiate debut. Stars Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith were held in check for the most part, although they still ended up with decent numbers. Van Lith finished Monday’s contest with 14 points and seven assists, and Reese notched a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Overall, the Buffs did a great job defensively of making life hard on the Tigers, making every possession a grind, contesting every shot and forcing turnovers. For the game, LSU shot just 44% from the field and turned the ball over 19 times, resulting in 21 Colorado points.

Formann finished with 27 points on just 15 shots, knocking down seven threes in the process for the Buffs and lighting up the T-Mobile Arena all night long. Vonleh finished her dominant outing with 24 points on an efficient 11-for-15 shooting clip, and was there to get a big bucket for the Buffs whenever they needed it. Sherrod was the driving engine for the Buffs, as she always is, and stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

This statement win for the Buffs means they now go from the hunters to one of the hunted. They will have a target on their backs now, without a doubt, but it’s one they have earned. They have a quick turnaround as they continue their nonconference season on Wednesday night, where they host Le Moyne in their home opener. Tip-off from the CU Events Center will be at 6 p.m. MST.