Colorado Buffaloes' Emily Dodd (right) drives toward the hoop under pressure from Northwestern's Natalie Lopez on Thursday, February 22, 2024 at Kittredge Field at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dodd scored his first goal as a Buff on that drive. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Colorado State is renewing its friendship with San Diego State University and the University of California, Davis as rivals in the women's lacrosse league for the first time since the Buffaloes left the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after the 2017 season.
These new rivalries will continue even after Pac-12 lacrosse ends.
The Big 12 Conference, which Colorado will rejoin later this year, announced last week that it would add San Diego State University, UC Davis and Florida State as associate members for a new six-team women's lacrosse league starting in 2025.
The league includes the Buffs and Arizona State, which will join the Big 12 in the 2024-25 season. That includes Cincinnati, which joined the Big 12 this year but is playing the 2024 lacrosse season as an affiliate member of its former league, the American Athletic Conference.
San Diego State and UC Davis are in their first seasons as Pac-12 affiliates, but the conference split has split the women's lacrosse programs into three different conferences: CU and ASU (plus SDSU and UC Davis). has been moved to. 12th, Oregon State and USC in the Big Ten, Stanford and California in the ACC.
“I think we're excited about the Big 12 overall,” CU head coach Anne Elliott Whidden said. “It's great that they decided to sponsor lacrosse. It's a big thing for us and for the sport. Adding affiliates is great. The fact that we're spread out all over the country is great. I know, but it's great to have a team like Florida in the conference as well. I think our focus is on competing at the highest level, and sharing that and competing. We want a team that's ready to go and has a challenging schedule. We're excited about the situation we're in and we're looking forward to it.”
Despite suffering their first loss of the season last week against No. 4 Northwestern, the Buffs (3-1) moved up one spot in this week's IWLCA Top 25 to No. 19. This week, Northwestern moved up one spot to third place. CU resumes nonconference play Thursday at Central Michigan (1 p.m. Montana time).
century mark
Aya El-Sayed helped the CU women's tennis team successfully complete non-conference play, earning her 100th career win (singles, doubles) as the Buffs defeated Colorado State in Sunday's final non-conference game. Obtained.
CU went 11-1 overall and won 10 straight games, setting the best non-conference record in program history.
“Ayah is consistent,” CU coach Anthony Pham said in a release. “She played in three or four games last year and one game this year, but the great thing is you always know what you're going to get from her. If your best players show the values and characteristics of your program: hard work, being a really good teammate, being a good person, that's great. Just carry that with you every day. .”
Pay attention to
The CU women's golf team finished eighth at the Pac-12 Preview in Hawaii last week. …On Monday, CU skier Filip Waalqvist was named RMISA Men's Slalom League MVP. …The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships begin in Boston on March 8th.
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