Guard Desiree Wooten providing spark off bench for Buffaloes

Throughout her career Colorado women s basketball coach JR Payne has liked having one of her top players come off the bench In latest years guards Kindyll Wetta and Tameiya Sadler were spark plugs off the bench Forward Quay Miller filled that role in - As CU progresses through this season and Payne learns how the pieces of the new-look roster fit she believes she s identified the off-the-bench spark Colorado's Desiree Wooten celebrates a -point make against Charleston on Dec Matthew Jonas Staff Photographer Guard Desiree Wooten a -foot- junior transfer from North Texas started the first seven games for the Buffs - but has come off the bench in the last three I care more about who finishes the meeting Payne disclosed Wooten has been playing just as a great number of minutes but it allows us to insert her in when we need a punch and a lift and she s definitely doing that She s provided a spark that I m not sure anybody else could really do off the bench Wooten is averaging points assists and steals per tournament this season and has veritably been better off the bench In seven games as a starter Wooten averaged minutes points assists and steals while hitting of her -pointers In her three games off the bench Wooten has averaged minutes points assists and steals while draining of her s -for- including -for- in the last two games Obviously there s going to be thoughts questioning the move Wooten noted about being required to come off the bench but I just do whatever my crew requirements me to do So I m not really like mad about it or anything Whatever y all need me to do I do it clearly Wooten in fact has enjoyed the new role in part because she believes she can surprise the opponent It s like that edge that you think the other gang s underestimating you then you come in and just like go down their throats Wooten commented with a smile Charleston was like Oh they didn t put shooter on the scouting analysis In the - win against Charleston on Dec Wooten went -for- from -point range and finished with nine points and five rebounds Oh yeah it s pretty fun she noted of being the spark off the bench I have the same mentality as starting so I don t think anything really changes Overall Wooten has been as advertised for the Buffs As a full-time starter at North Texas last year she averaged points and assists and made the all-defensive squad in the American Athletic Conference I think she s played really well Payne commented She s significantly quicker and faster than any of us had seen on film and we need even more of that Like we need her to continue to be aggressive to count and especially in transition Wooten has also been a better shooter to this point than she was at UNT and explained she hopes to continue doing her part to help the Buffs win I ve enjoyed playing at CU a lot honestly she stated I ve improved so much I ve improved my -point shot a lot I m just looking to keep working keep getting better and being better for my squad Aiming for improvement As a whole the Buffs aren t shooting well this season Through Thursday s games CU was th in the -team Big Conference in field goal percentage and th in -point shooting Those numbers are a crucial drop from last year when CU was fourth in field goals and sixth from beyond the arc Payne mentioned she believes her squad can be better than the numbers show Definitely we ve got to be able to knock down shots she declared I don t think we re taking bad shots I think we re getting open looks We just got to knock them down This is a group that will put in the work and will invest in film and will invest in getting up shots and in each other and things like that It s a group that is really coachable and will lean into areas that we need to develop and grow and things like that So I have a lot of faith in them because of those qualities Notable CU has been off since Sunday but will return to the court Sunday when Miami of Ohio visits Boulder p m ESPN It ll be just the second meeting between the teams and first since It hasn t helped the Buffs shooting that Claire O Connor a -point shooter at Gonzaga last year has been out Dealing with foot injuries O Connor has averaged just minutes and hasn t played the last two games