Buffs Well Represented in Pac-12 Awards

SAN FRANCISCO – Four Colorado women's basketball players accounted for a total of six Pac-12 postseason honors to open Pac-12 Tournament week on Tuesday.

Seniors Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod earned All-Pac-12 honors, while Sherrod picked up her second All-Defensive team selection. Frida Formann and Aaronette Vonleh both earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors. Vonleh also was selected as the Co-Most Improved Player, splitting the award with Arizona's Shaina Pellington.

"I'm so proud of every member of our team for all that they have poured into our program all year long," head coach JR Payne expressed. "It is truly an honor for several members of our team to be recognized as all-conference players. The Pac-12 is full of incredibly talented young women. For our players to be recognized in such an elite group speaks to the talent that we have here at Colorado and the amount of time that they have poured into their craft."

Miller, who was last season's Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year, moved into a starting role in 2022-23. The Renton, Wash., native, started all 29 games this season and closed the regular season 11th in the conference with a team-high 14.1 points per game. Miller has totaled a career-high 408 points and counting and passed 1,000 career points this season. She scored a career-high 26 points at Cal and snagged a career-best 19 rebounds at Oregon State. Miller recorded eight double-doubles and scored in double figures in all but four games. She enters the Pac-12 Tournament fifth in total rebounds (254) and rebounds per game (8.8) and is ninth in the conference in field goal % (44.6). Miller also set a new career mark in 3-point shooting hitting 35.4% from behind the arc this season.

Sherrod, a Birmingham, Ala., native, leads the Pac-12 in assists (141), assists per game (5.0) and steals per game (2.36). She has career-highs in both points (310) and points per game (11.1) this season. Sherrod is the only player in the Pac-12, and just one of four in the NCAA to average better than 10.0 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game this season. She has started all 28 games she has played this season and is shooting a career-best 42.0% from the field and 36.5% from 3-point distance. She had a career-high seven steals twice this season and her 66 swipes are 11 more than her previous best. Sherrod had 17 games of five or more assists, including a season-high of 10 at Chicago State. She currently sits fifth in the Pac-12 with a 1.91 assist/turnover ratio.

Formann, a junior from Bagsværd, Denmark, ranks third in the Pac-12 with a 38.7 3-point field goal %. She is averaging a career-best 11.4 points per game and has a career-high 307 total points this season. Formann has started all 27 games that she has played and has 11 more made field goals (106 total) than her previous best. Formann leads the Buffs at the free-throw line, shooting 94.6% (35-37), and has been impactful on the glass with her career-high 99 rebounds this season. She had a season-high 23 points in CU's win over Arizona and has scored in double-figures on 15 occasions this season.

Vonleh, a transfer from Arizona, ranks second in scoring for CU this season, improving her average from 4.1 points per game last season with the Wildcats to 11.9 per game this season. Vonleh started 28 games this season and averaged 25.7 minutes per game. She scored a career-high 25 points in the regular season finale against Cal and totaled 20 games of double-figure points this season. Vonleh recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Stanford this season. She's 20th in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a team-high 55.6 field goal %.

Buffs Head to Las Vegas, Await Opponent

The third-seeded Buffaloes, who moved up to No. 20 in this week's Associated Press rankings, will take off for Las Vegas on Tuesday and have to wait to see whom they will match up against in the quarterfinals.

Colorado (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) finished with its highest seeding in Pac-12 Tournament history and secured a first-round bye to start the tournament for just the second time since joining the conference in the 2011-12 season.

"We've worked incredibly hard all season long starting in July when our team was here for summer school to earn this type of opportunity," Payne stated. "We're very excited about that. We just want to keep winning."

The Buffs will practice on Wednesday and play Thursday (9:30 p.m. MT) against the winner of No. 6 USC vs No. 11 Oregon State. CU matched up just once against its two potential opponents this season, losing at home to the Trojans and beating the Beavers in Corvallis.

"We always talk about teams that get the bye," Sherrod commented. "It's just another level of focus you have to come out with when you do play, knowing that you're about to play a team coming off a win and has some momentum. I don't know how big of a deal it is [to get the bye]. I will stress to us to be extra-focused going into the game, whomever we end up playing. It is a blessing. It is exciting to see what this program has grown into since my start here. I'm excited to see how far we've come."

Colorado is 8-11 all-time in the Pac-12 Tournament, including a 3-5 record in Las Vegas. The Buffs are 3-3 all-time in the quarterfinals. Last season Colorado advanced to the semifinals for the first time since the 2015 tournament. The Buffs are 0-3 in the semifinal round and haven't played in a tournament championship game since winning the 1997 Big 12 Tournament.

Mary Murphy and Krista Blunk will have the call on the Pac-12 Network. Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will be on the Colorado Radio Network and 630 KHOW locally, starting with pregame coverage at 9 p.m.

Colorado University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Frida Formann

Quay Miller

Jaylyn Sherrod

Aaronette Vonleh

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