Colorado
25-8,12-5Pac-12
Duke
26-7,14-4ACC
How Sweet (16) It Is: Buffs Advance With Win At Duke
March 20, 2023 | Women's Basketball
CU Advances To First Sweet 16 In 20 Years
DURHAM, N.C. - How Sweet (16) It Is! The Colorado women's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in program history and the first time in 20 years on the strength of a 61-53 overtime win against Duke Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium
Quay Miller broke out of her recent shooting slump in style, scoring a game-high 17 points and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds. Jaylyn Sherrod added 14 points and six rebounds and Aaronette Vonleh scored 12 points with six rebounds of her own.
"I freaking love my team," coach JR Payne said afterward. "I love each and every one of them. I'm so unbelievably proud of our tenacity, our ability to just never wilt. When things get hard, we dig in, we lean into each other and just continue to fight and play defense. Our team did a really great job of preparing in a short amount of time. Super proud and onward we go."
Colorado advances in the Seattle Regional where the Buffs will face No. 2 seed Iowa Friday (5:30 p.m MT/ESPN). The other side of the bracket has No. 5 seed Louisville facing No. 8 seed Ole Miss, who beat top-seeded Stanford.
"I knew we could do it," Miller exclaimed. "It was just a matter of actually doing it. Right now. I just feel extremely blessed."
Colorado got off to a quick start, opening up a 15-2 lead in the first quarter and Sherrod was clutch at the end of the fourth quarter, scoring the game's final four points in the final 91 seconds, helping the Buffs to a 15-3 run to close the game, outscoring the Blue Devils 11-3 in overtime.
"Being here for four years, from where we started to where we are now, I'm just really proud of this program and how far we've come and the work we put in, the hours, the belief when nobody else believed," Sherrod added. "It was tough. It's hard being in a group and working toward something you can't see in front of you. All the 6 a.m's. The runs up the mountain. It's all preparing for this moment. When you're doing it, you don't really see that outcome, but it's all worth it in the end when you get to this point."
How It Happened
Colorado jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Duke scored its first basket just over two minutes into the game. Miller hit a 3-pointer amid a 9-0 run that gave the Buffs a 15-2 lead midway through the opening quarter. Duke then went on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to eight before Kindyll Wetta hit two free throws to give the Buffs a 21-11 lead.
CU turned the ball over five times in the first four minutes to start the second quarter and Duke hit a 3-pointer early to start the period with a 7-2, cutting the Buffs' lead to 23-18. Tameiya Sadler broke the slump with a 3 before a media timeout and Vonleh hit a layup to give CU back a 10-point lead at 28-18. Duke finished the quarter outscoring CU 8-4 but it was the Buffs who held a six-point lead at the break, 32-26.
Vonleh picked up her third foul in the first minute of the third quarter and was forced to the bench. Duke cut the CU lead to just three at 34-31 on a layup with 6:47 to go. After the Buffs regained a six-point lead, the Blue Devils came within three again after a 3-pointer, forcing a Colorado timeout.
Duke tied the game at 39-39 at the 3:30 mark in the third quarter. Duke then took its first lead on a fast-break layup with 1:37 left in the quarter. The Blue Devils finished the quarter on a 7-0 run and outscored CU 17-7 in the quarter, putting Colorado behind by four going to the fourth quarter.
Turnovers continued for CU early in the fourth, committing three in the first two minutes. Vonleh was able to get to the rim for a layup to bring the Buffs within one before Frida Formann hit her first 3-pointer of the game to take the lead back, 44-43. With just under five minutes left in the game, Miller got her own board after a layup and put it back up for two points to give CU a three-point lead, 46-43. The Blue Devils hit a corner three to tie the game at 46-46, and Duke regained the lead at 48-46 off a CU turnover and fast-break layup.
Approaching the one-minute mark, Sherrod brought the Buffs within two 50-48 on a layup. The CU defense forced a stop on the other end and then quickly called a timeout with 43.5 seconds to go. Right out of the break, Sherrod ran the floor, converting a layup and getting fouled, but missing the free throw to take the lead. Colorado was able to get a stop on the final possession to force overtime at 50-50.
Duke earned two shots at the line early in the overtime period but got one to fall. Formann made a step-back fadeaway jumper to give the Buffs a 52-51 lead. Vonleh received a pass in the paint from Formann and put it up for a layup as Colorado led 54-51. Consecutive stops led to CU points as Duke trailed 57-51 with 45 seconds left. The Blue Devils were fouled and sunk two shots from the free-throw line to make it a four-point game, 57-53. After the inbounds pass, Formann got fouled quickly. She went to the line and hit a pair of free throws before Duke called a timeout with 35 seconds remaining.
Sherrod got fouled again with 17 seconds left and iced the game with a pair of free throws.
Key Moment
Sherrod hit two layups, the final four points of regulation, in the last 91 seconds to force overtime. The Buffs maintained momentum in overtime, outscoring Duke 11-3 for the win.
Notes
Colorado improves to 19-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 5-3 as a No. 6 seed in the Big Dance … It's the program's first Sweet 16 appearance for JR Payne, first in 20 years since the 2003 tournament and seventh in CU history, joining 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2003, the first six coming under coach Ceal Barry … CU is now 25-8 on the season, the most wins for the program in 10 years since a 25-7 record in 2012-13, and it's the eighth 25-win season in CU history … Only five seasons have seen more wins at CU, 30-3 in 1994-95, 28-5 in 1980-81, 28-8 in 1981-82, 27-4 in 1992-93, 27-5 in 1993-94, and 26-9 in 1995-96 … Colorado recorded 11 steals, hitting double figures for the 17th time this season and is now 11-6 in those games … Colorado's 61 points is a season low for a win and the Buffs scored just 40 points after the first quarter, but still pulled out an eight point victory … The Buffs improved to 17-0 when holding an opponent to 60 or fewer points … Miller's 14 rebounds are the third-highest total of the season behind 19 against Oregon State (2/5) and 17 in the season opener against New Mexico State (11/7) … Miller scored 17 points after scoring 15 in the previous four games … Miller has scored in double figures 27 times this season and double figures in rebounds 10 times with nine double-doubles … Sherrod hit double figures in points for the 20th game this season and season best sixth straight game … Sherrod's six rebounds is the second-best total of the season and she has had five-plus rebounds four times in the last seven games after hitting that number twice in the first 26 games of the season … Vonleh hit double figures in scoring for the 24th time this season and sixth straight game … Formann now has 71 3-pointers this season with one on the night, moving into a tie for fifth place in CU history with Shelley Sheetz (1992-93) and Jenny Roulier (2001-02) … Formann was 2-of-2 from the line and is now 49-of-54 on the season for a 90.7 percentage, and she needs just one more make to enter the CU season record and she would be just the second player to hit 90-plus from the free throw line with 50-plus makes … Vonleh was 6-of-10 from the field and is now 178-of-303 (.587) on the season, on pace for the eighth best shooting percentage in CU history and best since Jackie McFarland shot .605 in 2006-07 … Miller's 14 rebounds gives her 287 on the season, good for ninth in CU history and her 209 defensive rebounds ranks tied for third most in CU history with Jackie McFarland (2006-07) behind only Chucky Jeffery (213 in 2011-12) and LeaAnn Banks (217 in 1985-86) … Sherrod now has 158 assists on the season, eighth-most in CU history … Sherrod was credited with two steals, giving her 77 on the season, ninth most in CU history.
Quotes
JR Payne
On CU's Defense: "I have to give all defensive credit to our Associate Head Coach Toriano (Towns) who runs our defense. That was his decision. The type of defense we played, but we came out early is how we like to defend. We want to be highly disruptive. We want to pressure. Everything's pretty scout driven, though. There are times that we don't necessarily play like that, but it is Jaylyn alluded to it. It is our mindset that we're the ultimate underdog. We were picked eighth we finished third (in the Pac-12) and everyone, EVERYONE, had us out of their bracket and had us losing in the first round. We relish that. But we play with that type of chip on our shoulder and that toughness. Defensively, that was T's decision to go zone. I thought it was a great decision and thought it created some opportunities for us on the offensive end as well."
On Celeste Taylor: "She's incredible. I've watched Celeste play since high school. We tried to recruit her a long time ago. She was coming out of high school and she already had her choices. We've been fans of hers for a long time. I think she plays the game the way it's meant to be played, with a lot of tenacity, a lot of discipline and a lot of toughness. So it is hard to game plan for her, but the great thing about our team is that we do have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of different players that can do a lot of different things. While they're a great team defensively, they only had one Celeste. We knew that she'd probably be on Frida as far as trying to be disruptive on her. We were able to capitalize on different positions and try to take advantage if there were ways that we could try to keep Celeste away from the ball a little bit."
On Defense: "I think we've all alluded to it. We do hang our hats defensively. We're a defensive-minded team, as is Duke. We take a lot of pride in being stingy, making touches difficult and things like that. I think when things get difficult for us, these guys, these guys said it, we lean into each other. We have great communication when things are hard. We thrive in environments like this. In the Pac-12, we play in a lot of big, crowded gyms. We're used to that. Our communication is usually pretty good and we were able to make sure we were talking we were in the right spots. We were disruptive and ultimately rebounding down the stretch became important for us."
On Iowa: "I mean, they're incredible. We played them years ago. This is my seventh year in Colorado. We played them early in the NIT, and I don't know which round it was maybe the third round of the NIT. They're so good. Everybody knows Iowa. They're great. They're so well coached, they're disciplined. They're probably everything you want in a basketball team. We'll enjoy the victory tonight and then we'll start to work tomorrow on the front."
Points In The Paint: "They were really important. As I said, we have a good balance. We have a lot of different players that are not just capable but have stepped up in big moments. We've had several people hit huge shots. We've had several people have huge stops and scores and things like that. We also have a very unselfish group which is cool. Nobody really cares who gets the winning shot. Nobody cares who gets the winning defensive rebound or forces the turnover or things like that. I think when you have balanced and you have a team that genuinely is unselfish like that, then you can play great basketball no matter where you are, who you're playing, or what environment. I think we showed that tonight."
Quay Miller
On Playing On The Road: "It was just our togetherness, which shows throughout the whole game. We played as one unit. That's how we built our big leads. The best thing we did was embrace it, even though the crowd was against us. It's a beautiful environment, and we thrive off that. We've been underdogs all season. Having a group or a gym full of people yelling at us and not going for us, we're used to it. I actually think we play better in that environment just because we've adopted that mentality from Jaylyn. We just thrive off that. Let's turn it up and make them even more mad."
On 14 Rebounds: "Every time in the huddle (Coach) Towns was telling me to crash the boards. I was trying to do the best I could. He kept telling me to crash and I was trying to grab every rebound that came my way."
On Getting In Rhythm: "It was nothing I was doing differently, it was all mental. I just really locked in and prayed harder and really focused on things that were in my control, which was my communication with God."
Jaylyn Sherrod
On Playing On The Road: "We just came out with an intensity. We knew from our scout that they like to press, they're a high-level defensive team and we knew we couldn't be timid. I love hostile environments. I love being the bad guy. The team feeds off that, too. We've been in a lot of those situations this season. We've had moments this season we had to learn from those situations. We gave into the environment rather than embracing it. It shows the maturity of this team to have grown from those situations and know how to deal with it now that we're in the postseason."
On Ending The Game On a 15-3 Run: "Our zone is not a typical zone, it's very high pressure, very aggressive. Once we got into that, we just got them out of rhythm."
On Coming Up Limping: "Oftentimes, I just need a minute. That's just what I do. I know that the team needs me. I know I need to be there for my team, even if it's just bringing the ball up. You get pushed down and you know how to get up and dusted off and that's a mental game at that point. You have to find a way when it means that much to you."
