Colorado
25-9,12-5Pac-12
Iowa
29-6,15-3Big Ten
Buffs Rally Falls Short, CU Eliminated By Iowa In Sweet 16
March 24, 2023 | Women's Basketball, Neill Woelk
SEATTLE — Colorado staged a furious comeback in the fourth quarter Friday but the Buffaloes came up just short as CU dropped an 87-77 decision to Iowa in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 at Climate Pledge Arena.
JR Payne's sixth-seeded Buffs, who were ranked 21st in the nation and were making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003, saw their season come to an end at 25-9. Third-seeded Iowa — ranked third in the nation — improved to 29-6.
Colorado overcame an early 10-point deficit to lead by one at the half, 40-39, but the Hawkeyes took control with a 13-0 run early in the third period. Iowa still led by as much as 14 early in the fourth period before the Buffs rallied to shave the deficit to four, 78-74, with 1:31 to play.
But that was as close as Colorado could come as the Hawkeyes hit their free throws in the final minute to keep the Buffs at bay.
Frida Formann led four Buffs in double figures with 21 points, 19 in the first half. Aaronette Vonleh scored 14, Quay Miller had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double and Jaylyn Sherrod just missed a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine assists.
Caitlin Clark led Iowa with 31 points, 20 coming in the second half.
The Buffs were plagued by foul troubles for much of the night. Sherrod played just eight minutes in the first half and fouled out in the final minute. Formann played 29 minutes and missed a key stretch after drawing three fouls in the third quarter before fouling out with more than six minutes still to play.
The Buffs were called for 24 fouls while Iowa was whistled for 16. The Hawkeyes shot 24 free throws — twice as many as Colorado — and made 19. CU hit five of its 12 free throw tries.
Colorado finished 31-for-76 from the floor (41 percent), including 10-for-31 from long range. Iowa shot 30-for-55 (54.5 percent) and hit 8 of 19 from long range.
The Buffs had a 40-32 edge on the boards and finished with 21 assists and only 11 turnovers. CU couldn't, however, overcome the free throw differential.
While the end was no doubt disappointing, Payne had nothing but praise for a CU team that exceeded almost everyone's expectations. The Buffs were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 but notched a third-place finish and were one of three conference teams to reach the Sweet 16.
"I'm really proud of our team, how we competed, never wilted," Payne said. "We went down double digits twice and just never stopped competing. That's the sign of a very resilient group. I told the team how unbelievably proud of them we are, and then also just how proud Buff Nation is of this team. There are a lot of people that are re-energized about our program and the way that these guys play and are just unbelievably proud of what they represent on and off the floor. That's really special."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado fell behind early as Iowa jumped out to a 15-5 lead.
The Buffs didn't flinch. Led by two 3-pointers from Formann and a pair of buckets inside from Vonleh, Colorado manufactured a 10-0 run to tie the game as the Buffaloes were more than happy to shoot over Iowa's zone defense.
From that point, the game see-sawed, with five lead changes before halftime.
Colorado trailed by one, 23-22, after one quarter but used a 7-0 run midway through the second period to take a 37-32 lead. Kindyll Wetta had five points in the surge and Formann had two of her 19 first-half points to give CU a 37-32 lead with just more than four minutes left in the half.
Iowa then manufactured a 7-0 run to regain the lead, but Colorado took a 40-39 edge into the break thanks to a Tameiya Sadler layup just before the half.
But the Hawkeyes grabbed control after intermission, putting together a 13-0 run in the first 4:20 of the half to take a 54-42 lead. Colorado called time out but Iowa extended its lead to as much as 15 before the Buffs shaved the deficit to 11, 64-53, by the end of the third quarter.
Colorado shot just 5-for-15 in the third period while the Hawkeyes were 9-for-13. The Buffs were also hampered by foul trouble in the third period. Sherrod drew her third foul just seconds into the half and Formann drew her fourth foul and had just two points in the period.
Formann then drew her fifth foul less than four minutes into the fourth quarter, ending her night and dealing a blow to Colorado's offensive attack.
"Definitely it messes with your rhythm when you're not able to just go and play freely," Sherrod said. "I think it's hard as a player not really knowing where you can be aggressive, where you can't because you're thinking about picking up a foul."
But despite the foul woes, the Buffs wouldn't quit.
After falling behind by 14 early in the final period, Colorado staged a comeback. Sadler and Miller each hit 3-pointers in a 10-4 run and with just more than four minutes to play, CU had narrowed the deficit to six, 76-70.
"I just didn't want to leave anything out on the floor," Miller said. "I started realizing how the calls were going, and I just was like, 'OK, I don't need to play scared to foul.' So if I get a foul, oh well, but I'm going to try to get to the rim."
Colorado's surge forced Iowa to call a timeout. The Hawkeyes quickly bumped their cushion back to eight after the break but the Buffs responded with a Vonleh bucket and with 2:31 to play, Colorado still trailed by just six, 78-72.
The Buffs then cut the margin to four a minute later on a Sherrod steal and bucket, sending a surge through the CU fans on hand.
"I'm proud of this team," Sherrod said. "We stayed resilient. We fought through. When things got hard, we were all in the huddles keeping our heads up on the next play mentality. I think that's what led to the push in the late fourth quarter."
But the Hawkeyes pushed their cushion back to six on a Monika Czinano basket with just 1:11 left on the clock and the Buffs came up empty on their next possession.
Iowa then hit its free throws in the final minute to keep the Buffs at bay and end their NCAA Tournament run.
" It's really hard to play when you're not exactly sure what is what is going to be a foul," Payne said. "I thought our team did a great job of just trying to stay the course and stayed aggressive, stayed active, rotated aggressively, rebounded the basketball like we needed to. But it definitely was difficult with rotations. But I thought our team kept their heads when they had to play different positions and things like that."
KEY MOMENTS: Colorado used a 10-0 run early in the game to erase a 10-point Iowa lead and CU ultimately went into the half with a 40-39 lead … Colorado again fought back in the fourth quarter, using a 12-4 run to cut Iowa's lead down to four … But the Hawkeyes finally put the game away by hitting free throws in the final minute.
NOTES: Colorado hit 10 3-pointers against Iowa, the second time in three NCAA Tournament games with 10-plus, and it was the sixth time this season the Buffs hit double figures in triples … Colorado topped the 40 rebound mark in all three NCAA Tournament games, outrebounding Iowa by a significant 40-32 advantage … Colorado snagged 21 offensive rebounds, tied for the second-highest of the season and one of three games with 20-plus this season … The Buffs 21 assists are one of nine 20-plus games of the season and second in three NCAA Tournament games … Colorado's 77 points were the second-highest total in a loss this season, behind an 86-85 loss at Texas Tech back in November … Miller had 12 points and 14 rebounds, her 10th double-double of the season and for the second straight game … Miller grabbed 14 rebounds for the second straight game, her 12th game in double figures this season … Miller finished the season with 301 rebounds, good for sixth in CU history and the seventh 300-rebound season in program history, and the most since Jackie McFarland had 325 in 2006-07, and Miller and McFarland have the only two 300-rebound seasons since 1981-82 … Miller set a new CU record with 219 defensive rebounds in a season, she had 10 in the game to move from a tie for third all the way to the record, passing Chucky Jeffrey (213, 2011-12) and LeaAnn Banks (217, 1985-86) … Sherrod's nine assists is her second-highest total of the season behind a 10 assist effort against Chicago State in November … Sherrod finished the season with 167 assists, tied for fourth-best in CU history with Bridget Turner in 1985-86 … Sherrod finished the season with 78 seteals, ninth-best in CU history … Formann scored 21 points, tied for her second-best output of the season and her fourth 20-point game … Formann hit four 3-pointers, her seventh such game this season … She hit 75 3-pointers this season, fifth most in CU history and most since Brittany Spears hit 81 some 12 seasons ago in 2010-11 … Sherrod finished her season with 167 assists and Wetta with 112, and they are the first duo to each have 100 assists in a season since 1999-2000 when Mandy Nightingale (124) and Jenny Rouler (112) accomplished the feat … Sherrod finished with 78 steals and Wetta with 57, they both had 50-plus steals for the second straight season, the first duo since three Buffs had 60-plus in 2016-17 … They are the first duo to have 50-plus steals in back-to-back seasons since Brittany Spears and Chucky Jeffery in 2009-10 and 2010-11 … CU finishes the season 25-9, the Buffs second 25-win season in the last 27 season … CU is now 3-4 against Iowa and this was the Buffs first loss to the Hawkeyes away from Iowa City … CU is now 19-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … CU is now 5-4 as the No. 6 seed in those four trips, the Buffs have two Sweet 16 runs.
