Tag: Aaronette Vonleh

CU women’s basketball center Aaronette Vonleh enters portal

Aaronette Vonleh’s departure creates another big gap within Colorado’s roster

CU women’s basketball suffered a massive blow on Monday as BuffZone’s Brian Howell confirmed that center Aaronette Vonleh has entered the transfer portal.

Vonleh played her first college season at Arizona before transferring to Colorado before the 2023 season. In her two years with the Buffs, Vonleh developed into one of the best post players in the country. The 6-foot-3 center gave the Buffaloes a weapon in the paint as she bullied her way to averaging 14 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She also possessed a great combination of strength and touch that allowed her to shoot 54.9% from the field on the season.

Vonleh’s 2023 season was a coming-out party of sorts, and it started with a bang when she scored 24 points in Colorado’s upset of LSU.

The transfer portal has not been kind to the Buffaloes this offseason with Vonleh, Brianna McLeod, Jadyn Atchison, Mikayla Johnson, Ruthie Loomis-Goltl, Lele Tanuvasa and walk-on Shelomi Sanders all either in the portal or committed elsewhere. CU head coach JR Payne and her staff have their work cut out in replacing players such as Vonleh.

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Leading scorer Aaronette Vonleh having monster season for CU Buffs

Aaronette Vonleh is quietly putting together a monster season

The fifth-ranked CU women’s basketball team is off to a hot start this season and looks every bit like a contender to win the Pac-12 and go deep into the NCAA Tournament.

One player who is having an especially strong season is Aaronette Vonleh. She is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game while shooting 64.5% from the field. The 6-foot-3 center had an 18-point performance against Utah in the victory, and she had 14 points and a career-high five blocks vs. Northern Colorado on Dec. 21.

On Friday evening, the Buffs face Vonleh’s former team, Arizona. Vonleh played in 17 games for the Wildcats in 2021-22 before transferring to Boulder.

Colorado head coach JR Payne has a flurry of talented players on her roster this year, and Vonleh has been a key part of the Buffs’ success.

 

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Recap: CU women upset the defending national champion LSU Tigers

Colorado put the college women’s basketball on notice by upsetting LSU

Colorado has put the college women’s basketball world on notice.

Going up against the defending national champion LSU Tigers, the Buffs were the underdogs in Las Vegas, but CU was the aggressor and walked away with a 92-78 victory on Monday evening.

The first half was close throughout, but the Buffs’ second-half defense allowed them to pull away. CU switched to a zone look midway through the third quarter that confused LSU into turnovers, which turned into easy baskets for the Buffs.

It was a two-way battle between Frida Formann and Aaronette Vonleh for the player of the game. Formann tied the school record for 3-point makes (seven) en route to 27 points while Vonleh dominated inside the paint for 24 points and six rebounds. She also helped hold LSU star Angel Reese to six-of-15 shooting.

You also can’t ignore the all-around great game from point guard Jaylyn Sherrod, who sped her way to 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.

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Colorado women’s basketball 2023-24 player profile: Aaronette Vonleh

The Colorado women’s basketball team is in good hands with Aaronette Vonleh manning the center position

Last year’s Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team got a massive boost from the transfer portal when head coach JR Payne managed to land center Aaronette Vonleh. The former Arizona Wildcat quickly became a starter for a Buffs team that went deep into the NCAA Tournament.

Now in her second season with the Buffs, the junior post remains a core member of the squad and is a big reason why Colorado is receiving plenty of hype.

With the 2023-24 college basketball season now underway, Vonleh takes “center” stage in our latest Colorado women’s basketball player profile. Here’s what you should know about Vonleh:

CU Buffs women’s basketball 2022-23 season in review

We were treated to a magical 2022-23 CU women’s basketball season

The 2022-23 season was a magical one for the Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team. JR Payne’s squad well exceeded preseason predictions and danced all the way to the Sweet 16.

Colorado seems primed to build upon this success as its core remains intact, and another wave of talent is set to join the team next season. But fans would do well to take a few minutes and relish in the memories that were made this past season. It had been 20 years since Colorado pushed that far into the postseason and the Buffs accomplished this by defying the odds all season.

Read on to see our review of the 2022-23 CU women’s basketball season:

Colorado makes ESPN’s way-too-early women’s basketball top 25

Colorado was well-positioned in this way-too-early top 25

The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team is getting some national love after its impressive showing in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN writer Charlie Creme ranked Colorado at No. 20 in its way-too-early top 25 for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

Head coach JR Payne and the Buffs shocked most of the women’s basketball world this last season after being picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 preseason polls. The Buffs shot all the way up to third when the season ended and captured a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament where many thought No. 11 Middle Tennessee State would get the first-round upset.

CU would dominate MTSU and upset the Duke Blue Devils in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 20 years before falling to eventual national runner-up Iowa in a hard-fought contest that saw the Buffs hold a halftime lead.

Colorado will not be sneaking up on anyone this year as ESPN points out the returning core and Payne’s recent contract extension as major factors (h/t ESPN and Charlie Creme):

20. Colorado Buffaloes

After the Buffaloes’ first Sweet 16 appearance in 20 years, coach JR Payne was rewarded with a five-year contract extension. It also looks like she will have most of her veteran team back for another run. The top four scorers — Quay Miller, Aaronette Vonleh, Frida Formann and Jaylyn Sherrod — are expected to be back next season. This season marked the second time in 27 years Colorado had won as many as 25 games, and the third-place finish in the Pac-12 was the program’s best since joining the conference in 2011.

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Colorado women’s basketball: JR Payne, players share thoughts on reaching Sweet 16 against Iowa

Colorado coaches and players gave their thoughts on Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup against Iowa

The No. 6 seed Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team has had quite the NCAA Tournament run so far, traveling all the way to Durham to defeat Middle Tennessee and Duke to reach the program’s first Sweet 16 in 20 years.

Once the celebration of beating the Blue Devils died down, the Buffs set their sights on a new opponent, the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. Colorado stopped in Boulder to practice and meet with the media on Wednesday before heading west to Seattle for Friday’s game against Iowa.

Here are some of the best quotes from head coach JR Payne and players from their meeting with the media on Wednesday:

Colorado women’s basketball: Buffs react to March Madness selection

Naturally, #cubuffs players and coaches were excited to hear their name called on Selection Sunday

Buffaloes Wire had you covered as I was on-site to watch the Colorado women’s basketball team react to its NCAA Tournament selection. It was a festive atmosphere inside the Dal Ward Athletic Center as the team gathered for a banquet that ended in a Selection Sunday watch party.

Colorado found out it will be a No. 6 seed in the Seattle 4 region, and it was met with a jubilant cheer from the team. But soon after the celebration died down, it became time for the Buffs to focus on the task at hand. The players I spoke to were ready for the challenge in front of them with a trip to Durham, North Carolina to face Middle Tennessee looming.

Here’s how Buffaloes players and head coach JR Payne reacted to the program’s second straight March Madness bid:

Colorado women’s basketball Pac-12 Tournament recap: Buffs knocked out by Washington State

Colorado’s Pac-12 Tournament run came to a close

The curse of the first-round bye was real during this year’s Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament, and the No. 3 seed Colorado Buffaloes were the last top-four team to fall as No. 7 Washington State pulled off the semifinals upset, 61-49, on Friday night.

WSU raced out to a 20-6 first-half lead with the Buffaloes unable to hit many shots. Colorado was able to claw its way back to tie the game at 38 at the end of the third quarter before the Buffs ran out of gas in the fourth, ending the comeback bid.

With the game tied at 41 with 7:40 left in the fourth, Washington State went on a 9-0 run to take control of the contest. As I mentioned, Colorado could not hit its shots last night and was just 37% from the field and 22.2% from three. Aaronette Vonleh was a bright spot, scoring 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting, meaning the rest of the team shot 11-of-43 (25.58%) for the night.

Washington State will now face No. 5 UCLA in Sunday’s championship game.

Colorado will now wait for the selection committee to announce its NCAA Tournament seed. CU is projected to be a top-four seed and if that comes true, the Buffaloes will host their first and potentially second game at the CU Events Center.

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Colorado women’s basketball Pac-12 Tournament recap: No. 3 seed Buffs hold off Oregon State

Colorado passed its quarterfinals test and will face Washington State in the Pac-12 semifinals

Upsets were the theme of the first two rounds of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament as Utah, USC and Arizona had all fallen to lower seeds. Through the majority of the first half, it looked like No. 3 seed Colorado might be added to that list.

Oregon State played really well in the first half, at one point holding a nine-point lead over CU built mostly on the back of hot shooting from beyond the 3-point line. The Buffs were able to tie the game at the half thanks to a 9-2 run late in the second quarter.

CU had a trio of double-digit scorers in Frida Formann, Jaylyn Sherrod and Aaronette Vonleh, accounting for 16, 12 and 15 points, respectively. Quay Miller had a rare off-night, scoring two points and missing all nine of her field goal attempts.

Colorado will be right back at it as they take on another upset-minded squad in No. 7 seed Washington State on Friday at 9:30 p.m. MT in the semifinals. The Cougars are responsible for ending No. 2 seed Utah’s tournament run.

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