Tag: Colorado women’s basketball

PHOTOS: Colorado women’s basketball falls to Iowa in Sweet 16

PHOTOS: Colorado’s first Sweet 16 trip since 2003

A remarkable season came to a disappointing close on Friday night as the No. 6 seed Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team fell to the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Despite outrebounding Iowa by eight, the Hawkeyes shot 54.5% from the field and were aided by guard Caitlin Clark’s 31 points. Frida Formann led CU with 21 points and Quay Miller overcame a slow start to finish with a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double.

The Buffaloes fought for all 40 minutes but were ultimately undone by a big Iowa run early in the third quarter.

Check out a few of the best pictures from Colorado’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003.

CU women’s basketball guard Tayanna Jones: ‘We have the mentality that we can beat anybody’

Tayanna Jones and the #cubuffs are ready to slay another dragon in the Sweet 16

For those who’ve watched the Colorado women’s basketball team all year, the Buffaloes’ NCAA Tournament run doesn’t feel like much of a Cinderalla story.

Yes, it’s the program’s Sweet 16 trip since 2003, but tead coach JR Payne’s veteran squad has been slaying dragons for quite some time now with regular season wins over Utah, Arizona, UCLA and Washington. Confidence has followed, naturally.

Ahead of Colorado’s Sweet 16 matchup against Iowa on Friday, I asked fifth-year senior guard Tayanna Jones about her team’s mentality heading into another challenging game.

“Everybody’s locked in,” Jones said. “We have the mentality that we can beat anybody. I know you guys heard it already, but our mentality is just making sure we’re locked in, doing the little things. I think that’s what has taken us so far this whole season is just the little things that other teams don’t look into.”

Jones was also asked about potentially matching up against Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who comes in averaging 26.8 points and is one of the nation’s top shooters.

“She’s a great player,” Jones said. “I love defense. I didn’t used to love defense, but I love challenges. That’s something I’m definitely going to take into and really study her game, look at what she likes to do, how she likes to score exactly coming off the dribble. We all know she loves to shoot the logo shot, so that’ll definitely be something we’ll be all locked into.”

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.   

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Best social media reactions from Colorado upsetting Duke in NCAA Tournament

Social media went wild for Colorado punching its Sweet 16 ticket

For the first time since 2003, the Colorado women’s basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16.

The Buffaloes overcome a rough third quarter and dominated on defense in overtime to take care of Duke, 61-53, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night. Once again, head coach JR Payne and the Buffs proved a good deal of doubters wrong by beating the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor.

Colorado is now set to face Iowa in Seattle on Friday.

As you’d expect, social media went wild for CU’s gutsy overtime upset. Check out a few of the best Twitter reactions from the program’s biggest win in a long time:

What to know about Colorado’s second-round opponent Duke

Following a dominant first-round win, Colorado is faced with upsetting Duke at Cameron Indoor

Duke. A school synonymous with basketball with a women’s team looking to end Colorado’s NCAA Tournament run.

Following dominant first-round wins for both squads, the No. 6 seed Buffs and No. 3 Blue Devils are now set for a round of 32 matchup on Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke beat No. 14 Iona, 89-49, in its opening game and enters with a 26-6 record (14-4 ACC) under third-year head coach Kara Lawson. The Blue Devils average 63.9 points on 42% shooting from the field while holding opponents to 50.7 points on 35.2%.

Only guard Celeste Taylor (11.5 points) and forward Elizabeth Balogun (10.1) are the only Blue Devils averaging double figures; Balogun leads the team with 5.3 boards per game and Shayeann Day-Wilson comes in averaging 2.6 assists. Day-Wilson tied her season-high with seven assists against Iona as well.

On the season, Duke owns wins over then-No. 6 NC State, then-No. 12 Virginia Tech, then-No. 9 Notre Dame and then-No. 18 North Carolina. Lawson’s squad was ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP Poll.

At Cameron Indoor, the Blue Devils are 14-1 this season with their only loss coming against North Carolina.

Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. MT on ESPNU.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.   

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What to know about Colorado’s first-round opponent Middle Tennessee

Colorado will have to earn it against Middle Tennessee

One year after falling to Creighton in the first round, No. 6 seed Colorado has a shot at redemption with a matchup against No. 11 Middle Tennessee on Saturday to open the NCAA Tournament.

So who are these Blue Raiders? To start big picture, they owned the Conference USA, winning the regular season crown by a whopping four games before defeating Western Kentucky in the league title game. Middle Tennessee, which enters the Big Dance 28-4, also has wins over then-No. 18 Louisville, Memphis and Houston.

Led by 18th-year head coach Rick Insell, the Blue Raiders have a quartet of players who average over 10 points: Kseniya Malashka (15.2), Savannah Wheeler (15.1), Jalynn Gregory (13.7) and Courtney Whitson (10.4).  Whitson enters as their top rebounder (7.9 per game) and Wheeler averages just over three assists per game.

Last season, Middle Tennessee fell to Seton Hall in the WNIT semifinals.

“Middle Tennessee is a really great team,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I think they’re probably the best mid-major team in the country. They play hard, they’re tough, fearless, everything you want in a basketball team. It’s definitely a challenging matchup for both teams. It will be a great game.”

Tipoff is at 5 p.m. MT on ESPNews from Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.   

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No. 20 Colorado debuts on ESPN’s college women’s basketball power rankings

No. 20 Colorado broke into ESPN’s power rankings

Although Colorado couldn’t quite get past No. 2 Stanford on Thursday, the Buffaloes’ double-overtime effort paired with a dominant win over Cal was enough for them to crack ESPN’s top 16 women’s college basketball power rankings.

ESPN’s M.A. Voepel put the Buffs at the very bottom of his list at No. 16, just behind Villanova. Knocked out of this week’s rankings were Arizona, Michigan and Iowa.

Likewise, the Buffs also improved one spot to No. 20 in the AP Top 25.

Head coach JR Payne and Co. wrapped the regular season with a 22-7 overall record, including 13 wins in Pac-12 play.

The stakes only get bigger in March, though. Colorado enters the Pac-12 Tournament as a No. 3 seed and will face either No. 6 USC or No. 11 Oregon State in the second round. The Buffs are also a projected top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s what Voepel wrote on the Buffs:

The Buffs nearly took down Stanford last week before falling 73-62 in double overtime. But they closed the season with a 95-69 win over Cal. That, and their overall Pac-12 résumé, has earned them their first appearance this season in the Power Rankings. Colorado went 6-2 in February and is seeking its first Pac-12 tournament title. Its last conference tournament championship came in 1997, the first season of Big 12 play. Colorado moved to the Pac-12 in 2011.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions. 

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No. 21 CU Buffs women’s basketball ready for Thursday afternoon matchup with No. 3 Stanford

No. 21 Colorado’s penultimate regular season matchup is a big one with No. 3 Stanford coming to Boulder

Although they’re already guaranteed a top-four seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, the No. 21 Buffs still have their biggest game of the regular season on tap with No. 3 Stanford coming to the CU Events Center on Thursday.

Beating the Cardinal — and Cal on Saturday — would put the Buffs in prime position to host in the NCAA Tournament. And as someone who covered Colorado’s upset of then-No. 1 Stanford back in 2021, this game means more than just a win or a loss.

“We are going to do whatever it takes to win,” senior Quay Miller said. “Last year, we depended on a few players and when they did not show up, we did not know what to do. This year we are all trying to take over and whoever has the hot hand we will just keep feeding this person.”

The Buffs enter Thursday at 21-6 overall and 12-4 in Pac-12 play, while Stanford, which reached the Final Four last year, sits 26-3 (14-2 Pac-12).

Tipoff is Thursday at 3 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.   

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Colorado women’s basketball’s top 10 all-time leading scorers

Take a look back at the greatest scorers in CU women’s basketball history

In the nearly 50-year history of Colorado women’s basketball, 32 players have scored at least 1,000 points and two have eclipsed 2,000 during their careers.

That number should soon reach 33, however, with Buffs senior point guard Jaylyn Sherrod nearing the mark in what could be her final season in Boulder.  Likewise, junior guard Frida Formann is over the 800-point mark thanks to her 3-point shooting abilities.

The 2022-23 Buffs are rewriting the record books in a variety of areas and are likely to reach the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in almost 20 years.

Look back at the top 10 scorers in CU women’s hoops history:

AP women’s college basketball poll: Five Pac-12 teams make Top 25

Colorado held strong in the latest AP Top 25 poll

March is almost here and it’s lining up to be quite the month for Pac-12 women’s basketball.

While Stanford is still the team to beat, the conference boasts a handful of other programs that could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, including the surging Colorado Buffaloes. In Monday’s release of the latest AP women’s college basketball poll, a total of five Pac-12 teams made the Top 25, with the USC Trojans also receiving one vote.

Only one week remains in the Pac-12 regular season, and here’s how the conference fared in the latest release of the AP Top 25 poll:

Pac-12 women’s basketball report: Arizona helped Stanford in a big way

Arizona beat Utah on Friday, then Colorado on Sunday. Colorado probably lost its chance to share the Pac-12 title.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer won her third national championship by beating Adia Barnes and the Arizona Wildcats in the 2021 national title game in San Antonio. VanDerveer might want to send Barnes a gift one week from now if Stanford is able to win the Pac-12 championship. Arizona just made Stanford’s path to the title a lot more manageable.

Arizona, which beat Utah on Friday, turned around and hammered Colorado on Sunday. Buffaloes Wire has more on the story:

“The No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes just can’t seem to figure out how to beat ranked teams on the road,” Tony Cosolo wrote. “Sunday’s test came in the form of the No. 18 Arizona Wildcats and CU was less than stellar, losing 61-42. With that loss, CU dropped to 21-6 on the season and a concerning 0-4 when playing ranked teams on the road.

“Shooting woes and turnovers were the main pain points for the Buffaloes, as Colorado shot only 28% from the field and turned the ball over 20 times en route to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Buffaloes jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first quarter, but Arizona went on a 12-1 run to close out the quarter and never looked back.”

Stanford heads into a Monday night home game versus UCLA with a chance to maintain the outright lead in the Pac-12 heading into the final week of the regular season.

Before this past weekend of games, Stanford was tied with Utah and just one game ahead of Colorado. Now the Cardinal lead Utah by one game in the loss column and Colorado by two. If Stanford beats UCLA, the Trees will have a one-game lead over the Utes, two over the Buffaloes.

With Stanford visiting Colorado and Utah on the final weekend of the season, the Cardinal (in the event of a win over UCLA) would just need to split to guarantee a share of the Pac-12 title. If they beat Utah, they will win the league outright no matter what else happens.

Colorado isn’t officially eliminated from the Pac-12 title chase, but the chances are slim to none for the Buffs. If Stanford beats UCLA on Monday night, Colorado would need Utah to lose at home to California to have any chance of sharing the Pac-12 title. Utah beating Cal means that even if Colorado defeats Stanford, the Utes and Cardinal would enter their big showdown ahead of Colorado. Since one of Utah or Stanford would win that game, CU couldn’t catch the winner. It would catch the loser, but not both. CU needed to beat Arizona to stay in the title hunt, but it didn’t.

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