Fast break
Why the Buffs won: Their defense was spectacular, especially in the second half when they limited Kansas State to 22.2% shooting and forced 11 turnovers.
Three stars:
1. Aaronette Vonleh: Flirted with a triple-double, posting nine points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven steals while playing good defense against K-State star Ayoka Lee.
2. Tameiya Sadler: Came off the bench to score 10 points – all in the second half – and dish two assists.
3. Quay Miller: Was active all night on both ends of the floor, posting a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), along with three steals and two assists.
Up next: Colorado moves on to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of Monday’s game between Iowa and West Virginia. That game would be Saturday in Albany, N.Y.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Jaylyn Sherrod didn’t want to say it on Selection Sunday, but she was upset when the Colorado women’s basketball team was sent on the road for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Sherrod and the Buffs turned that bitter feeling into pure sweetness.
On Sunday, fifth-seeded Colorado cranked up the defensive intensity to roll past fourth-seeded Kansas State, 63-50, at the Wildcats’ Bramlage Coliseum in the second round of the tournament and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
“I think we’re just all so blessed, man, and really it’s an opportunity not a lot of people get to have and to be able to experience it back-to-back seasons is really special,” Sherrod said. “I really didn’t want my last game to be in Manhattan, Kansas, in front of this hostile crowd, so I’m just happy we got the win.”
Considering CU history, it was an improbable win.
The 17th-ranked Buffaloes (24-9) don’t typically beat ranked opponents on the road, but that didn’t faze them against the No. 15-ranked Wildcats (26-8). The Buffs typically don’t win in front of big crowds on the road, either.
Prior to Sunday, the Buffs were 1-57 over the past 16 seasons in true road games against AP Top 25 teams. And in program history, they were 2-20 in true road games when at least 10,000 fans were in the stands.
Yet, in front of 10,692 fans – mostly in K-State purple – the Buffs dominated the second half to pull off the upset.
“Wow, very, just so proud of our team for how we played today,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “The environment was incredible. Shout-out to Manhattan, Kansas, the entire community has welcomed us this week, and that’s great. That’s a great basketball environment, but we love that environment. We love being the underdog. We kind of thrive in that role. So I know that as a group, we are very, very comfortable going into such a tough environment.
“When I look at the box score, any coach in the world would love to see a box score like this … the balance on our team is just unreal and I think that’s really, really hard to guard. We executed some things down the stretch that were really great. Defensively, I thought our pressure was great.”
Maddie Nolan led the Buffs with 11 points, but Quay Miller and Tameiya Sadler both had 10 while three other Buffs had nine. Miller also added 10 rebounds for a double-double and Aaronette Vonleh had the most dynamic stat line, with nine points, eight rebounds and seven steals.
CU needed everyone, especially on defense. Down 35-33 going into halftime, the Buffs outscored the Wildcats 30-15 after intermission. K-State hit just 6-of-27 shots (.222) after halftime and had 11 turnovers.
The Buffs recorded 17 steals, the second-most they’ve ever had in an NCAA Tournament game, and held K-State to 38.5% shooting for the day.
“We really pride ourselves on defense,” Sadler said. “So, every day, every practice we are always going at each other. We are always going to be aggressive, attacking every moment, every time on defense. That’s who we are and that’s what we fed into tonight.”
Sadler came off the bench to outscore the Wildcats by herself in the third quarter, 8-7. She sparked a third quarter in which the Buffs turned their two-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Buffs have had some fourth-quarter meltdowns in recent weeks and they appeared to be on the verge of one Sunday, too. They didn’t score during the first 6 minutes, 18 seconds of the final frame – going 0-for-6 with five turnovers – but K-State shaved just four points off the lead in that time because the Buffs didn’t let up defensively.
“There was an opportunity there because we did do such a good job defensively in that stretch to make a much bigger run than the four points,” K-State coach Jeff Mitte said. “But that’s why we’ll look back at this and go, ‘The things that we controlled, we didn’t do as well as we needed to.’”
CU, on the other hand, did. Miller and Sadler both hit buckets down the stretch and the Buffs went 7-for-8 at the free throw line in the last 55 seconds to keep their season going. Doing it on the road made it even sweeter.
“Yeah it does,” Sherrod said with a smile. “I mean, we were (upset) when we saw the selection. I can say that. I can actually say we were all (ticked) off when the (selection committee) didn’t let us host or didn’t, I guess, consider us host worthy. It left a bad taste in all of our mouths, man.
“We knew whatever we got, we deserved, but we were all kind of highly (ticked) off about it. So we just wanted to come out here and make a statement and not just prove to the team we were going against but to everybody, like we’re a really good ballclub and it was kind of disrespectful not to put us in that top 16 group.”
Now, the Buffs are in that top 16 group as they’ll await the winner of Monday’s game between Iowa and West Virginia.
“Really blessed that we are able to be here again for another year in a row,” Vonleh said. “It just has not registered that we are really going back again.”
No. 17 Colorado 63, No. 15 Kansas State 50
COLORADO (24-9)
Vonleh 4-14 1-4 9, Miller 3-8 4-4 10, Sherrod 2-8 5-7 9, Formann 2-6 5-6 9, Nolan 3-9 2-2 11, Whittaker 0-1 0-0 0, Wetta 1-3 2-2 5, Sadler 5-8 0-0 10, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, McLeod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 19-25 63.
KANSAS STATE (26-8)
Lee 5-9 0-0 10, J. Gleen 3-11 1-2 7, Sundell 4-7 1-4 11, B. Glenn 2-7 0-0 4, Gregory 4-11 2-2 12, Sanchez 0-2 0-0 0, Walker 0-2 1-2 1, Maupin 1-1 0-0 2, Sides 1-2 0-0 3, Dallinger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 5-10 50.
Colorado 14 19 19 11 – 63
Kansas State 14 21 7 8 – 15
3-point goals – Colorado 4-16 (Nolan 3-9, Wetta 1-2, Sherrod 0-3, Formann 0-2), Kansas State 5-19 (Gregory 2-6, Sundell 2-3, Sides 1-2, J. Glenn 0-3, B. Glenn 0-2, Walker 0-2, Sanchez 0-1). Rebounds – Colorado 40 (Miller 10), Kansas State 34 (Lee 11). Assists – Colorado 13 (Sherrod, Nolan, Wetta 3), Kansas State 13 (Sundell 6). Steals – Colorado 17 (Vonleh 7), Kansas State 7 (J. Glenn, Walker 2). Turnovers – Colorado 15, Kansas State 22. Total fouls – Colorado 16, Kansas State 20. Fouled out – Sundell. Attendance – 10,692.
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