Junior guard Kindyll Wetta brings the ball up the court during the game against the University of Washington at the CU Events Center on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
The Colorado women’s basketball season has come to an end and what a run it was. The Buffs came into March Madness as a 5 seed and squared off versus 12 seed Drake in Manhattan, Kansas round one. They then went on to beat 4-seed Kansas State before falling to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Sweet Sixteen.
This was a special group of players for Colorado, comprised of mainly upperclassmen who dominated the college basketball world all year long. The Buffaloes were ranked nationally in the top 25 throughout the whole season but for the second straight year, the Iowa Hawkeyes were the team to send them packing.
In round one, the Buffs defeated the Drake Bulldogs 86-72 as Kindyll Wetta, Jalyn Sherrod and Aaronette Vonleh all surpassed 16+ points in this affair. The Buffs started this game slowly as Drake stayed within reach up until the third quarter. Within the first five minutes of the third quarter Colorado pulled away, going on a 14-3 run which helped the Buffs cruise to a double-digit victory.
“I’m just really proud of how we played tonight. I thought we had a great week-and-a-half of practice and preparation,” head coach JR Payne said after the game. “Drake is such a good and such a different team. I was very nervous about this game, not that I didn’t think we were capable, it’s just such a different style. We have not played a team like Drake all year. So I’m really proud of how our team prepared.”
The Buffs advanced and then matched up against the Kansas State Wildcats on their home court. This game was unique as it saw the two teams go back and forth and play some shutdown defense. The Buffs recorded 17 steals in this game, just one shy of tying their season-high. After an eventful first half, Colorado trailed 35-33 going into halftime. The Buffs came out firing and really shut down the Wildcats as they led 52-42 heading into the fourth quarter. Colorado then struggled to put up points in the final quarter and Kansas State came within five points before the Buffs hit a ton of free throws to ensure a 63-50 victory.
“I think one of the best things about our team, we’ve said for a long time that, nobody really cares who gets the shine,” Payne said. “We have a lot of different players. We don’t have a single five-star recruit. We don’t have a single McDonald’s All-American, but we have a group of young women that are willing to fight and compete every day that they take the floor.”
“I think that leads to a group that really wants to see each other succeed,” Payne continued. “I think it leads to a group that really loves to feed the hot hand no matter who it is, where it is, what it is, they try to get that person the ball and it’s just a really fun way to play.”
After a little upset, the Buffs then matched up with a familiar foe, the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Sweet Sixteen. The Hawkeyes are led by arguably the best college women’s basketball player ever, Caitlin Clark. In this matchup, Clark lived up to the hype dropping 29 points and 15 assists on one of her worst 3-point shooting days. The Buffaloes struggled to defend Clark and the Hawkeyes as Clark either scored or assisted on 28 of the Hawkeyes’ 35 field goals on the day. Just an insane performance by Clark that left the Buffs scratching their heads. Sherrod had just a mere nine points in this matchup while other guards Maddie Nolan and Frida Formann both shot under 37% from the floor in this game. Colorado was simply outmatched by Clark and the Hawkeyes from the jump as Iowa went on multiple big runs that the Buffs couldn’t come back from. The Buffs were defeated 89-68 as the buzzer sounded but as head coach Payne said, “It was an incredible season that was not defined by this one game.”
“I’m really proud of the season that we had and excited to see what some of these seniors are going to do and excited for where our program is headed.”
Buffs guard Sherrod discussed how great a player Clark is and her impact on the game.
“That’s the part that I would say is the hard piece is that (Clark) got everybody else involved,” Sherrod said. “It just speaks to the type of player she is. She’s unselfish and she got everybody else going. I think they had four players in double figures — five. That’s just tough when everybody else is hitting, too.”
Sherrod also broke down her career here at Colorado and how proud she is of this team.
“Being told your whole life you’re too small, you can’t play on this level, you’re not good enough, and just coming out here — at the end of the day, yeah, we lost, but nobody can take away these past five years for me,” Sherrod said. “Nobody can take away what I’ve done, what this team has done.”
“We can all look back at it now and say there were some things we could have done better,” Sherrod said. “But at the end of the day, I’m proud of this team, proud of how we came out. There was no quit whatsoever in this ballclub.”
The Buffs are losing a lot of this 2024 team as Jaylyn Sherrod, Quay Miller, Maddie Nolan, and Charlotte Whittaker are grad students and Tameiya Sadler and Frida Formann are seniors. All of these players had huge impacts on Colorado this season and will be missed next season and beyond. It was a special run for the Buffs that saw them fall short in the Sweet Sixteen again but no one can take away what a great team they were.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Griffin Dreifaldt at Griffin.Dreifaldt@colorado.edu
