The Colorado Buffaloes are preparing for the Caitlin Clark show on Saturday like another impending spring snowstorm. It’s a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16; Colorado’s run ended after an 87-77 loss to Clark’s Hawkeyes in 2023.
The Buffs, the fifth seed in the Albany II region of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, take on No. 1-seeded Iowa in the Sweet 16 at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time on March 30 on ABC.
The matchup comes after the Buffs took care of No. 12-seeded Drake in the first round and upset No. 4-seeded Kansas State in the second round. Iowa advances after beating No. 16-seeded Holy Cross and No. 8-seeded West Virginia.
“We’re just really excited to be back in the Sweet 16,” Buffs Head Coach JR Payne said in a Tuesday press conference. “It’s something these guys grow up dreaming about doing, and they’ve worked really, really hard to put us in a position where we can do that in back-to-back years.”
Clark, the biggest superstar in men’s and women’s college basketball, is coming off a 32-point performance against West Virginia, hitting five 3-pointers and making 11-of-12 free throws.
Clark recently became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer in early March, passing “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s 3,667 total points. Colorado will have its hands full.
“She’s a tremendous player. She’s the leading scorer in the history of our game for a reason,” Payne said. “There’s nothing anybody could ever do or say to take that away … We have seen great players and great teams all season long. And it kind of feels the same going against Iowa. The game plan might look different, but we do feel prepared for sure.”
Payne is excited about the challenge. Her team wanted another shot at Iowa.
“I just think it’s really cool. They return almost everybody. We return almost everybody. So, in a lot of ways, two very similar teams,” Payne said. “I think it was one of the best games of the tournament last year. I think everybody will go back and rewatch the film and figure out what worked and what didn’t work.”
Iowa is averaging 77.5 points in two games of tournament play, compared to Colorado’s 74.5 points. Clark pours in just under 30 points per contest for the Hawkeyes. In last year’s Sweet 16 match against Colorado, Clark had 31 points and eight assists.
While Clark is the main element of Iowa’s offense, Colorado scores more by assembly. Aaronette Vonleh (14.0 points per game), Jaylyn Sherrod (12.9) and Frida Formann (12.5) all provide double-figure performances on average.
But Maddie Nolan, Quay Miller and Tameiya Sadler also scored 10+ in the second round to lead all Buffs in the box score to get past Kansas State. It’s the first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearance for Colorado since 2003.
“I think one of the best things about our team, we’ve said for a long time that nobody 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.”
This is Colorado’s 16th NCAA Tournament appearance in 42 seasons. The Buffs are 21-15 all-time in tournament games.