On Saturday afternoon at the MVP Arena, Iowa won 89-68 against Colorado in the Sweet 16. An interesting matchup between two women's basketball teams that defined LSU's opponent in the Elite 8.
The University of Iowa plays in the Big Ten Conference, where they have won 31 games and lost 4. The Iowa team finished in second place in the Conference and their goal this year is to win the championship. In the first round they faced Holy Cross and won by 26 points. To advance to the Sweet 16, they defeated West Virginia by 10 points and thus earned their ticket.
On the other hand, the University of Colorado at Boulder finished in fifth place in the Pac-12 Conference after 24 games won and 9 lost. The Colorado team sought to surprise in the game by beating Iowa and advancing to the next phase of the tournament. The first round they won by winning by 14 points against Drake and then they faced Kansas State where they also won to advance to the Sweet 16.
At the beginning of the game, Iowa dominated the first minutes by taking a 5-point lead. Colorado was forced to use its first timeout in the 7th minute, returning there were modifications made by the coach, JR Payne ordered to play long possessions and finish under the basket. With an extraordinary close to the quarter by Iowa, they took an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The next quarter did not improve for Colorado, Iowa attacked the basket hard and caused a 9 to 4 point start in the second quarter. The team's defense was impeccable and they did not allow the Buffaloes to score easily. The first half ended and the game was Colorado 35-48 Iowa.
Coming back from the break, the Hawkeyes did not lower their level of play and remained ahead on the scoreboard. Colorado had a lot of trouble defending its star Caitlin Clark and coach JR Payne had to call two timeouts to adjust the defense. The Buffaloes had a bad quarter and Iowa led by 21 points into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Iowa played long positions to burn as much time as possible. It was a very physical quarter, both teams played with everything they had and fought for every ball there was. All of Colorado's attempts to get ahead in the game were interrupted by player Caitlin Clark assisting her entire team, the game was over and Iowa won 89 to 68.
Upcoming matches and featured players
The Colorado Buffaloes say goodbye to the tournament by losing in the Sweet 16. On the other hand, Iowa will face LSU in the Elite 8, where they will have the opportunity to avenge last year's game. The game will be April 1st at MVP Arena and it will be a great game.
We must highlight the great game of Caitlin Clark, she played very well the entire game and got 29 points, 15 assists and 6 rebounds in 36 minutes played. Likewise, it was a very good game for the player Aaronette Vonleh who had 13 points and 5 rebounds.