Formann scores 21 as Colorado's 3s sink Middle Tennessee
Colorado's Tayanna Jones (1) celebrates a basket with teammate Jaylyn Sherrod (00) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game against Middle Tennessee State in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Durham, N.C. Credit: AP/Karl B. DeBlaker
DURHAM, N.C. — Frida Formann scored 21 points and Colorado unleashed a torrid 3-point shooting display to roll past Middle Tennessee 82-60 in the NCAA Tournament’s first round Saturday night.
Jaylyn Sherrod added 13 points and Aaronette Vonleh had 11 points for the Buffaloes, who made 13 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Seven Colorado players made at least one 3, led by Formann’s 5-for-8 effort.
Colorado (24-8), which will be in the second round for the first time since 2013, meets the Iona-Duke winner Monday.
Anastasiia Boldyreva’s 16 points, Savannah Wheeler’s 15 points and Kseniya Malashka’s 13 points led Middle Tennessee (28-5), which had won 10 in a row.
The Buffaloes were making 3s pretty much from the opening tip – and they kept shooting them. After hitting seven from long range in the first half, they nailed four more in the first 4½ minutes of the third quarter. Three of those came in a 54-second span, creating a 56-36 lead.
The Buffalos drained five 3s in the first seven minutes to open a 17-6 lead, two each by Formann and Tayanna Jones.
Most of the 3s came from in front of the Colorado bench, giving veteran coach Rick Insell an unfortunate up-close view of the Buffaloes’ accuracy. Jones, playing in her home state, had two 3-pointers in the first quarter after connecting on just nine shots from beyond the arc all season.
Colorado's Quay Miller (11) loses control of the ball to Middle Tennessee State's Courtney Whitson (33) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Durham, N.C. Credit: AP/Karl B. DeBlaker
Colorado made 7 of 16 of its first-half 3s compared with Middle Tennessee’s 1-for-9.
The Buffalos opened an 11-point lead in the first quarter, aided by hitting five 3s to nearly exceed their season per-game average of 3-pointers.
The gap was down to 33-28 with less than two minutes to play in the half before Colorado closed the quarter with a 9-0 burst, capped by Kindyll Wetta’s 3 just a step or two from the sideline in front of the Middle Tennessee bench.
BIG PICTURE
Middle Tennessee State's Courtney Blakely, left, drives the ball around Colorado's Kindyll Wetta (15) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Durham, N.C. Credit: AP/Karl B. DeBlaker
Middle Tennessee: The Conference USA champion Blue Raiders suffered their first four losses of the season by a combined 14 points, but they couldn’t keep up with Colorado’s efficiency. The Blue Raiders have lost their last 10 games in the NCAA Tournament dating to 2007.
Colorado: The Buffaloes might like seeing new opponents at this time of the season. They averaged 65.9 points per game in Pac-12 Conference games, a figure that they exceeded through three quarters in the tournament opener.
UP NEXT
Colorado will play Monday against the winner of Saturday night’s game between third-seeded Duke and 14th-seeded Iona.
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