DURHAM, N.C. — Colorado made enough big plays to survive.
It was a pretty sweet moment for Quay Miller and the Buffaloes.
Miller had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Aaronette Vonleh converted two overtime baskets in the lane after picking up her fourth foul, helping No. 6 seed Colorado beat third-seeded Duke 61-53 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
“Our ability to just never wilt,” Colorado coach JR Payne said. “When things get hard, we dig in. We lean into each other.”
Jaylyn Sherrod had 14 points and Vonleh finished with 12 as the Buffaloes (25-8) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 20 years.
Colorado outscored Duke 11-3 in overtime after the Blue Devils made a big push in the second half.
“I think the best thing that we did was just embrace it,” Miller said. “Even though the crowd was going against us, it’s a beautiful environment and we thrive off that. We’ve been underdogs all season.”
Colorado held Duke without a field goal for almost seven minutes to end the game. By the end, the Buffaloes were celebrating with the pep band in the stands after quieting the home crowd.
“I just love being the bad guy, and feed off of that and I think the team feeds off that, too,” Sherrod said. “We’ve been in a lot of those situations, so I don’t think it’s anything that shocked us.”
Elizabeth Balogun scored 14 points and Reigan Richardson had 10, but the Blue Devils didn’t hit a field goal in overtime. Duke (26-7) overcame a 13-point deficit in regulation.
“They were better in that five-minute stretch and that’s why they’re moving on,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “It hurts to come up short at this time of the year, but I’m really proud of my group and the season that they’ve had.”
Next up for Colorado is Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Seattle 4 Region semifinals.
“I knew we could do it, it was just a matter of actually doing it,” Miller said. “Right now, I just feel extremely blessed. I guess I’m still taking it all in.”
Duke lost for the third time in its last four second-round home games in the NCAA tourney.
Sherrod scored on a drive with 33.9 seconds left in regulation, but missed a free throw to leave the game tied at 50-all.
That capped a hectic stretch.
Balogun made a corner 3 and Vanessa de Jesus scored on a fast break as Duke turned a three-point deficit into a 48-46 lead with 3:34 to go.
Celeste Taylor’s layup pushed Duke’s advantage to 50-46 before Sherrod’s drive gave Colorado its first points in more than 3½ minutes. The Buffaloes got a defensive stop, called timeout and set up Sherrod’s tying basket.
Colorado led 32-26 at halftime, boosted by Miller’s 15 points. The teams combined for 24 first-half turnovers, with Duke committing 13 of them.
Taylor finished with eight points, eight assists, 10 rebounds and 10 steals in a terrific all-around performance for Duke. She played a key role in sparking the school’s turnaround after the Blue Devils had gone without an NCAA tourney win since 2018.
MIAMI 70, INDIANA 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Destiny Harden made a shot in the lane with 3.5 seconds left to send ninth-seeded Miami past top-seeded Indiana 70-68 on Monday night, lifting the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 since 1992.
The Hoosiers (28-4) became the second No. 1 seed to be eliminated in two nights. Stanford was upset Sunday on its home court. It’s the second time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that two No. 1 seeds didn’t make the Sweet 16. It also happened in 1998.
Harden finished with 18 points and Lola Pendade had 19 points for the Hurricanes (21-12), who never trailed.
Indiana tied the score at 68 on Yarden Garzon’s 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left but couldn’t get the defensive stop it needed and turned the ball over on the final possession to seal their only home loss of the season.
VILLANOVA 76, FLORIDA GULF COAST 57
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Maddy Siegrist scored 31 points and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history with a win over Florida Gulf Coast.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (30-6) won their record 30th game and celebrated the March Madness milestone in front of another packed house at the Pavilion. Siegrist, the first-team AP All-American, made 13 of 24 shots in what was likely her final home game. The four-year star has left some wiggle room that she could return for a fifth season, but all signs point toward her playing in the WNBA this summer.
One thing is sure, Siegrist is headed to the Sweet 16.
The Wildcats are going for the first time since 2003 — the coach of that team, Harry Perretta, watched this one from behind the basket — and they will the play winner of Monday’s game in Indianapolis between top-seeded Indiana and No. 9 seed Miami.
No. 4 TENNESSEE 94, NO. 12 TOLEDO 47
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Reserves Sara Puckett and Jillian Hollingshead led five Lady Vols in double figures with 13 points apiece as Tennessee routed Toledo.
This is the first time since 2015 and 2016 that Tennessee (25-11) has reached consecutive Sweet 16s and the first in coach Kellie Harper’s fourth season. The Lady Vols now have reached the Sweet 16 for the 36th time as the only program to play in all 41 NCAA Tournaments.
Toledo (29-5) snapped a program record 17-game winning streak and missed out on its first Sweet 16. The Rockets lost for the first time since Jan. 18 at Bowling Green, which was avenged in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.
No. 3 OHIO STATE 71, No. 6 NORTH CAROLINA 69
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jacy Sheldon made a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds left to lift Ohio State to a win over North Carolina and help the Buckeyes advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
With the game tied, Sheldon took the pass from Eboni Walker and floated in the game-winning score. North Carolina had one final chance, but turned it over with a second remaining.
Ohio State (27-7) saw its 12-point lead with 7:02 to go erased as the Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter.
The Tar Heels did most of that run without star Deja Kelly, who exited midway through the final quarter with a leg injury.