Colorado starts to pull away after Jaylyn Sherrod takes elbow to the face from KSU's Serena Sundell

On Sunday, Kansas State guard Serena Sundell was called for an intentional foul after she caught Colorado guard Jaylyn Sherrod in the face with an elbow. While slashing past Sherrod on the right side of the paint, Sundell’s left elbow caught the Buffaloes’ standout at an unnatural angle.

It isn’t the first time this season Sherrod has suffered an injury to her face. Earlier this season, Sherrod suffered a broken nose. Since then, Sherron has donned a custom-made matte-black face mask to protect her from similar injuries.

Sundell’s intentional foul is only a snippet of what’s been a wildly physical game. Evidently, the elbow was a catalyst for Colorado. When the foul occurred the teams were tied. At the end of the third quarter, the Buffaloes boast a 10-point lead over the Wildcats. The winner will advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Colorado fans are undoubtedly thankful Sherrod was not sidelined from the hit. The 5-foot-7 senior averages the second-most points per game for the team this season and hasn’t slowed down in March.

Colorado ready to put together postseason run

In the team’s opening-round win over Drake on Friday, Sherrod notched 16 points and a team-high eight assists while shooting an efficient 7-11 from the field. Colorado head coach JR Payne was thrilled with his team’s performance.

“Just really proud of how we played tonight,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I thought we had a great sort of week and a half of practice and preparation. 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.”

Colorado would expect nothing less from itself. The team entered March Madness with a 22-9 record and tallied stunning wins over ranked opponents such as Utah, Stanford and USC. Following a downward spiral in February, the team has recovered and is looking to make a postseason run.

“I think we just kind of have an expectation for ourselves to perform and we know we’re a good team and we can come out and compete with just about anybody,” junior guard Kindyll Wetta said. “I felt like we had a great game, so (now it’s) just going into the next game, taking this momentum into that game.”