Unless you’re the team cutting down the nets at the very end of the Big Dance, every NCAA Tournament run ends with heartbreak.
It was no different for Colorado’s Quay Miller when she and her teammates trudged off the floor on March 25 on the wrong end of an upset bid against Iowa that ended the tourney run for the Buffaloes in the Sweet 16.
Miller could have taken her basketball and gone home, and it wouldn’t have been much of a trip. That Sweet 16 loss against Iowa occurred in Seattle, just a few minutes from Miller’s suburban hometown of Renton. The start of Miller’s offseason began with a faceoff with a critical decision. Yet even in the gut-wrenching moments after that loss, Miller knew the somber flight back to Colorado wasn’t going to mark the beginning of her end in Boulder.
There always is a sense of unfinished business when a season ends in the tournament, but rarely does the same team get to return essentially intact to finish that business. With Miller and guard Jaylyn Sherrod opting to use their extra seasons of eligibility granted by the NCAA for the 2020-21 pandemic season, the Buffs will have that opportunity.
Representing the Buffs at the annual Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball media day for the second year in a row on Tuesday, Miller took stock of her breakout season and the decision to return to CU for one more run.
“I think I knew from where we stopped in Seattle that I was going to come back, because I just felt we could’ve went further,” Miller said. “I never thought about moving on. I’m the type of person that when I’m comfortable, I like to know whatap next. I knew I was going to be playing another year and I knew who I was going to be playing with. I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I’ve grown to enjoy this sport with the people that I’m playing with. I was just not ready to leave that and go to the big leagues with the big girls.”
It was a banner season last year for Miller, who was a first team All-Pac-12 selection after averaging 13.1 points while ranking fifth in the conference with 8.8 rebounds per game. Miller posted 10 double-doubles, recorded four 20-point games, and even finished with a career-high 50 steals. But that standout campaign included plenty of trials as well.
While the Buffs were taking off down the stretch, Miller struggled. It began in a near-upset at home against Stanford, as Miller went 11-for-12 at the free throw line to finish with 17 points, but she was just 3-for-17 from the field. Over the next four games, a stretch that included two games at the Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA tourney opener against Middle Tennessee, Miller scored just 15 points overall while shooting a frustrating 5-for-35 (.143).
To her credit, Miller bounced back to post NCAA Tournament double-doubles at Duke and in the Sweet 16 loss against Iowa. She said a few conversations with her father reminded Miller there are other ways to leave a mark on any basketball game even when shots aren’t falling.
“I remember after those games (my dad) was just like, ‘Yeah, you did play bad, but you didn’t try to do anything outside scoring. And scoring isn’t what the whole game is about,’” Miller said. “He’d emphasize how I had zero rebounds, or zero steals. That really stood out, because itap not just about scoring. Just being able to find other ways to impact a game. Thatap just important for me to understand as well.”
CU head coach JR Payne believes that late slide will be part of what makes Miller even more formidable this season. It was the first extended slump of Miller’s career, and the lessons learned almost certainly will come into play this year the first time Miller has an off game shooting-wise.
“I think what she realized was that she is at her best when she’s smiling and laughing and having fun, and allowing sort of that free spirit to shine though,” Payne said. “We talked about it at that time, and when she’s just being true to that, her basketball is really, really good. I think thatap the biggest lesson. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Just be you, be a great teammate, be a great leader, and the basketball follows.”
