The Iowa women’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time in program history, and the opponent this time around looks awfully familiar to the last time.

After taking down 16th- and eighth-seeded Holy Cross and West Virginia, respectively, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena during the first two rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, head coach Lisa Bluder and the Hawkeyes are advancing to the Sweet 16 of the postseason tournament for the third time in the past four seasons.

“If you’re one of 16 teams at this point, you’re a phenomenal team,” Iowa guard Kate Martin said following Iowa’s 64-54 win against West Virginia. “We’re extremely grateful that we’ve gotten to this point, but obviously we’re not done yet.”

Iowa women’s basketball found out what would be its Sweet 16 opponent on March 24 when No. 5 Colorado upset No. 4 Kansas State, 63-50, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.

The Hawkeyes will play the Buffaloes at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York — the host site of two of this year’s tournament’s regions — on March 30 at 2:30 p.m.

“I’m so excited, and we’re ready to go and take the Hawks to Albany for sure,” Iowa guard Sydney Affolter said. “We are definitely taking it one game at a time, and we’re just super excited to be one of the 16 teams left. We’re ready to play.”

Colorado, a member of the Pac-12 conference, is 24-9 on the season. The team had a regular season that exceeded expectations, finishing it ranked 17th in the AP Poll — but jumping to as high as No. 3 in week three with a 4-0 start.

The Buffaloes lost to No. 3 seed Oregon State, 85-79, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament on March 7. But they blew past the 12th-seeded Drake Bulldogs, 86-72, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before their upset win over Kansas State to return to the Sweet 16 themselves.

Iowa won its first two games of the 2024 NCAA tournament by an average of 18 points but faced adversity in the second-round matchup against West Virginia especially. The Mountaineers’ smothering full-court press created problems for the Hawkeyes, as the team committed nine turnovers in the first half and was held to just 26 points, its lowest first-half total of the season.

“I really do think [West Virginia]  was one of the better defensive teams we’ve seen all year,” Bluder said. “We found a way to win in a different way, and we won with our defense tonight.”

Despite shooting an abysmal 22.7 percent from the field, Iowa turned it around in the second half. Several of West Virginia’s starters fell into foul trouble, and the Hawkeyes relied on their defense and the late-game heroics of  Caitlin Clark, who recorded 21 points in the second half while going 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

But Clark, Martin, Affolter, and forward Hannah Stuelke were the only Hawkeyes to score. Iowa won, 64-54, despite averaging over 90 points per game going.

Still, by any means necessary, the Hawkeyes found a different way to win — and to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 once more — to meet the Colorado Buffaloes.

And this won’t be the first time these two teams have faced off in postseason play, as Iowa and Colorado faced off in Seattle, Washington, during the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

The Hawkeyes bested the Buffs, 87-77, on their way — with defeats over top teams such as Louisville in the Elite Eight and South Carolina in the Final Four — to the program’s first national championship appearance, which they lost, 102-85, to LSU.

Last year’s matchup was closely contested in the first half, with Iowa trailing by one point going into halftime. In the third quarter, though, Iowa dominated, embarking on a 13-0 run and out-scoring Colorado, 25-13, in the period and taking a 64-53 lead into the final 10 minutes of game clock that ultimately brought the win.

Clark was Iowa’s top scorer during the game with 31 points as Czinano and Martin finished with 15 and 16 points, respectively. This time around, the Hawkeyes will need more than just a few players to tap into the scoring effort to win.

“When you have a player like Caitlin Clark, there’s not really one necessary thing you can do to stop her,” Colorado guard Jaylyn Sherrod said last season. “She’s experienced. She’s a vet, so she’s probably seen so many defenses thrown at her.

Colorado returns all but one starter — guard Tayanna Jones — from last year’s matchup against Iowa, while the Hawkeyes head into this matchup with a bit of different starting lineup look from last season.

Second-year forward Hannah Stuelke and junior guard Sydney Affolter, the latter in place of the still-injured guard Molly Davis, now suit up for the Black and Gold in place of efficient forwards Monika Czinano and Mckenna Warnock.

The Buffaloes are led by third-year Aaronette Vonleh, who averages 14.0 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Colorado also has two other players in Sherrod and guard Frida Formann who average more than 12 points per game and four players who average more than five points per game.

Head coach JR Payne’s squad started the season off with a bang, beating reigning national champions — and then No. 1 — LSU, 92-78, in the season opener. They followed that up by winning 14 of their next 15 games.

However, Colorado slowed down toward the end of the regular season, losing six of its last eight games heading into the NCAA tournament, but has seemingly turned it around so far in March.

The Buffaloes won both of their first two games by an average of 13.5 points and, in the second round, held No. 4 seed Kansas State to just 15 points during the game’s final two quarters.

Altogether, this Colorado team has proven it can compete with the best of the best when everything clicks — a tough opponent with upset potential in Iowa’s quest for a return to the Elite Eight.

“We’re not done yet,” Martin said. “We want to win the rest of them.”