Last season, the Colorado women’s basketball team upset Duke in a No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed second-round matchup, knocking the host Blue Devils out of the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, the Buffs will try to beat another host team, as No. 5 seed Colorado (23-9) will face off against the No. 4 seed Kansas State Wildcats (26-7) in Manhattan.
In their first-round matchup on Friday, the Wildcats dispatched Portland State, 78-65, with senior guard Gabby Gregory leading the team with 22 points. Kansas State is 16-1 on its home court this season. The Wildcats’ only loss came against the Iowa State Cyclones in late February.
Colorado beat Drake, 86-72, on Friday evening to open its March Madness run. Aaronette Vonleh and Jaylyn Sherrod combined for 34 points.
Sunday’s round of 32 game will feature a premiere matchup in the paint as Vonleh will battle Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee. Both players lead their respective teams in scoring. Vonleh averages 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while Lee averages 20.1 points and 8.5 boards.
Following CU’s first-round win over Drake, Buffs head coach JR Payne was asked about preparing for Kansas State:
“Lots of film, lots of rest tonight for the girls,” Payne said. “This is a Pac-12 schedule we’re playing this weekend — Friday-Sunday. We’re used to the rhythm of it. I think our team will do a great job of resting. Tomorrow morning, we wake up (and) the scout (report) is already done. (We’ll) start teaching our team the scout. What’s important? What does it look like? What does it feel like?”
Colorado and Kansas State will tip off at noon MT on ESPN.
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