Colorado Opens NCAA Tournament at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Colorado Buffaloes open the NCAA Tournament with a visit to College Station to take on No. 8 seed Texas A&M on Friday (6 p.m. MT/ESPN+).

Colorado (13-4-3, 5-3-3 Pac-12) returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020 season. The Buffs got off the bubble and into their 13th tournament with three consecutive wins to close out the season. CU finished fourth in the Pac-12 standings, marking its best conference season since the 2016 season.

The tournament selection is CU's seventh in head coach Danny Sanchez's 12-year tenure.

"We have had a fantastic regular season, finishing fourth in the Pac-12, winning 13 games, beating the eventual Big 10 champs in Michigan State so some really good moments," Sanchez explained. "That doesn't mean anything now. Everybody is 0-0. Everybody is in tournament mode. I think we're in a good place mentally and physically. We're excited for tomorrow night."

CU has been in tournament mode for almost a month now, needing to get results down the stretch. CU got a draw at Washington, leaving the final three games to make a statement. Colorado shutout its first two opponents in Arizona and No. 18 Arizona State and then battled back from a two-goal deficit to beat Utah 3-2 in the regular season finale.

"We've had our backs against the wall," Sanchez noted. "We responded, as did Texas A&M. They had to get results at the end of the year as well. Both teams did. I think both teams are playing really well. I think it's going to be a fantastic match tomorrow."

Colorado is led by senior Shyra James and a pair of Pac-12 All-Freshmen Ava Priest and Faith Leyba. James has etched her name across the CU record book this season, ranking sixth in the NCAA with a career-high six goals. She also has a career-best 32 points (12th NCAA). Priest is second on the team with 10 points two goals and six assists. Leyba scored three goals this season from her defensive back position. Although the Buffs are top-heavy in scoring, the team has had 18 different players record a point this season with 15 different goal scorers.

On the backend, goalkeeper Jordan Nytes has been in net for all but five minutes this season. She's recorded eight shutouts and ranks seventh on CU's single-season wins list with 13 this season.

The Buffs are outscoring their opponents 10-3 in the last four matches and have scored all but one of those goals in the second half.

"We have to continue the momentum of the last two weekends," Sanchez stated. "We have to defend well, we have to start fast unlike we did against Utah. We know that Texas A&M's pressure is coming. We have to get through those moments and deal with that if we are going to get a result."

CU and Texas A&M (9-7-4, 4-3-3 SEC) are no strangers to each other. The Buffs and Aggies have a long history dating back to the days of the old Big 12. Colorado has been less fortunate in the series, trailing A&M 2-17-2 in the 21 meetings, but all of the previous meetings pre-date Sanchez and his coaching staff.

"We love to play in places where there's a great atmosphere and Texas A&M historically is," Sanchez added. "They have a great deal of support at their matches. We expect a big crowd tomorrow bringing energy to both teams. I think both teams will be on top of their game.

The winner of Friday's match will take on the advancing team between No. 1 Florida State and Morehead State.

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Players Mentioned

Shyra James

Faith Leyba

Jordan Nytes

Ava Priest

Colorado University Athletics