Colorado Headed to Back-to-Back NCAA Tournaments
March 12, 2023 | Women's Basketball
The Buffaloes were selected as a sixth seed on Sunday
BOULDER—The No. 20 Colorado women's basketball team will enter the 2023 NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed in the Seattle 4 Region. The Buffaloes will play the No. 11-seeded Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Saturday, Mar. 18 in Durham, N.C.
"I was excited to see our name pop up," head coach JR Payne expressed as CU wasn't announced until the final portion of the broadcast. "We waited so long for a couple of our players asked, 'Are you sure we're in?' I was like, 'Yes. We're in, don't worry.' I am excited. I was born in Tennessee. I have a lot of family in Tennessee and grew up hearing about Middle [Tennessee]. I have a lot of family members that went to school there. I know they're really good. I have yet to watch them this year, but they're good. We're excited."Â
The selection to the field of 68 marks CU's second consecutive trip to the Big Dance. The last time the Buffs made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament was the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
"This is the second year in a row we have gone to the tournament and we knew we were going to be in it, but we're just excited to get back and get a second chance," junior Frida Formann explained. "This year I think we have just shut out any outside noise and just work on our thing. I'm so happy that it worked out well in the end for us. It is also not a coincidence that we are in the tournament because we have been working hard and have a really good team."
The Buffs draw the No. 6 seed for the fourth time in what is now 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament. CU is 3-3 all-time as a sixth seed. The last time CU was a sixth seed was in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
"There's a bunch of talks over the weeks," sophomore Aaronette Vonleh said of CU's projected seeding. "You never know where you're going to end up. I mean, six is still pretty good. Middle Tennessee, I don't know much about them, but we just have to be ready to play whomever we get matched up with."
Colorado (23-8) enjoying its best season since the 2012-13 campaign. The Buffs' 23 wins this season bested last season's 22 and are the most since the 2012-13 season (25). CU scored its best finish in the Pac-12, closing the year third in the conference with a 13-5 record. The Black and Gold made its second consecutive trip to the Pac-12 semifinals in Las Vegas, before bowing out to eventual tournament champion Washington State. Â Â
Senior Quay Miller, an All-Pac-12 selection, led the Buffs with 13.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this season. She had a team-high seven double-doubles this season and scored in double-figures in 25 games. Newcomer Vonleh, the conference's Co-Most Improved Player, came over from Arizona and contributed 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Vonleh, who has started 30 games this season, currently ranks 16th in the nation with a 58.7 field goal %. Senior Jaylyn Sherrod, an All-Pac-12 and All-Defensive honoree, is averaging a career-high 11.2 points per game along with a Pac-12-leading 5.0 assists per game. She also leads the conference with her 2.47 steals per game and 74 total steals. Sherrod became the 33rd player in CU history to record 1,000 career points, passing the mark against Washington State in the Pac-12 Tournament.
The postseason trip will be CU's third in a row. Colorado used the 2021 WNIT as a building block and graduated to the NCAA Tournament last season. The last time CU had three consecutive postseason berths were the 2012 WNIT, 2013 NCAA Tournament and 2014 WNIT.
Colorado is 17-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Elite Eight three times, the last coming in 2002. CU's last NCAA Tournament win came in the second round of the 2003 tournament against North Carolina (86-67) in Boulder.
Middle Tennessee (28-4, 18-2 C-USA) won both the C-USA regular season and tournament championships and finished the year ranked No. 25 in the AP poll. The Lady Raiders have won two of the last three C-USA titles. MT enters the tournament on a 10-game winning streak and is eighth in the NCAA with a scoring margin of +17.2. Â
The Pac-12 landed seven teams in the field of 68. Stanford earned a No. 1 seeding in the Seattle 4 Region, while Utah got slotted as the No. 2 seed in the Greenville 2 Region and is joined by Washington State (5). UCLA (4) and Arizona (7) are both in the Greenville 1 Region while USC (8) landed in the Seattle 3 Region.
The Buffs and Lady Raiders will be the first game two games at Camreon Indoor Stadium on Saturday. CU and MT will tipoff at 5 p.m. MT on ESPNews. No. 3 Duke and No. 14 Iona will play the night's second game.Â
Tickets are available here.Â
Buffs Hand Out Season Awards
Before the Buffs learned of their NCAA Tournament fate, the team held its annual banquet.
Sherrod took home the team's Most Valuable Player Award. Sophomore Kindyll Wetta earned the team's Defensive Player of the Year, while Offensive Player of the year honors went to Miller. Miller also claimed the Lisa Van Goor Rebounding Award. Junior Tameiya Sadler was awarded the Crystal Ford Adams Scholar-Athlete Award. Vonleh claimed the Weight Room Award and was the team's Newcomer of the Year. Charlotte Whittaker was honored as this year's Ceal Barry Pride Award winner.
