Fast break
Why the Buffs won: They were exceptional on offense most of the night, played stellar defense in the second half and dominated the boards.
Three stars:
1. CU’s Aaronette Vonleh: Posted the fourth double-double of her career, with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
2. CU’s Jaylyn Sherrod: Posted 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, dished out eight assists and racked up three steals.
3. Drake’s Katie Dinnebier: Showed why she was Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, with 24 points and seven assists.
Up next: Colorado will face fourth-seeded Kansas State on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Digging a bit of a hole in the early moments of a game is nothing new to the Colorado women’s basketball team.
Neither is climbing out of that hole and cruising to victory anyway.
On Friday night, the first two minutes didn’t go quite like the fifth-seeded Buffaloes had hoped, but the last 38 were dominant as they rolled past 12th-seeded Drake 86-72 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Bramlage Coliseum on the Kansas State University campus.
“We’ve had a few games this year where we have started slow, so it’s not really anything new,” junior Kindyll Wetta said. “It’s obviously not ideal, but we’re comfortable in that spot just knowing that just because we’re down early doesn’t mean we can’t come back.”
Wetta had a career-high 16 points, Aaronette Vonleh posted a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Jaylyn Sherrod had 16 points and eight assists to help the Buffs (23-9) earn a second-round matchup against fourth-seeded Kansas State (26-7) on Sunday. The host Wildcats defeated Portland 78-65 earlier on Friday.
“Just really proud of how we played tonight,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I thought we had a great sort of week and a half of practice and preparation. Drake is such a good and such a different team. I was very nervous about this game, not that I didn’t think we were capable, it’s just such a different style. We have not played a team like Drake all year. So I’m really proud of how our team prepared.”
Drake guard Katie Dinnebier, center, gets past Colorado guards Kindyll Wetta (15) and Jaylyn Sherrod (00) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women’s NCAA Tournament in Manhattan, Kan., Friday, March 22, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Despite that prep, Drake (29-6), the champions of the Missouri Valley Conference and winners of 14 straight games coming in, jumped to a 9-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
Once the Buffs got on the board, though – with a Quay Miller 3-pointer 2:16 into the contest – they found their rhythm. CU outscored the Bulldogs 86-63 in the last 38 minutes.
The nine-point deficit was the second-largest in a victory in CU’s NCAA tournament history, only behind a 10-point comeback against Stanford on March 25, 1993.
“Shoot, I wish I knew so I could replicate it if we’re ever in that situation,” Payne joked when asked what she said to the team during a timeout when the score was 11-3. “I think it was really more just, ‘Everybody take a deep breath, calm down, let’s execute, let’s talk defensively.’ Just basic stuff. I’m not the most magical speaker. We usually just keep it pretty simple.”
It may have been simple, but it was dominant when it needed to be, and the third quarter proved to be pivotal.
Drake, which hit 65.2% of its shots (15-of-23) in the first half, pulled within 42-41 with 2:31 to play in the half and CU’s lead was just five, 46-41 at intermission.
The Buffs opened the third quarter with a 14-3 run to bust the game open and their lead never dipped below 11 the rest of the way. Drake made just 38.5% of its shots (10-of-26) in the second half.
“I think just being able to adjust and see what was working for us and what wasn’t,” Vonleh said of the difference in the third quarter. “Just focusing on the things that were working is just what gave us confidence to keep the lead and build off of it.”
CU led by as many as 19 points in taking the first step in what they hope is a long run in the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we just kind of have an expectation for ourselves to perform and we know we’re a good team and we can come out and compete with just about anybody,” Wetta said. “I felt like we had a great game, so (now it’s) just going into the next game, taking this momentum into that game.”
No. 17 Colorado 86, Drake 72
DRAKE (29-6)
Miller 1-7 1-4 3, Becker 5-5 3-4 14, Berg 3-6 1-2 7, McAuley 3-6 5-6 13, Dinnebier 9-15 3-3 24, Fornshell 1-3 0-0 2, Hawthorne 1-3 0-0 3, Meyer 1-2 0-0 3, Ilams 1-1 0-0 3, Dailey 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 13-19 72.
COLORADO (23-9)
Vonleh 8-17 2-3 18, Miller 3-6 1-2 8, Sherrod 7-11 2-3 16, Formann 1-1 0-0 2, Nolan 5-10 0-0 12, Smith 2-3 0-0 5, Wetta 7-10 0-0 16, Whittaker 0-2 0-0 0, Sadler 3-4 0-0 7, McLeod 0-0 2-2 2, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Gerber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-65 7-10 86.
Drake 21 20 12 19 – 72
Colorado 24 22 25 15 – 86
3-point goals – Drake 9-24 (Dinnebier 3-7, McAuley 2-5, Hawthorne 1-2, Meyer 1-2, Becker 1-1, Ilams 1-1, Miller 0-3, Fornshell 0-2, Dailey 0-1), Colorado 7-17 (Nolan 2-7, Wetta 2-3, Miller 1-3, Smith 1-1, Sadler 1-1, Sherrod 0-2). Rebounds – Drake 18 (McAuley 4), Colorado 39 (Vonleh 10). Assists – Drake 18 (Dinnebier 7), Colorado 20 (Sherrod 8). Steals – Drake 14 (Becker 5), Colorado 7 (Sherrod 3). Turnovers – Drake 19, Colorado 19. Total fouls – Drake 12, Colorado 21. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 9,642.