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The Colorado Buffaloes will be dancing this March, as the women’s basketball earned a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
J.R. Payne’s team received an at-large bid following a 22-win win and a trip to the Pac-12 semifinals. This is the first trip to the tournament for Payne in her six years as head coach. The team barely missed the field last season, returned everyone including fifth-year senior Mya Hollingshed, and put together their best season since 2013.
The Buffs will face off against the Creighton Bluejays in the first round. Creighton has been somewhat feast or famine, a natural byproduct of their prolific three-point shooting. Colorado has struggled defending the three-point line in the past, but Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta will try to make the Creighton ballhandlers uncomfortable.
If Colorado wins that game, they will likely face the 2-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in their home arena in Iowa City. The Big 10 champs are led by Caitlin Clark, who might be the best player in all of college basketball (men included). Clark has averaged 27.4 points per game in her sophomore season, best in the country.
The Buffs will first play on Friday, March 18 at 12:30pm MT. If they beat Creighton it will be their first tournament win since 2003. They would then play Iowa or Illinois State on Sunday, March 20.