Colorado women's basketball reaches March Madness, will face Drake to open NCAA Tournament
Colorado women's basketball won't be hosting in the NCAA Tournament, but the team is still going dancing for the second consecutive year.
The No. 5-seeded Buffs will play No. 12 Drake on Friday in Manhattan, Kansas. The time of the game hasn't been announced.
The top four seeds in each region earn the right to host and it looked like Colorado would do just that for most of the season. However, the Buffs went 2-6 down the stretch and lost in double overtime to Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Here's a look at what to know about Colorado women's basketball in March Madness.
How Colorado women's basketball made NCAA Tournament bracket
Colorado (22-9) enters the NCAA Tournament as one of the top-20 teams in the country.
The Buffs played a gauntlet of a schedule and are one of just six teams this season that haven't lost to anyone outside of the top 30 in the NET rankings. The others are all top-10 teams: No. 1 South Carolina, No. 2 Iowa, No. 5 Texas, No. 6 UCLA and No. 10 Connecticut.
Colorado was fourth in the Pac-12 in both points per game (75.5) and field goal percentage (46%). Defensively, the Buffs have struggled at times, ranking eighth in the conference in points allowed (63.7 per game) and field goal percentage against (40.2%).
Aaronette Vonleh leads Colorado in scoring (14.1 points per game), but the Buffs' engine is senior guard Jaylyn Sherrod.
The 5-foot-7 Birmingham, Alabama, native is averaging 13 points and a team-high 4.9 assists per game. She dropped a season-high 34 points in a win over Utah on Dec. 30.
Sherrod is the kind of player who can ignite a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Colorado's NCAA Tournament history
Colorado women's basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
The Buffs were a No. 6 seed last season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after knocking off No. 11 Middle Tennessee and No. 3 Duke in overtime. Caitlin Clark and Iowa eliminated Colorado in its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2003.
This is the 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in Colorado women's basketball history.
The Buffs are 19-14 in NCAA Tournament games and 2-1 under JR Payne.
Follow Colorado Buffaloes sports reporter Scott Procter on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado's March Madness opponent is Drake in women's NCAA Tournament
