Kansas State women vs Colorado in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA Tournament game

MANHATTAN — Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie might have enjoyed a less stressful NCAA Tournament opener than the rough-and-tumble first-round game against No. 13 seed Portland on Friday, but he wasn't complaining.

If nothing else, the fourth-seeded Wildcats' 78-65 victory in front of a loud and partisan crowd of 9,642 at Bramlage Coliseum got out any cobwebs from a weeklong layoff.

"I think we needed a game like this," said Mittie, whose Wildcats improved to 26-7. "Ot get just kind of the nerves and all that out of the first game, I think you needed to get a tough game like this, and Portland, we certainly couldn't run away from them."

But now it is on to the second round and No. 5 seed Colorado (23-9), which did run away from No. 12 Drake with a big second half in the late game, 86-72. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

Here are three things to know about the matchup between the Wildcats and former and soon-to-be current Big 12 foe Colorado.

Not much separates the Wildcats and Buffs

In a Feb. 29 top-16 reveal, its last before Selection Sunday, the NCAA women's basketball committee had Colorado at No. 13, which would have put the Buffaloes on the No. 4 seed line, while K-State dropped out.

But the Buffs dropped two of their last three games and K-State won two of three before Selection Sunday, which led to Colorado dropping down and K-State ascending.

It easily could have gone the other way with the Wildcats playing in Boulder this weekend.

Colorado has tournament experience

Colorado is no newcomer to the NCAA Tournament. The Buffaloes won two games last year, beating host Duke in in Durham, North Carolina, before falling to eventual national runner-up Iowa in the Sweet 16.

Colorado also has a veteran lineup, starting three graduates, a senior and a junior. Junior center Aaronette Vonleh leads the team with 14.1 points per game and had 18 against Drake in the first round. Graduate point guard Jaylyn Sherrod adds 13 points and 4.9 assists.

Another battle on the blocks

K-State center Ayoka Lee outdueled 6-foot-6 Portland post Lucy Cochrane in the first round, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds while limiting Cochrane to four points and four rebounds.

Now she faces a more physical center in the 6-3 Vonleh. Even though Colorado played the later game, Vonleh should be well rested after logging just 24 minutes against Drake.

With Colorado comfortably ahead, she only played one minute in the fourth quarter.

Prediction: Kansas State 78, Colorado 75.

Based on performance, K-State and Colorado could not be much more evenly matched. K-State came into the tournament with a national NET rating of 15 and Colorado 16. K-State has better defensive numbers, but Colorado scores more points.

The home court and a potential sellout crowd should give a slight edge to the Wildcats.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Prediction for Kansas State women's basketball vs Colorado in NCAA