Women’s Basketball Preview: NCAA Tournament First & Second Rounds
The Basics
The Drake Bulldogs women’s basketball team will be traveling to Manhattan, Kan. for a date with the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, Mar. 22, at 6:00 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday night’s game will be televised live on ESPNews and streamed online with the WatchESPN app. Brenda VanLengen will serve as the game’s play-by-play commentator and will be joined by analyst Holly Warlick.
Locally in the Des Moines area, the game can be heard on 102.1/1350 ESPN Des Moines as well as the Varsity Network App with the usual duo of Hunter Phillips (play-by-play) and Randy Mauro (analyst) on the call.
WATCH PARTY INFORMATION
For the information on where to watch the game in either Des Moines or Manhattan, please visit alumni.drake.edu.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs are representing the Missouri Valley Conference in the NCAA Tournament after capturing both the league’s regular season and tournament titles. Drake women’s basketball was slotted as a No. 12 seed in the Albany 2 Region and will face off against the No. 5 seed Buffaloes.
The Bulldogs repeated as MVC Tournament champs with a dramatic 76-75 win against the Missouri State Lady Bears in the conference championship matchup. The recently crowned MVC Women’s Player of the Year, Katie Dinnebier, scored 17 points for the night along with senior Grace Berg’s 16. The leading Bulldog of the game was Anna Miller, who matched a career high with 25 points, two of which came on her buzzer-beating layup to put Drake in front as time expired.
Dinnebier and Grace Berg were honored as First Team All-MVC selections while Miller earned Second Team recognition, the MVC Defensive Player of the Year Award, and the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
Postseason History
This season marks the 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Bulldogs have also made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the third time in team history and have been a part of five of the last seven March Madness brackets (1982, 1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024).
Friday will mark the first time Drake has played a Pac-12 opponent in the Big Dance.
The Bulldogs own a 6-14 overall record in the NCAA Tournament games. Drake reached the Regional Final in 1982 and the Regional Semifinal in 2002.
Last season, Drake qualified for the national tournament as the MVC Tournament champion. The Bulldogs again earned a No. 12 seed and faced off against No. 5 seed Louisville in Austin, Texas. The Cardinals won a nail-biter, 83-81.
Scouting Colorado
The Buffaloes come into tournament play with a 22-9 overall record and an 11-7 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. The Buffaloes came up short in their conference tournament to now No. 3 seed Oregon State in a double-overtime thriller.
Despite stumbling into the postseason with four losses in their last six contests, the at-large selection boasts some impressive early-season victories including a 92-78 defeat of then top-ranked LSU, the defending national champion. Colorado also took down then top-10 Utah in their Pac-12 opener.
Forward Aaronette Vonleh, the younger sister of former Indiana Hoosiers star and NBA player Noah Vonleh, leads the Buffs’ attack on offense with 14.1 points per game. Vonleh does her damage very efficiently with a .561 field goal percentage. She is also the team’s second-leading rebounder and top shot blocker.
Quay Miller leads the Buffaloes’ rebounding effort with 7.5 boards per game. Their other scoring threats include Jaylyn Sherrod at 13.0 ppg and Frida Formann at 12.9 ppg. Sherrod is the primary guard for Colorado with team highs in both steals and assists.
The Buffaloes are led by eighth-year head coach JR Payne. She has been a Division I head coach for 15 seasons at three different stops with a 242-215 overall record. Payne has guided the Buffaloes to a 141-102 mark during her tenure in Boulder.
Drake and Colorado have met on one previous occasion. The two teams faced off in the second round of the 1999 WNIT. The Bulldogs used a 53-point second half to take down Colorado, 82-66.
Surveying the Field
The Bulldogs are 2-3 against teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament field. Their wins both came at home over No. 7 seed Iowa State and No. 15 seed Maine. Losses to tourney teams include two more home contests against No. 10 seed Richmond and No. 7 seed Creighton, with a road defeat at No. 1 seed Iowa.
If the Bulldogs were to win on Friday, they would then line up against the winner of the Kansas State/Portland contest. The No. 4 seed Wildcats are the location hosts in Manhattan while Portland automatically qualified as the West Coast Conference Tournament champion.
The Albany 2 Regional also includes Iowa, the second-overall seed in the entire field. The Hawkeyes and Bulldogs could meet up in the Sweet Sixteen. Creighton, another familiar foe, is also in the Albany 2 Regional.
Up Next
A win on Friday would advance Drake into the second round for another tilt on Sunday, Mar. 22. The NCAA Tournament will continue through the end of March and culminate in the Final Four and National Championship game in Cleveland, Ohio from Apr. 5-7.
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