Buffaloes lose to Cyclones after 11-game streak
After an 11-game winning streak, the CU women’s basketball team tasted defeat Sunday in a double-overtime game against Iowa State.
CU’s 84-77 loss to the Cyclones was the team’s first defeat since Nov. 23 against Siena. Sophomore guard Alison Lacey put Iowa State ahead for good with two 3-pointers in the final minutes of the second overtime.
“When they make threes, that keeps them going,” said head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller. “They hit a three, and it would just bring them right back into it.”
Both teams shot about 40 percent from the field, but 3-point balls were another story. Lacey drained seven 3-pointers for the Cyclones, and Iowa State shot 51.9 percent from downtown. Colorado only made about one-third of its 3-point shots.
McConnell-Miller said the team’s objective in the second half was to make the Cyclones put the ball on the floor to make plays, rather than allowing them to stand at the perimeter for their shots.
The Buffs fought to stay in the game at the end of regulation after leading by 12 toward the middle of the second half.
“I think we have a great fighting instinct,” said senior forward Jackie McFarland. “We fought back in the last thirty seconds at the end of regulation. We just didn’t have that killer instinct to put them down when we were up by 12 in regulation or up by 5 in overtime.”
McFarland and freshman guard Brittany Spears led the Buffs on offense. McFarland had 28 points, and Spears had 21. But on the defensive side of the ball, both players said they thought their team died at end of the second overtime by allowing openings for 3-point shots.
“I just think we got complacent,” McFarland said. “It was a mental breakdown on our part. Everyone in the country knows Iowa State is a 3-point shooting team.”
The Buffaloes went into the nationally televised game ranked No. 23. But McConnell-Miller said the game was a different type of game than any other this season.
“They haven’t played in a game where they’ve been down three or up four with the ball,” McConnell-Miller said. “This was a totally different experience for them.”
The game was the first-ever double overtime for the Buffs at Coors Events Center, and only the fifth in team history. The Buffs last double overtime was against the Cyclones in 1997 in Iowa, ending in victory for CU.
“We knew from start to finish that it was going to be a hard-fought game,” McConnell-Miller said. “I really think it was a great basketball game.”
