Junior sociology major Brittany Spears (22) pushes down the court against Iowa State's Kelsey Bolte during the CU vs. Iowa State basketball game in Coors Events Center on Saturday. (CU Independent/Stephanie Davis)
The Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team couldn’t escape a whirlwind, at least not the kind the Iowa State Cyclones brew up.
The Cyclones (13-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12 Conference) gained their first win in the Big 12 by beating the Buffs (11-5, 1-2) 68-62 Saturday in front of 4,198 at the Coors Events Center. It was CU’s second home loss of the season.
The match-up began slowly as it took CU nearly four minutes to get on the scoreboard. A strong ISU defense limited the Buffs to seven points in the first 12 minutes and three seconds of play.
But then the Buffs got rolling as six different players scored in a 16-1 run over the next five minutes to turn a 15-7 deficit into a 23-16 lead. However, the Cyclones whittled CU’s lead down to two at halftime.
Iowa State picked up right where they left off starting the second half as they scored six of the first eight points to take a 2-point lead. Chucky Jeffery’s 3-point play temporarily gave CU the lead back at 31-30.
CU wouldn’t see its next lead of the game until there was 6:39 remaining when Jeffery nailed a 3-pointer as part of a 9-0 run to give the Buffs a 53-50 lead. Jeffery explained how she scored six of the nine points in the spurt.
“I just came out and I played, and I started getting to the hoop,” Jeffery said.
The lead was not only short-lived, but the game was either tied or the lead exchanged hands six times until there was 2:48 left. That’s when the Buffs faced the biggest and baddest Cyclone of all, leading scorer Alison Lacey.
Lacey’s 3-pointer broke a 59-all tie and after a CU free-throw cut the lead to two, Lacey drilled a jumper on the next trip down to extend ISU’s lead to four.
Lacey scored 20 of the Cyclones’ final 22 points and scored 26 of her game-high 32 points in the second half.
“Bottom line is Lacey hit some big-time shots,” head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. “We guarded them. We did what we needed to do, and then shot clock winding down, the ball’s in Lacey’s hands. She either hits a three or she drives and goes to the free-throw line. She’s one of the best guards in the conference.”
Another factor in the CU’s defeat was its rebounding. Iowa State nabbed 43 rebounds, 17 of which came on the offensive glass, to CU’s 26.
“We felt pretty confident coming in here as far as how we were playing, how we were prepared for this game,” McConnell-Miller said. “But as hard as you work and as many shots as you hit and how effective you are, when a team has as many defensive rebounds as you have total, they’re hard to beat.”
Jeffery scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half to lead three Buffs in double figures. Brittany Spears added 14 and Bianca Smith chipped in 13.
CU also shot 45.5 percent in the second half, which is markedly better than the 28.6 percent in the first half. The Buffs also converted 4-of-10 3-pointers in the second half after shooting a pedestrian 2-of-13 from beyond the arc before halftime.
The Buffs next game will be against the Kansas State Wildcats at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan, Kan.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.Horn@colorado.edu.
