Colorado and Iowa State’s final Big 12 regular season meeting was not in the Buffs’ favor.
The women’s basketball team shot 27 percent in their 71-45 loss to the No. 20 Cyclones Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum.
The Buffs (12-13 overall, 3-9 Big 12) tied a program record-low by making just three baskets in the closing 20 minutes.
Senior forward Brittany Spears ended the night with 13 points, and moved into second place on CU’s all time scoring list at 1,961. Spears also started her 118th consecutive game, moving her into third place for career starts.
Even with the loss, Head Coach Linda Lappe said she is still proud of her team’s performance.
“I’m proud of them,” Lappe said in a press release. “I think it’s the hardest we’ve fought in a long time. It didn’t go our way tonight, but they stayed together and they continued to play.”
CU came out to a 10-5 lead, but four straight ISU free throws sent them on a 12-2 run, quickly taking away the Buffs’ lead.
The teams traded off 3-pointers, and one by sophomore forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck cut ISU’s lead to 29-28.
The Buffs trailed by just three at halftime, but Iowa State dominated in the second half, starting with a 14-2 run and outscoring CU 40-17.
“I’m sure Iowa State came out and wanted to play better defense [in the second half],” Lappe said. “We couldn’t really have an answer for their man-to-man defense. We weren’t screening for each other. We were just cutting without a purpose. It was really tough for our players to get open. They were packing it in the paint and daring us to shoot it on the outside.”
The Buffs look to break their losing streak as they return to the Coors Events Center to host No. 14 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
