Despite a late lead and a career-high of 28 points from junior forward Jamee Swan, the Colorado Buffaloes (9-10, 2-6) fell to the Washington State Cougars (13-6, 4-4), 73-68, in Pullman, Wash. on Sunday to finish their Pacific Northwest road trip.
Senior guard Lexy Kresl opened the score for Colorado with a 3-pointer and she would finish the game with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Buffs started the half shooting four-for-five from the field, while the Cougars only shot one-for-eight over that same stretch.
This trend continued until halfway through the first, when the Cougars went on a scoring spree and took the lead, 21-20. Swan made a layup assisted by Kresl giving back the lead to the Buffs. Solid fundamental play by the Buffs led to nine unanswered points. Senior forward Jen Reese made a last-minute field goal at the end of the first half to give the Buffs a ten-point lead. Reese, Colorado’s leading scorer, would finish the game with nine points.
Colorado started the second half increasing their lead by 12 points, 41-29. After that, the Cougars began their comeback, eventually overtaking CU due in large part to Colorado’s 27 turnovers and the Cougars’ 20 steals.
The Cougars took a 68-65 lead late in the second half with a 3-pointer. Despite a late 3-pointer from Kresl, the Buffs ultimately could not get back the lead.
With the loss, Colorado now falls to a 2-6 record in Pac-12 conference play, with both wins coming against Utah last week. The Buffaloes also return to the wrong side of .500 with a 9-10 overall record.
Swan, who scored 15 points in the first half of Friday’s loss at Washington, led Colorado with five blocks, which more than doubled Washington State’s team total of two for the game.
Colorado returns home to play No. 13 Arizona State next Friday in Boulder at the Coors Event Center. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Lisa Marcum at Lisa.Marcum@colorado.edu
