Even after knocking off higher seeded teams on consecutive nights, including the No. 1 seed Oregon State, No. 9 seed University of Colorado women’s basketball team still couldn’t come up with a third-straight upset in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. They fell to California 68-55.

With five minutes remaining, Colorado had trimmed the Golden Bears’ lead to five on a jumper by senior guard Lexy Kresl, but that ended up being the closest Colorado would get to the tournament championship. California led the entire second half and for the most part, kept that comfortable lead, and up to as much as 13. Colorado fought during the entire game, but in spite of their efforts they leave Seattle without a championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that accompanies it.

Colorado was led in scoring by senior forward Jen Reese, who had 16 points as well as seven rebounds. Reese tied for a team-high with junior forward Jamee Swan. Kresl was the only other Buffalo to score double digits with 11 points.

Colorado scored the first three baskets of the game, and jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead in the first five minutes. But California responded, chipping away to tie the game at a 16-15 lead in the midst of a 26-8 run that ended with California leading 29-20 in the final minute of the half. Colorado’s shooting went cold midway through the half, stifled by California’s 1-3-1 zone defense, and the Buffaloes only managed to hit three of their final 17 field goal attempts in the first period.

Colorado had 16 turnovers in the game which led to 20 points for California. Another issue for the Buffaloes were their free throws. The Buffs only got to the free throw line six times, which pales considerably to California’s 21 free throw attempts.

Senior guard Brittany Boyd led California in scoring with 18 points. She was followed closely by senior forward Reshanda Gray who had 17. California, the tournament’s fourth seed, advances to play No. 3 seed Stanford in Sunday’s Pac-12 Championship.

It is now likely that Colorado will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season after an appearance in 2013. The Buffaloes could possibly receive an invitation to the WNIT Postseason Tournament, the field for which will be announced Monday, March 16. Colorado finishes their season with a 15-17 record, and a 6-12 record in the Pac-12 Conference.

Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter @samrouthier.