A cold day in Boulder led to�frigid shooting for the Colorado Buffaloes women�s basketball team.�
The No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowgirls (16-3, 4-1 Big 12 Conference) handed the Buffaloes (12-6, 2-3) their third loss at home, and third against a conference foe. The Buffs fell 74-63 Sunday at the Coors Events Center.�
CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said her team would have preferred a different outcome, but they knew they needed to properly prepare and adjust their game when playing a top�15 team.�
�I firmly believe that we beat ourselves tonight,� McConnell-Miller said. �We had open look after open look, and we had plenty of opportunities to hit shots.��
Colorado got on the board in the first 26 seconds when Chucky Jeffery nailed a 2-point jumper thanks to an offensive rebound by senior center Courtney Dunn.�
The Buffs earned their second, and final, lead with a long 2-point shot by freshman forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck just 1:01 into the game.�
But then, the 3-point shot came into play. Five consecutive missed 3-pointers by CU coupled with a pair of 3-point baskets by Oklahoma State sparked a 10-0 Cowgirls run, which gave them a 13-4 lead.�
In the first half, the Buffaloes shot a dismal 20 percent from 3-point range and finished the game shooting 17.9 percent from beyond the arc. CU�s 3-point shooting is now 24.8 percent in conference play, ninth in the Big 12.�
Despite those numbers, Bianca Smith�drilled a pair of�3-pointers, allowing the Buffs to keep the score tight at 15-10.
Thrice, the Cowgirls pushed the lead to 10, and thrice, the Buffs reduced it to five, the last coming on a Brittany Spears lay-up with 4:40 to go in the first half.
After the Cowgirls extended their lead to nine, the Buffaloes�narrowed the deficit to�37-35 at halftime with two layups by sophomore guard Alyssa Fressle, a 3-pointer by Smith and two free throws by Dunn.�
In the second half, it�became largely about who could sink the most threes and make the most free throws.�
Two�free throws by Dunn and a tight 3-pointer by Spears, assisted by Dunn, helped narrow the Cowgirl lead to two 1:47 into the second half.�
For the next�four minutes,�OSU’s lead bobbled�in single digits�until Tegan Cunningham’s lay-up pushed the lead to 10.
But the Buffs continued to fight and once again�dwindled the lead to three points with assistance from a 3-pointer by junior guard Kelly Jo Mullaney and a free throw by Jeffery.�
Unfortunately, it was as close as Colorado got as OSU�s Andrea Riley made sure the score would never be that tight again.
Riley scored seven of her game-high 26 during a pivotal four-minute stretch�as Oklahoma State went up by 10. Riley also led the Cowgirls with 11 assists and seven rebounds. �
The last 90 seconds of play seemed to be some of the hardest for the Buffs. Although Spears finished with 18 points and�nine rebounds,�she fouled out of the game and received a technical foul for breaking the plane�and touching�an�OSU player who was�trying to in-bound the ball.�
After the game, McConnell-Miller said the team was�”asleep too often� when Riley had possession of the ball and her sharp game play was something the Buffs weren�t used to.�
�Nothing surprised us,� McConnell-Miller said. �I mean we knew what Andrea Riley was capable of. If we were to do something different on the defensive end, I thought we didn�t adjust to Tegan Cunningham as well as we should have.��
Cunningham shot 8-of-15 and scored 21 points.
Despite the loss and her own personal health issues, Dunn had�an impressive showing. Dunn was under a breathing machine during the game�because of�hyperventilation, but it didn�t seem to hurt her play on the court.�
Recording her second double-double of her career, Dunn’s 16 points�tied her career-high and she�grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.�
Even with her impressive stats, Dunn said she was disappointed that shots she typically makes in practice didn�t fall during the game, and that the team was handed another loss.�
However, the Buffs seemed eager to bounce back from the loss and improve their 30.6 field goal percentage against Oklahoma State.�
�Overall, we�ve got room to grow,� McConnell-Miller said. �If shooting is our biggest concern, then that�s something we can work on and get better at.��
Looking forward, the Buffaloes will work to do better and get a road win when they head to Lawrence, Kan.,�to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at 6 p.m.�Wednesday.
�We�re going into Kansas on Wednesday,� Smith said. �We have no choice but to take the positives from this game, whatever they may be, and get better in these next two days of practice and get a victory in Lawrence.��
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.