Iowa State will continue its eight-day stretch of four games when they return home to face Colorado after a 61-50 loss Wednesday at Texas Tech.

The first half shooting woes of the Cyclones — they made only seven of their 20 first-half field goals — helped Texas Tech take a 39-23 halftime lead which would be too much for Iowa State (17-8, 5-6 in Big 12) to overcome.

“You can’t shoot the ball as poorly as we did in the first half and have them shoot it as great as they did,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly following the loss.

The first half also keyed the outcome of Iowa State’s Jan. 15 game at Colorado. The Cyclones shot a paltry 7-of-31 from the field in the first half as they fell behind 29-22 at the half. Iowa State battled back to push that game into overtime but Colorado (12-12, 3-8 in Big 12) was able to hold on for a 66-60 overtime victory.

The Cyclones will get another shot at Colorado on Saturday as they host the Buffaloes at Hilton Coliseum for the final time before Colorado moves to the Pac-10 Conference next season. Since the 66-60 overtime victory over Iowa State, the Buffs have lost six of their last eight games in Big 12 play.

Colorado will be led by senior forward Brittany Spears who logged a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting this season. Spears ranks seventh in the Big 12 in scoring averaging 17.3 points per game and ranks fourth in rebounding at 8.2 per game.

Spears will be aided by sophomore guard Chucky Jeffrey — who didn’t play in the Jan. 15 meeting — and also had a strong season for coach Linda Lappe. She is second on the team in points with 14.2 points per game, leads the team in both rebounds and assists at 8.3 and 4.3 per game respectively and leads the Big 12 in steals per game with 2.86.

ISU senior guard Kelsey Bolte scored 26 of Iowa State’s 60 points in the Jan. 15 meeting, but Texas Tech may have figured out the blueprint for guarding the Cyclones’ leading scorer, as the Red Raiders held her to a season-low five points on 1-8 shooting.

“They really made it hard for Kelsey Bolte to get open and to cut,” Fennelly said. “They doubled teamed her sometimes off of a cut, they did a really good job of that.”

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.