No. 14 Colorado proved Sunday why it’s one of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference.

The Buffaloes defense forced 21 ISU turnovers and caused the Cyclones some offensive problems as Colorado won 62-51 at Hilton Coliseum.

Colorado improved to 16-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12, good for its second-best season start in school history. The loss snapped a four-game home winning streak for Iowa State as it dropped to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12.

“Colorado is an excellent team. The bottom line is they have a lot of answers for everything that we tried to do both offensively and defensively,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “I said that before the game to our team that I thought Colorado and Texas are the two teams right now that look good in our league.”

Early in the first half, Colorado jumped to a 9-4 lead, but the Cyclones were able to tie the game at 13-13 on a Lyndsey Medders jump shot.

The Buffaloes went on a 14-4 run to enter halftime with a 27-17 lead, as the Cyclones failed to convert a basket in the last 3:08 of the half.

Iowa State had 16 turnovers in the first half compared to Colorado’s five. With 5:58 to go in the second half, Anne O’Neil made two free throws to cut Colorado’s lead to 45-40.

After O’Neil’s free throws, however, the Buffaloes quieted the Cyclone crowd as they went on a 12-1 run to make it 57-41. During the run, Colorado made three 3-pointers.

Mary Fox said the Cyclones had some problems being able to get a good shot off.

“They came off with a good plan. It was extremely hard to get into the post today,” Fox said. “They were doing a pretty good job sealing our posts. They were playing solid defense on the perimeter.”

Sophomore Brittany Wilkins said Colorado center Tera Bjorklund caused some problems down low.

“We just need to execute our defense strategy a little better. Colorado is a great team all around,” Wilkins said. “Bjorklund is a good left-handed player. She’s an awesome player and an All-American candidate. The post play seemed a little crowded out there today.”

Despite shooting 41 percent in the game, Fennelly said finding shots was very frustrating for his team.

“Our offensive flow was very poor,” Fennelly said. “A lot of that was Colorado’s defense and some of that was our lack of doing the things that we felt we can do and tried to do. We really had a hard time when we reversed the ball making that decision. When we didn’t make it, we got stagnant.”

Colorado’s head coach Ceal Barry said the win was big for her team and for Veronica Johns-Richardson, who had a game-high 16 points.

“Any time you win at Hilton Coliseum, it’s saying something because it’s a very difficult place to play,” Barry said. “I felt that Veronica really made the difference tonight. She got us off to a strong start. Her quickness, I think, bothered them early and gave us a little confidence.”