KANSAS CITY, MO. — The third time wasn’t a charm for the Iowa State women’s basketball team as the Cyclones lost to Colorado, 56-39, in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament Wednesday night at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

The Cyclones, now 17-11, doomed themselves with a frigid first half. The Buffaloes were able to post a 28-12 lead at the intermission.

ISU had 16 first-half turnovers.

Colorado jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and didn’t look back.

“Colorado’s defense was 100 percent better than Saturday,” ISU Head Coach Bill Fennelly said. “We held them to 56 points but we couldn’t get it going offensively.”

Junior forward Janel Grimm hit the first Cyclone basket with 12:05 left in the half.

Colorado continued to control the Cyclone offense in the first half as the Buffaloes were able to stretch the lead to 16-2 with 7:33 remaining before the break. Colorado’s star player, senior forward Erin Scholz, sat on the bench for most of the first half with two personal fouls.

Grimm was able to stop the bleeding somewhat when she hit a pair of baskets and a free throws to cut the Buffalo lead to 18-7.

The Cyclones hit double-digits on scoreboard with 2:57 left in the first half when Tara Gunderson hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 23-10.

However, Colorado’s Damietta Velicicia went on a five-point scoring surge before senior Kim Martin stepped to the line and made a pair of free throws to set the margin at 28-12.

Despite the cold offensive start, the Cyclones controlled the glass in the first half with an 18-13 rebounding edge.

Grimm lead the Cyclones’ first-half scoring and rebounding with seven points and seven rebounds. Martin accounted for four points and five boards.

Neither team shot well in the first half. Iowa State hit 4-of-15 from the field, good enough for 26.7 percent. The Buffaloes could only muster 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) from the field.

Junior forward Jayme Olson hit her first points on a pair of free throws with 16:42 remaining in the game to cut the lead to 31-14.

Olson followed with four straight points.

The Cyclones quickly found themselves in the bonus in the second half when Colorado committed its seventh team foul with 11:52 left in the game.

But the Buffaloes then ran to a 41-18 lead.

Colorado stretched the lead to 46-18 before freshman Cris Shelton hit a layup and Olson followed with a bucket to cut the lead to 46-24.

The loss may have ended ISU’s season. With 17 wins, the Cyclones are considered on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, but their RPI rating, used by the NCAA selection committee to balance records with strength of schedule, could put them over the top.

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COLORADO 56,

IOWA STATE 39

IOWA STATE (16-11)

Grimm 3-9 1-2 7, Olson 3-7 2-2 8, Martin 5-11 3-5 13, Gunderson 1-3 1-2 3, Palmer 0-2 0-1 0, Shelton 1-1 0-1 2, Hand 1-2 0-1 3, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Bartz 0-2 0-0 0, Lee 1-2 1-2 3, Huelman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 8-16 39.

COLORADO (19-8)

Weathers 1-4 0-0 2, Scholz 3-8 2-4 8, Scott 2-9 0-0 4, Clark 3-7 0-2 7, Graham 6-12 0-0 13, Velicica 3-4 0-0 7, Felts 3-5 0-0 9, Terry 0-0 0-0 0, Bradford 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 24-55 2-6 56.

Halftime—Colorado 28, Iowa State 12. Three-point shots—Iowa State 1-11 (Hand 1-2, Grimm 0-2, Olson 0-1, Martin 0-2, Gunderson 0-1, Bartz 0-2, Huelman 0-1), Colorado 6-17 (Velicica 1-1, Felts 3-5, Clark 1-3, Graham 1-6, Weathers 0-1, Scholz 0-1). Fouled Out—Velicica. Rebounds—Iowa State 33 (Grimm, Martin 8), Colorado 31 (Scholz 7). Assists—Iowa State 5 (Gunderson 2), Colorado 12 (Scholz, Graham, Velicica 3). Total fouls—Iowa State 8, Colorado 20.