The Cyclone women suffered a setback in their NCAA tournament hopes for the season by falling to Colorado by a score of 64-55 on Saturday.

ISU had a chance to grab fifth place in the Big 12 with a win against the Buffaloes, but will now likely drop to sixth going into the conference championship tournament.

The Cyclones were off to a slow start in the first half by falling behind 6-0 in the first two minutes. ISU finally answered, when guard Tara Gunderson hit a three-pointer that made it a 6-3 CU lead.

Gunderson was the ‘Clones leading scorer with 15 points, all coming on three-pointers and dishing out three assists.

The Buffaloes countered with a three by guard LaShena Graham, and just like that, the lead was again six.

Cyclone forward Janel Grimm sparked the ISU offense with back-to-back jumpshots, and when forward Jayme Olson added her first three-pointer of the game the Cyclones were up 10-9.

Grimm finished the game with 10 points and Olson added eight points while grabbing nine rebounds.

The Buffaloes jumped back ahead and went on a 7-0 run to take a 16-10 lead. The Colorado lead was up by seven points with 8:59 to play in the first half.

Once again ISU managed to fight its way back back into the game. The Colorado lead was reduced to 23-24 when Gunderson hit her second three-pointer of the game, and ISU took a 25-24 lead when guard Julie Hand hit her first shot of the night.

The Buffaloes came back and grabbed a 32-39 lead to head in at half time.

The second half was more of the Buffaloes. Colorado took a 34-29 lead on the opening possession, but Gunderson’s third three-pointer brought the Cyclones within two points.

Despite Gunderson hitting five of 12 three-pointers, a 34-32 score at the 18:20 mark was as close as ISU would get to Colorado for the rest of the game. The Buffaloes were up by 10 points with 6:22 left before the Cyclones started a comeback. Gunderson hit her fifth three-pointer to make the score 54-50 with 1:20 left to play.

The Cyclones were forced to foul in order to stay in the game, but Colorado hit 22 of 27 free throws during the game and ran away with a 64-55 lead by game’s end.