CU's Season Ends In Big 12 Quarterfinals

OKLAHOMA CITY - Takia Starks scored 16 points and top-seeded Texas A&M beat Colorado 62-45 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference women's tournament on Wednesday.

Texas A&M (24-5) posted its best defensive outing against a Big 12 opponent this season and advanced to the semifinals.

The 13th-ranked Aggies, the league's leader in defensive field goal percentage, held Colorado (13-17) to 26.1 percent shooting, the Buffaloes' lowest mark of the season. The Aggies had held opponents to fewer than 50 points in two league games this year, Kansas State (48) and Texas Tech (47).

The Aggies' win over Colorado was only their third over any opponent in the Big 12 tournament's 11-year history. Their first two wins in the event came last year.

Colorado trailed by 15 points late in the first half and 26-15 at halftime but used a 10-4 run to open the second half to pull within 30-25 with 14:41 left.

Texas A&M quickly rebuilt the lead to 11 points at 41-30. A 3-pointer by Colorado's Hannah Skildum with 10:25 left - one of only two in the game for the Buffs - cut the Aggies' lead to 41-35, but Texas A&M answered with a 19-4 run over the next eight minutes.

Colorado had 12 turnovers and shot 18.5 percent from the field in the first half. Until scoring five points in the final minute to pull within 26-15, the Buffs threatened to match the school record for fewest points in a half.

Texas A&M trailed twice, at 2-0 and 4-3, before a 9-2 run gave the Aggies a 15-6 lead. Colorado went 6 1/2 minutes without scoring in one stretch and almost nine minutes without a basket.

Jackie McFarland led Colorado with 17 points and 13 rebounds, her 18th double-double of the season, and added four steals and two blocked shots.

Skildum, with 10 points, was the only other Colorado player who scored in double figures.

A'Quonesua Franklin and Patrice Reado added 13 points each for Texas A&M, which had beaten Colorado 74-58 on Jan. 18 in the teams' regular-season meeting.