ISU Tops Colorado, 76-63
AMES, Iowa – Senior Kara Richards had 21 points and 10 rebounds, but hot Iowa State shooting led to a 76-63 win for the No. 25 (AP)/24 (WBCA) ranked Cyclones over Colorado in Big 12 Conference action Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.
Colorado (11-14, 3-10) dropped its sixth straight against Iowa State (20-7, 8-5) who had been coming off a sub-par shooting performance, making just 27 percent from the field and only 3-of-16 from 3-point range in their last game, a 58-47 loss at Kansas on Sunday.
Wednesday the Cyclones were 10-of-20 from 3-point range, led by Kelsey Bolte who was 5-of-6 from downtown and finished with a game-high 23 points.
Iowa State also took full advantage of its trips to the foul line. The Cyclones hit 24 straight free-throw attempts before missing their last two. By contrast, the Buffaloes took just seven shots from the charity stripe, making five.
Kelly Jo Mullaney scored a career-high 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half, on 8-of-11 from the field. She hit all four 3-point attempts, also a career high.
Bolte hit her first three 3-point attempts to help the Cyclones build an early 14-8 lead. Mullaney then went on a tear. The sophomore guard hit her first seven attempts from the field, including three 3-pointers. She scored 13 in a row to lead the Buffaloes back and when Richards connected on a layup with 6:12 left, Colorado took its first lead of the game at 25-24.
Alison Lacey and Ashley Arlen answered with back-to-back 3-pointers and Iowa State went on an 8-0 run to take a 32-25 advantage. Richards brought the Buffs back to within five at halftime, 36-31, scoring CU's last eight points of the period.
Brittany Spears scored the first four points of the second half to cut the Iowa State lead to one (36-35), but Iowa State broke open the game with a 14-1 run over the next four minutes. Colorado got the lead back down to 10 at 52-42 after consecutive 3-pointers by Bianca Smith and Alyssa Fressle, but Lacey hit a 3-pointer to spark a 21-9 ISU run.
Fressle had eight points and tied a career-high and team season high with eight assists. The Cyclones held Spears, CU's leading scorer, to just eight points on 3-of-10 from the field.
Lacey had 20 points for the Cyclones, including 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Nicky Wieben had 19 points and two blocks.
Colorado returns home to host Missouri on Saturday. Feb. 28, at 4 p.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center. The game will be televised live on FSN Rocky Mountain.
NOTES:
Senior Hannah Skildum got the start against Iowa State, her second start of the season and 27th of her career. It's the second time the Buffaloes have used the starting lineup of Skildum-Mullaney-Richards-Spears-Smith this season, the other coming at Seton Hall on Dec. 9.
Kara Richards recorded her second double-double in three games with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It's the fourth double-double of her career.
Richards moved into 18th place on CU's all-time rebounding list (485), passing CU Athletic Hall of Famer Shelley Sheetz who had 494 from 1991-95.