BOULDER, Colo. – The Navy women's basketball team wrapped up its two-game set of competitions in the state of Colorado on Sunday with a 59-43 loss to the University of Colorado. Playing its second game in three days, the Mids (4-4) were felled by cold shooting in the first half of action at the CU Events Center. Trailing 35-14 at intermission, the Mids were able to cut their deficit to 10 points midway through the fourth quarter before the Buffaloes (8-1) stretched its final margin of victory out to 16.
 
Individually, Navy received a team-high 10 points from freshman Kolbi Green (Woodstock, Md.) and seven rebounds from junior forward Laurel Jaunich (Charlotte, Vt.). Jaunich played a leading role in the Mids outrebounding the Buffs, 42-38. In total, six Navy players corralled five or more rebounds versus the taller, more athletic Colorado team.
 
Taking on a Pac-12 conference opponent for just the fourth time in program history, the Buffaloes were unkind to their visitors as they jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first quarter. Navy stayed in the game with an 11-3 advantage on the boards that allowed the team seven more field goal attempts. A put-back jumper by Jaunich made it 7-4. After that point in the action at 5:03, the host Buffaloes closed the first period on a 10-2 run as the game went into the quarter break at 17-6. Colorado's success was led by a 58 percent (7-12) to 17 percent (3-18) advantage in field goal shooting.
 
"We had small windows of time to get our shots off early on," remarked head coach Stefanie Pemper. "Colorado did a nice job. They have good length and they flew around in their defense. When we got good looks, we had to get them off a little quicker. That was a difference, we just were not hitting those looks."
 
Coleman came out in the second quarter looking to invigorate the Mids' offense as she recorded four points over the first 2:50. Her second made field goal, and third of the game, saw the score go to 22-10 in favor of the Buffaloes. After CU ran off a streak of five unanswered points, Navy came back with three of its own when Sierra Swanda (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) made a foul shot and Morgan Taylor (Jr., Evans, Ga.) followed up with a jumper within 23 seconds of each other to make it 27-13 at 4:23. The Mids' cold shooting from the field came back to rear its head to close out the second quarter and the team went 0-6 in field goal attempts. A Coleman free throw at with 17 seconds left in the second quarter concluded Navy's scoring for the half to send the teams to the locker room with the score 35-14. 
 
"We played Friday night at Air Force and we didn't make a three-pointer and at halftime today we still hadn't hit a three, so the message was, who was going to make the first three in Colorado," said Pemper. "We came out and got three or four good looks and then Sophie finally hit one. I also stressed to the team to not have any regrets. We came out to Colorado and had an awesome opportunity to play some tough opposition. Let's really compete and see if we can get back in this game."
 
For the first 20 minutes of the game, the Buffaloes outshot the Mids, 46 percent (12-26) to 19 percent (6-31). Additionally, the host squad shot 80 percent (4-5) from three and 78 percent (7-9) at the line. Navy countered with an 0-8 mark from three-point range and by going 2-4 from the foul line. The Mids did win the battle on the boards with a 22-17 advantage.
 
Three-point shooting and defense helped Navy cut into a 39-14 deficit as Sophie Gatzounas (So., South Hadley, Mass.) and Green sank treys in consecutive possessions at 6:59 and 6:02. Those points were part of a 6-0 run where the Mids shutout the Buffs for a span of 3:13. Navy also started turning over Colorado with regularity as the Buffs gave up the ball eight times in the third quarter. A second trey by Green at 2:53 made it 44-26. For the period, both teams scored 13 points. Three of Navy's four successful field goals were from three-point range.
 
Trailing by 21, 48-27, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Mids immediately shaved six points off the Buffaloes' lead as the backcourt of Mary Kate Ulasewicz (Jr., Doylestown, Pa.) and Green netted all six points to make it 48-33. After Colorado broke the streak, Jaunich came back on the next possession and answered with a layup at 6:39. Three straight made free throws, two by Bianca Roach (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) and a third by Swanda made the score 50-38 with 4:47 remaining.  Dating back to the third quarter this was part of an 11-2 run over 7:10 of action. A three-pointer by Darryl Langford (Fr., Fayetteville, Ga.) left the score at 51-41 with just 4:10 remaining. Unfortunately for the Mids that was their last field goal of the game and the Buffaloes were able to close the contest out with a score of 59-43.
 
"They [Colorado] weren't making shots and we were coming up with rebounds," remarked Pemper about the Mids' play in the second half. "They were missing shots for whatever reason and we were hustling. We stayed fresh in the second half and used a lot of players. Maybe they started getting a little frustrated. We started seeing the ball go into the basket; that definitely helped our confidence. For us, 29 points in a half will help us win a lot of games as we move forward this season. We can build off scoring 29 points in a half on the road. I think there were a lot of things that factored into our comeback. We're also happy that we only turned the ball over six times in the second half."
 
For the game, Colorado outshot Navy, 41.2 percent (21-51) to 23.3 percent (14-60). The Buffaloes also won the three-point and free throw battles, 33.3 (4-12) to 21.1 (4-19) and 68.4 (13-19) to 55.0 (11-20).
 
Navy won the rebound battle 42 to 38 on the strength of 24 offensive rebounds. The Mids also turned the Buffs over 18 times versus 17 for themselves. Green led the Mids' defense with two steals.
 
"Going in at halftime, nobody was playing poorly, the ball just wasn't going in," said Pemper. "I asked the team to play with pride and keep fighting. Bianca did a great job of leading us in that regard. She kept fighting and making plays. She got to the foul line and made five free throws. I thought that was huge. 
 
"I'd also like to note the performance of Sophie and Laurel. They [Colorado] had such a size advantage and Sophie and Laurel really rebounded well."
 
Navy will take an extended break for final exams before picking up non-conference play at Monmouth University on Wednesday, Dec. 19. The Mids and Hawks will tip-off in West Long Branch. N.J. at 7:00 PM.