Boulder – Denver faced off against the Colorado Buffalos Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. DU built an early 4-1 lead but could not hold up the final three quarters, falling 11-9.

Denver took a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Denver had five turnovers to only one for the Buffs. DU Goalie Lexi Gwaku stopped 4 of 6 shots. Ripple buried half of DU’s first 15 minute tallies.

CU opened the scoring in second quarter. Denver’s Olivia Ripple countered with an outside target, 5-3. CU scored again and knotted the game with a man-up free-position strike, 5-5. CU took the lead after Ripple was charged for complaining about a series of cross checks from behind, 6-5, CU. CU doubled their lead on an inside pass and delivery, with 50 seconds left to end the scoring in the first half, 6-5.

CU came out hot with two goals in the first five minutes of the second half, 8-5. DU stopped the bleeding with a dunk by Kyra Obert. CU countered with the clock winding down and a free position strike to stretch the advantage to 3 goals. DU’s Caroline Bowers found pay dirt in the last minute of the period on a low grounder, 9-7, to end the quarter.

Colorado started running click, holding possession and beat Gwaku at 11:30. A minute later, the Buffs struck again and the clock and scoreboard shifted to the favor of the home team, 11-7. Eva Thomsen-Marr finally got DU on the board with five minutes left. Denver pulled within 2 on a Ryan Dineen fast break goal but time was running short. The Buffs ran possession and clock down the stretch. Final score 11-9, Colorado.

DU had an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers and created five less shots on goal. The officiating was uneven and CU scored 4 free position goals to none for the Pioneers. Ripple finished with 3 goals and Bowers finished with 2 goals and 1 assist.