It was a battle until the bitter end, but a Colorado State (15-8 overall, 8-4 MW), 3-pointer with two seconds left was the difference as the Wyoming Cowgirls’ (15-8 overall, 8-4 MW) five-game road winning streak was snapped Saturday at CSU, 66-63.

Both teams got out to strong starts to begin, as an Allyson Fertig putback layup put Wyoming in front for the first time in the contest, 9-7 with six minutes to go in the first. CSU had a 10-9 advantage at the first quarter media timeout. Following the timeout, Quinn Weidemann rattled home a pull-up jumper, but the Rams controlled the rest of the frame, ending the first on a 9-0 run to take a 19-11 lead into the second.

After CSU opened the lead up to as many as 11 to begin the second, the Cowgirls clawed their way back to within one, 24-23 with an 8-0 run, capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers and forced a Ram timeout with 5:59 left in the half. UW continued its run out of the timeout, regaining the lead on a Marta Savic hook shot after CSU’s first turnover of the game. The rest of the half, the two teams clamped down defensively before the Rams hit a buzzer-beating runner to knot things up at 32-32 heading into halftime.

In the third UW held a 44-42 lead at the media timeout, thanks to an Emily Mellema 3-pointer. Out of the timeout, the Cowgirls got a layup to push the lead up to three points with 2:11 left. After that, the Rams closed the quarter on an 8-2 run and carried a 51-48 advantage into the fourth.

Wyoming would get the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, taking a 52-51 lead with under seven minutes to play. From there, Colorado State had a quick 7-0 burst to take a 58-52 lead with 5:16 left, forcing a UW timeout. The CSU run continued after the timeout, before consecutive layups from the Cowgirls got the deficit back to 60-56 with under three to play. After a pair of Tommi Olson free throws got it to one possession, Wyoming called another timeout, this time with 2:11 to go.

After the timeout, both teams hit big 3-pointers and the Rams called a timeout with 1:07 left. A Fertig putback with 30 seconds left tied things at 63-63 and forced a CSU timeout with 23.1 seconds left. The Cowgirls couldn’t get a stop when they needed to most, as CSU hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to escape with the win.

UW shot 21-60 (41.7%) and went 7-for-18 from 3-point range in the loss. CSU, meanwhile, hit 44% of its shots and made one more 3-pointer, the game-decider, going 8-20 from deep. The Rams more than doubled-up the Cowgirls at the free-throw line, hitting 14-16 at the stripe while UW went 6-8.

Weidemann led the Cowgirls with 15 points on 6-14 shooting and hit a trio of 3-pointers on the day. Olson had an all-around game in the loss, scoring 14 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing-out five assists. Malene Pedersen and Fertig both scored in double figures as well, going for 11 and 10, respectively. Fertig also notched her second-straight and seventh double-double of the season as she pulled down 12 rebounds.

The Cowgirls dominated the glass, 41-23, and second-chance points, scoring 16 points off offensive rebounds while the Rams didn’t score any. CSU had the edge in points in the paint (26-22) and fast break points (9-5). Both teams scored nine points off turnovers.

Wyoming now gets to return home for a pair of contests in Laramie next week. The Cowgirls host Utah State at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 9.