Kansas has played with renewed energy and offensive efficiency in its past few games. Unfortunately for coach Bonnie Henrickson, her players may have forgotten to stuff these improvements into their suitcases before Saturday’s trip to Colorado. Without their newfound swagger, the young Kansas players reverted to old ways in the 59-50 loss against the Buffaloes.

“I thought we came out flat,” Henrickson said. “First we couldn’t score, then we couldn’t defend. We were very impatient offensively.”

The Jayhawks’ impatience manifested itself with a 30 percent shooting performance and 17 turnovers. Freshman guard Kelly Kohn and freshman forward Sade Morris misfired most frequently, shooting 3-for-11 and 2-for-9, respectively. Kohn still managed to score nine points, good for second most on the team.

Despite the offensive struggles, Kansas displayed flashes of the toughness. With 3:29 remaining in the second half, Kansas pulled within one point on senior Shaquina Mosley’s jump shot. The field goal capped a 6-0 run, four of which were scored by Mosley. The Buffaloes struggled to put distance between themselves and the Jayhawks, and the points margin remained within six points until the final minute.

For Kansas, the competitiveness of the second half was a welcome change from the ugly play that characterized the beginning of the game.

Kansas turned the ball over more frequently than it made field goals in the first half and went scoreless for a stretch of nearly five minutes. Colorado did itself no favors in the early-going, turning the ball over 13 times and shooting 1-for-7 from the three-point range. Even with their ineptness, the Buffaloes jumped out to a 30-18 advantage at halftime.

Freshman forward Danielle McCray was the lone standout performer for Kansas. McCray scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds in one of her finest games this season.

Most of the Jayhawks did not leave the Coors Events Center with pleasant memories. Mosley, in particular, may not look back fondly on Saturday’s game.

The 5-foot-6 guard was knocked to the ground twice by the elbows of Colorado forward Aija Putnina. With 59 seconds remaining, Mosley left the game after feeling too dizzy to continue playing. At that point, Putnina was whistled for her second technical foul and ejected from the game.

Saturday’s game continued Colorado’s strong play at home. The Buffaloes are only 6-9 in Big 12 Conference play but have won five of eight conference games in Boulder.

Kansas fell to 3-12 in the Big 12 with Saturday’s loss. The Jayhawks will travel to Missouri to wrap up the regular season on Thursday night.

Kansan sportswriter Asher Fusco can be contacted at afusco@kansan.com.

— Edited by Ashley Thompson