Kansas guard Sade Morris (20) pressures Colorado guard Bianca Smith (2) during the first half of Tuesday's basketball game. The Jayhawks lost, 59-41, to the Buffaloes on Tuesday in Boulder, Colo.

Boulder, Colo. ? Once again, points proved to be at a painful premium for Kansas University’s women’s basketball team.

After racing out to an early advantage Tuesday against Colorado, the Jayhawks found it strangely difficult to keep putting the ball in the basket. It led to a second-half slump and a 59-41 loss at the Coors Events Center, KU’s second-lowest scoring output of the season.

Kansas shot just 32 percent from the field, including a 27-percent effort from behind the three-point line. It didn’t help that a season-high 27 turnovers (despite only eight Colorado steals) hindered KU’s chances to get back into the game once the lead was surrendered late in the first half.

Danielle McCray led Kansas with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but shot just 4-of-11 from the field. Ivana Catic had seven points. Only one player – Taylor McIntosh – shot better than 50 percent from the field.

The Jayhawks raced to an early 18-8 lead with 8:22 to play in the first half, but Colorado stormed back with a 12-0 run in the next five minutes to go up 20-18. Kansas never led again.

Colorado was paced by Jackie McFarland, a Derby native who had 15 points. Brittany Spears added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Tuesday’s game did mark the brief return of sophomore guard Kelly Kohn, who had missed the last three games with an ankle injury.

Kohn entered into the game in the first half but played just four minutes. She misfired on both of her shot attempts – symbolic of the team on Tuesday, perhaps – but did dish out an assist on a Nicollette Smith three-pointer that gave Kansas its 10-point lead.

That proved to be the high-water mark of the night for the Jayhawks.

Kansas dropped to the cellar of the Big 12 Conference standings with the loss, moving to 12-6 overall and 1-4 in league play. Furthermore, it erased any possible momentum from a much-needed 66-60 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

The Buffaloes, meanwhile, improved to 13-5 and 2-3.

The Jayhawks have two tough games upcoming. They play No. 20 Texas A&M on Saturday before battling No. 11 Oklahoma next week on the road.