There wasn't any April Madness for the Buffs.

Colorado, just as it had in its two previous WNIT games against Villanova (trailed by 11 in the second half) and TCU (trailed 20-4 out of the gate), dug itself a deep hole against Marquette in the semifinals at the Coors Events Center.

But this time Kathy McConnell-Miller's team -- which trailed 45-20 with 2:56 remaining in the first half -- was unable to create another thrilling postseason comeback.

Golden Eagles 86, Golden Buffaloes 72.

"We could not recover," McConnell-Miller said after her third season as CU's head coach ended with a 19-15 record. "It was a struggle in the first half. Offensively, we couldn't get anything going. Defensively, we were just giving up a lot. We just couldn't come together on either end of the floor."

CU didn't handle this Final Four stage or the ball very well and allowed Marquette to seize control with an early 16-5 lead. After a timeout, the deficit quickly turned into 25-5.

The Buffs were unable to stop the bleeding after another timeout and found themselves down by 25 points. The home team gave up a staggering 17 points off 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes after committing a total of 14 turnovers in the overtime win over TCU and a program record low of three in the win over Gonzaga.

The Golden Eagles (20-14) outscored CU 26-4 in the paint, 11-2 on second-chance points and 8-2 off the bench before settling for a 45-25 cushion at the break.

"We still had a lot of confidence," said senior forward Jackie McFarland, who was double- and triple-teamed throughout the game. "We had come back from a large deficit before in the last two games. You always hope for the best."

The Buffs shot 28 percent (7-for-25) from the field and were out-rebounded 26-13 in the first half. Three Marquette players scored in double figures before the intermission; Brittany Spears led CU with nine points.

"Going into halftime our heads were up," sophomore shooting guard Bianca Smith said. "We were ready to come out and go on a big run."

Kara Richards, who didn't score in the first half, gave CU a spark offensively with nine points in the first five minutes of the second half. And after Spears splashed a 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run, the Buffs had cut the deficit to 56-44 with 13:59 remaining.

"The second half, that's the team we know and love," McConnell-Miller said. "But in the postseason, you can't get down by 25 and be able to make a run like that against a great team."

Marquette answered the challenge with an 11-2 run put the game out of reach for good.

McFarland, who averaged 27.7 points in her first three postseason games, was held to 17 in her final collegiate game. Spears (16), Smith (12) and Whitney Houston (10) also scored in double figures for CU.

But the Golden Eagles backcourt was as good as advertised with Krystal Ellis scoring 27 points and Angel Robinson adding 17. The visitors were 7-for-15 from behind the arc and also outscored the Buffs 40-20 in the paint.

"I think it was a great run. I'm very proud of them," McConnell-Miller said. "Just their resiliency and the way they were able to bounce back. I'm proud of the way they competed at this level in the postseason."

Marquette will play at Michigan State in the championship game on Saturday. The Spartans escaped with a 58-57 victory over North Carolina State in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

The Buffs drew a crowd of 3,761 for the first April game in program history, but they would not have hosted the WNIT title game had they won.