USC dominates Buffs in battle for bye

The Colorado women’s lacrosse team still very much will have an opportunity to win the final Pac12 Conference championship. But the Buffaloes will have to take the long way to get there.

CU stumbled in its final chance to pick up a marquee regular season victory, as the 21st-ranked Buffs dropped a 15-6 decision at No. 22 USC on Sunday afternoon.

With the defeat, the Buffs will be locked into the third seed for the Pac-12 tournament, which begins on May 1 at USC. The Trojans secured the No. 2 spot, which comes with a first-round bye for the tournament.

After entering the match having scored a seasonhigh 20 goals in two consecutive games, the Buffs were held to a season-low six goals while scoring only four over the final 50-plus minutes.

CU (10-5, 4-2 Pac-12) actually led 2-1 after Eve Hritzuk’s second goal of the game’s first 10 minutes, but USC dominated the rest of the way. The Trojans scored the next three goals and six of the next seven while building a 7-4 halftime lead. The teams traded goals to start the third quarter, but USC put the game away by scoring the next six goals.

Madeline Pisani joined Hritzuk by scoring a pair of goals, while Rachel Kennedy recorded a pair of assists. CU goalie Danielle Heintz finished with 10 saves as USC outshot the Buffs 33-20, with a 25-13 edge in shots on goal.

CU entered the match at No. 25 in the latest women’s lacrosse RPI rankings, and Sunday’s loss will leave the Buffs squarely on the bubble for the 29-team NCAA Tournament heading into the regular season finale on Friday against Oregon under the lights at Prentup Field (6 p.m., Pac-12 Mountain).