For the first half Friday night at Washington State, the Colorado women's basketball team continued its recent offensive struggles, as the Cougars seemed to have them contained at every turn.

The Buffs may not have fully solved their problems in the second half in Pullman, Washington, but a Frida Formann explosion when the No. 6-ranked Buffs needed it most helped lead Colorado to a 63-57 road win.

Just when the Buffs' offense seemed dead in the water, Formann exploded with five second half 3-pointers and 20 points after halftime as a part of her career-high-tying 27-point night, and she delivered time and time again when the Buffs (18-3, 8-2 Pac-12) needed it most.

The first half was a slog throughout, which was somewhat expected between two teams with league title aspirations. The Buffs have been getting in dogfights regularly over the past few weeks, and this one was no different.

Both teams struggled from the field in the opening frame, but the Buffs continued to generate opportunities on the boards, where they dominated early on against the Cougars (15-7, 4-5). The Buffs outrebounded Washington State, 14-7, in the opening frame, with a multitude of those coming on the offensive end. However, Colorado continued to get in its own way, giving the ball away five times and allowing the Cougars to hang around. The home team was happy to oblige, and a quick six-point spurt by Astera Tuhina tied things up at 15 after one.

The offenses slowed down even more in the second. The pace slowed and both offenses stagnated, failing to generate many looks inside while both struggled from the 3-point line. The difference at the end was the first half’s leading scorer, Washington State’s Tara Wallack, who drained a pull-up 3 as time was nearly expired to give Washington State a 28-25 lead at the break.

The start of the third quarter looked like more of the same. Colorado cycled through possession after possession, searching for something that would stick offensively. Washington State stretched its lead to six about halfway through the quarter as the Buffs continued to probe for answers.

Then, the Formann show began. The Buffs’ top 3-point sniper knocked down three consecutive triples, giving the Buffs their first lead of the second half at 39-38. Aaronette Vonleh, having a stellar night of her own, closed the quarter with five straight points to give the Buffs a 45-42 lead heading into the fourth.

The Cougar took command at the start of the fourth, just as they did in the third. A quick 6-0 spurt, boosted by two buckets from Wallack, put Washington State back in front briefly before Formann put her foot down once again. Trailing 50-48 with just over 5 minutes to go, Formann snagged a pass from Jaylyn Sherrod, simultaneously spun away from a defender, and let it fly. Swish.

After the teams traded stops, Formann got the ball in the corner and let another 3 go. Right on the money again. Her final triple gave the Buffs enough cushion to take a lead into the final minute, and after Sherrod knocked down a huge jumper at the end of the shot clock to stretch the lead, Formann was able to close it out from the free throw line and secure a huge win for Colorado.

Formann was extremely efficient in getting to those 27 points, knocking down 8 of her 12 shots from the floor and finishing 6-for-9 from 3. Vonleh was great all night as well, notching 20 points and eight boards. Quay Miller had a tough night scoring for the Buffs, making just one bucket, but was dominant on the boards with 15 rebounds. Colorado was able to survive 14 turnovers by collecting 14 offensive boards, turning those into 15 second-chance points.

The guards led the way for Washington State, even in the absence of star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who missed this one after suffering a knee injury last weekend. In her absence, Wallack led the Cougars with 19 points and five rebounds, and Eleonora Villa and Astera Tuhina added 15 each. Washington State was never able to get top scoring threat Bella Murekatete going on the inside, as the star big finished with just eight points and 10 rebounds.

Thanks to a little help from USC, which knocked off No. 4 Stanford on the road on Friday, the Buffs are back in a tie for first place in the Pac-12 at 8-2. They will have a chance to cement that position on Sunday when they finish this road trip in Seattle against Washington. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. MST.