BOULDER, Colo. – Playing the last game of its busiest stretch of the season, the George Mason women's basketball team hit a wall in the final quarter as its impressive winning streak came to an end.

The Patriots fell short in a 76-61 loss to host Colorado in the championship game of the Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic on Saturday at the Coors Events Center. Mason's six-game winning streak – its longest in six years – was snapped as the Patriots played their sixth game in nine days. At 6-1 heading into Saturday's game, they were also off to their best start since that 2011-12 season.

Graduate student Natalie Butler and sophomore Jacy Bolton were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Both players scored 17 points on Saturday and Butler added 17 rebounds for her seventh straight double-double. Freshman Nicole Cardano-Hillary added 15 points.

The game featured 14 lead changes and four ties. But the Patriots (6-2) scored just five points over the last 11 minutes, allowing Colorado (5-1) to pull away for its fourth straight win.

"What a great start to our season," Mason head coach Nyla Milleson said. "We ran into a very good Colorado team on their home floor at a high altitude. Six games in nine days. Our gas tanks are empty. But I thought we continued to battle until that fourth quarter. Then you go 1 for 14 (from the field). They had a couple big scores and pounded us on the boards the last 10 or 12 minutes. Again, great start to our season. We're certainly excited and we'll just continue to prepare, focus, recover, refuel, do the things we've done that has got us to this point. Six of our next seven games are at home. Good things can happen for us."

Mason went toe-to-toe with the Buffaloes for three quarters. The Patriots jumped in front by scoring the first eight points of the second quarter. Butler's jumper at the 7:13 mark of the period gave Mason a 25-22 lead and capped off the run.

Mason never pushed the lead any higher but led most of the second quarter. Colorado grabbed a one-point halftime lead with a layup with 12 seconds left before the break.

Bolton came out on the first possession of the second half and scored on a driving layup. That would be the Patriots' last lead of the day. They tied it twice more but Colorado went ahead for good less than three minutes into the period.

Mason kept it a one-possession game and pulled within 56-55 on Butler's turnaround jumper with 1:04 remaining in the quarter. The Patriots, however, mustered just two free throws by Butler and could not make a shot from the field for the next six-plus minutes.

The Buffaloes took advantage, extending the lead to 12 points with more than five minutes remaining in the game. Cardano-Hillary's layup with 4:46 was Mason's lone field goal of the final quarter. The Patriots shot just 32.4 percent from the field and were outrebounded 49-39.

Kennedy Leonard scored a game-high 26 points for Colorado on 8-of-16 shooting as she surpassed 1,000 points in her career. She also dished out eight assists. Annika Jank added 13 points and 13 rebounds. Both players were named to the All-Tournament Team and Leonard was named the MVP of the Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic.

Mason returns home to Fairfax to play University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at EagleBank Arena.