2008 Woodie Awards
Pioneers split final home stand of the season
Women's basketball falls to Tenn., beat UNO
Robert Givens
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Sports
The University of Denver women's basketball team split its final two home games of the season last weekend, losing to Middle Tennessee State (17-10, 12-4 SBC) 81-77 Thursday, but bouncing back Sunday against the University of New Orleans (12-15, 6-10 SBC) for a 72-44 victory.
DU's overall record stands at 11-16 and 6-10 in SBC play.
Thursday night's contest against the Blue Raiders was a tale of two halves. In the first half, Middle Tennessee utilized a relentless 2-2-1 trapping full-court press and intense man-to-man defense to speed up the Pioneers and force 16 first-half turnovers. Many of those turnovers led to easy baskets for the Blue Raiders. The Pioneers were outscored 42-22 in the first half and trailed by as much as 24.
"We had 32 turnovers the first time we played them, so obviously we are making progress," said Head Coach Pat Tanner after the game. "We weren't running our breaker like we should've in the first half."
DU outscored MT 21-2 on fast break points and outscored the Blue Raiders by 16 in the second half. The Pioneers started the second half with an 8-2 run capped by an Alisha Godette three pointer to cut the deficit to 16 within the first three minutes.
The NCAA's leading scorer Amber Holt finished the game with 32 points on 12-20 shooting and added 11 rebounds, the ninth time this year she has scored over 30 points in a game.
"The thing about Amber Holt is she can do everything: post you up, drive the lane, dish out assists, and shoot the three," said Tanner.
Effectively running their press breaker, the Pioneers went on a 14-3 run to close the gap to seven after a Nnenna Akotaobi three point play with 1:08 left in the game. However, Middle Tennessee State made seven of their last ten free throws to hold off the Pioneers.
However, all was not lost Thursday. Senior Sara Benham passed the 1,000 point plateau for her DU career on a lay-up with 14:07 to go in the second half. She finished the game with six points and six rebounds.
DU's overall record stands at 11-16 and 6-10 in SBC play.
Thursday night's contest against the Blue Raiders was a tale of two halves. In the first half, Middle Tennessee utilized a relentless 2-2-1 trapping full-court press and intense man-to-man defense to speed up the Pioneers and force 16 first-half turnovers. Many of those turnovers led to easy baskets for the Blue Raiders. The Pioneers were outscored 42-22 in the first half and trailed by as much as 24.
"We had 32 turnovers the first time we played them, so obviously we are making progress," said Head Coach Pat Tanner after the game. "We weren't running our breaker like we should've in the first half."
DU outscored MT 21-2 on fast break points and outscored the Blue Raiders by 16 in the second half. The Pioneers started the second half with an 8-2 run capped by an Alisha Godette three pointer to cut the deficit to 16 within the first three minutes.
The NCAA's leading scorer Amber Holt finished the game with 32 points on 12-20 shooting and added 11 rebounds, the ninth time this year she has scored over 30 points in a game.
"The thing about Amber Holt is she can do everything: post you up, drive the lane, dish out assists, and shoot the three," said Tanner.
Effectively running their press breaker, the Pioneers went on a 14-3 run to close the gap to seven after a Nnenna Akotaobi three point play with 1:08 left in the game. However, Middle Tennessee State made seven of their last ten free throws to hold off the Pioneers.
However, all was not lost Thursday. Senior Sara Benham passed the 1,000 point plateau for her DU career on a lay-up with 14:07 to go in the second half. She finished the game with six points and six rebounds.
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