CANCUN, MEXICO--The University of Denver women's basketball team defeated Minnesota (77-59) Saturday in the first round of the Toreno Cancun de Basquetbol. The Pioneers improve to 3-0 on the season and advance to the championship game where they will face Texas -- a 73-59 winner over Louisville -- on Sunday at 8:30 MST. The Gophers fall to 2-1 on the season and will face Louisville on Sunday.

Junior guard Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo.) scored a career-high and game high 24 points to lead the Pioneers. Garcia shot 9-17 from the field and 6-10 from three-point range. Backcourt mate Nikki Weddle (Denver, Colo.) had 17 points (2-3 from three point range) while Michaela Pavlickova added five points and 12 rebounds.

"We played very well as a team tonight," head coach Pam Tanner said. "We moved the ball efficiently on offense and did a great job on defense. I thought the key to the game was rebounding. We dominated the boards against a bigger team. Also, our three-point shooting was key. I don't think we have ever shot 20 three pointers and made 50 percent of them."

In the first half, Denver jumped out to an early lead, scoring four points before Minnesota got on the scoreboard. The Pioneers continued their early-game momentum and build a 10-point margin (28-18) with three minutes to play on a short jumper by Ashley Atkinson (Springfield, Mo.). Denver added a 14-5 run in the last five minutes of the game to take a 33-22 advantage to the locker room.

In the second half, the Gophers closed the gap to 38-33 at 16:18, but the Pioneers reeled off eight unanswered points en route to a 21-6 run to make the score 59-39 at 9:35. Denver did not look back as it continued its domination of the game. Denver dominated the boards, 40-33, and the shooting charts with 48 percent from the field compared to Minnesota's 42 percent.