BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Dec. 10) - Natalie Powers led all scorers with 21 points and Western Kentucky rebounded from an early 16-point deficit as the Lady Toppers earned a 64-63 win over Denver in the Sun Belt Conference women's basketball opener for both teams Dec. 10 at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Pioneers were bidding to become the first Sun Belt team other than Louisiana Tech to win at Diddle since the 1990-91 season.
Denver (3-4, 0-1 Sun Belt) took a 9-4 lead less than four minutes into the game on jumpers by sophomore guard Ashley Atkinson (Springfield, Mo. / Kickapoo HS), senior forward Michaela Pavlickova (Prague, Czech Republic / Boulder [Colo.] HS) and junior forward Martha Dibella (Littleton, Colo. / Arapahoe HS) and a three-pointer by Pavlickova. The Lady Toppers (5-4, 1-0) tied the score at 11 with 12:38 to go in the game, but the Pioneers went on an 18-4 run over the next 9:14. WKU All-America forward ShaRae Mansfield was the only Topper to score in that span, while six different Pioneers found the net during the run. Western Kentucky came out of the 4-minute media timeout with a 7-0 run over the next 1:15 before the Pioneers scored the last five points of the half on a 3-pointer from Atkinson and a layup from Dibella.
WKUs shooting woes were evident in the first half, as the Lady Toppers shot just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) and made just 1-of-4 from long range. The Pioneers made 15-of-32 shots for 46.9 percent including 3-of-10 from 3-point distance in the opening 20 minutes. Western opened up with an 16-6 run to open the first five minutes of the second half and move within two points at 40-38. But coming out of the 16-minute timeout, sophomore guard Nikki Weddle (Denver, Colo. / Montbello HS / Univ. of Colorado) drilled a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to bring the lead back to 43-38 with 14:16 to go. She led the Pioneers with 18 points.
With 5:30 to go in the game and the Pioneers had a four-on-one fast break, sophomore center Kellie Carwell (Villa Park, Ill. Timothy Christian HS) was called for traveling. On the next possession, sophomore center Misty Staton (Duke, Okla. / Duke HS) was called for a charge to earn her fifth foul of the game. WKUs ensuing possession pulled the Toppers within one on a Mansfield layup with 4:52 to play, and exactly two minutes later, a 3-pointer by Camryn Whitaker as the shot clock expired gave WKU its first lead of the game (57-55) since 11-9. A Mansfield jumper over Pavlickova with 50 seconds left gave WKU a three-point lead, and Weddle was able to cut the lead to just two (62-60) after missing her last of two free throws with 43 seconds to go.
On the last play of the game Dibella drove the right side and put up a five-foot jumper that hit off the far rim and was rebounded by WKUs Lindsay Preston. She was fouled by junior guard Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo. / Thornton HS) with 1.8 seconds left and hit both free throws to provide enough cushion to render Weddles 3-pointer at the buzzer moot.
"This was a tale of two halves, and intensity made all the difference," said head coach Pam Tanner. "I grew up playing in this state, I know all about this arena, and we knew they were going to come out fired after halftime. They were able to do some different thing after the break, and we didnt do the little things."
The Pioneers return home this weekend to host the Pioneer Classic on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 15-16. Denver starts off tournament play against Texas Southern on Friday at 7 p.m. in Magness Arena. The Pioneers will also welcome Bradley and East Tennessee State, who tip off the Classic at 5 p.m. on Friday.
DENVER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at Bowling Green, Ky. (E.A. Diddle Arena)
Western Kentucky 64, DENVER 63
DENVER (3-4, 0-1 Sun Belt)
Weddle 5-9 5-6 18; Pavlickova 6-15 0-0 13; Dibella 5-8 0-0 12; Atkinson 2-7 2-2 7; Carwell 3-5 0-0 6; Staton 1-7 1-1 3; Garcia 1-8 0-1 2; Rhoads 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-60 8-10 63.
WESTERN KENTUCKY (5-4, 1-0 Sun Belt)
Powers 6-14 8-9 21; Mansfield 7-15 4-4 18; Truitt 4-8 0-1 9; Covington 3-11 0-2 7; Preston 1-6 2-2 4; Whitaker 1-4 0-0 3; Brown 1-4 0-2 2. Totals 23-62 14-20 64.
DENVER 34 29 - 63Western Kentucky 22 42 - 64
3-point goals: Denver 7-19 (Weddle 3-5; Dibella 2-2; Atkinson 1-5; Pavlickova 1-1; Garcia 0-6); Western Kentucky 4-10 (Truitt 1-3; Covington 1-4; Powers 1-1; Whitaker 1-1; Preston 0-1). Fouled out: Denver-Staton; Western Kentucky-None. Rebounds-Denver 41 (Staton 9), Western Kentucky 40 (Covington 12). Assists-Denver 14 (Garcia 5), Western Kentucky 9 (Whitaker 5). Total fouls-Denver 21, Western Kentucky 16. Att: 1300.
