DENVER - The University of Denver women's basketball player Misa Pavlickova (Prague, Czech Republic/Boulder) recorded her fifth straight double double with 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pioneers to a 62-52 victory over South Alabama Thursday in Mobile, Ala., in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team.
The Pioneers remain in first place in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference and extended their winning streak to eight games. The winner of 13 of the last 14 games, Denver improves to 16-5, 8-2 while South Alabama falls to 11-9, 4-5.
South Alabama scored the first four points before the Pioneers got on the board with a Misa Pavlickova long jumper. Ashley Atkinson (Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo) scored the Pioneers' next five points and gave the team a 9-8 lead. USA answered with five straight points to build a 13-9 lead four minutes into the contest. The Pioneers took control of the game as Nikki Weddle (Denver, Colo./Montbello) scored seven points, including five straight, to key a 15-2 run that gave the Pioneers a 30-18 lead with 3:13 remaining to play in the first half. USA's Taneshia Russell scored a mid-range jumper with 2:34 on the clock to end a three minute scoring drought, but Weddle and Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo./Thornton) hit back-to-back three pointers to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the half at 36-20 with 1:43 to play in the period. USA scored five points to end the half trailing by 11 points. Pavlickova scored 12 points and had five rebounds in the first half.
USA opened the second half closing to 10 points on a Russell three pointer, but Pavlickova nailed back-to-back jumpers and Weddle hit a short jumper in the lane to give the Pioneers a 42-28 lead. The Pioneers continued their momentum, en route to a 13-0 run to build a 24-point lead (52-28) with nine minutes to play. Denver's scoring slowed, with just 10 points to finish the game and USA scored 24 points to close the gap to 62-52.
In addition to Pavlickova, Weddle scored 14 points and had four assists while Garcia scored 12 points. Sara Carter led the Jaguars with 12 points.
The Pioneers return home to host Arkansas State in a non-divisional Sun Belt Conference game next Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. MST.
