Jan. 24, 2002

Box Score

Nikki Weddle (Denver, Colo./Montbello/CU) scored 22 points to lead the University of Denver women's basketball team to a 68-54 victory over Sun Belt Conference Western Division foe New Mexico State Thursday at Magness Arena.

Denver improved to 9-11, 5-3 on the season to move into second place in the West Division standings. New Mexico State fell to 9-10, 4-4 on the season.

"This was a significant win for our program because we took control of the game and never let it go," Denver head coach Pam Tanner said. "This game gave us a lot of confidence and hopefully it will be a turning point for our season."

Weddle took over the game in the second half, scoring 16 points in the final nine minutes of the game to ensure the Pioneer victory. Leading by 10 to start the second half, Denver maintained the advantage until Jenia Dimitrova hit a three pointer to reduce the deficit to six points with 10 minutes to play in the game. Weddle responded with a three pointer and the Pioneers slowly earned a 13-point advantage when Weddle made a driving layup with three minutes to play. In the first half, it was freshman forward Nicky Eason (Carpentersville, Ill./Barrington) who dominated the scoring column for the Pioneers. Eason scored nine points in 11 minutes and helped Denver earn a 10-point lead to go to the locker room. With the game tied at 10 points apiece, Eason scored seven of her nine first-half points in a 13-4 Denver run that broke open a nine-point lead for the home team. Eason finished the game with 13 points, representing the only other Pioneer in double figures. Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo./Thornton) took a season-high six steals to move up to second in the career steals list with a total of 240. She surpassed Tammy Baca who had 238. Garcia now needs just 16 steals to become the Denver career record holder. The Pioneers will remain at home in the friendly confines of Magness Arena for two more games, facing Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday (Jan. 26) and west division leader North Texas next Saturday (Feb. 2).