Nov. 29, 2002

Box Score

Despite a stellar defensive effort, the University of Denver women's basketball team fell to the defending national champion Connecticut in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic Friday 85-29. Denver falls to 0-3 on the season, while UConn improved to 3-0.

"I'm happy that we had an opportunity to play the defending national champion team," head coach Pam Tanner said. "When you are trying to establish a tradition, it is good to play teams who have that tradition and legacy."

The Denver defense stepped up again, limiting the defending national champion UConn to 37 points in the first half. Denver allowed just 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, however, the Pioneers struggled to create their own offense, notching their first field goal of the game when leading scorer Ashley Atkinson (Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo) nailed a three pointer from just to the right side of center at 7:17. Denver scored just one more field goal in the half when Amber Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) kissed a ball off the glass. The Pioneers also got eight chances from the free throw line and converted them into six points. Freshman Nakia Carlisle (St. Paul, Minn./Central) earned six of the eight free throw opportunities and led the Pioneers in scoring for the first half with five points.

"We played with a lot of intensity for the majority of the game," Tanner said. "We executed the game plan for longer periods of time and were much improved on the defensive end. The score is what it is, but defensively, we played very strong.

"We got the shots we wanted, but we didn't put the ball in the basket. We had 55 shot attempts and UConn had 55. You can only hold a good team for so long."

Denver picked up the pace on offense a bit in the second half, scoring 18 points. Kellie Carwell (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian) hit back-to-back buckets midway through the second stanza. She received a pass in the paint and hit the baby hook shot. On the next Pioneer possession, Carwell fired a shot from the right elbow that hit all net. Ragan Neblett (Arvada, Colo./Pomona) nailed a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc and hit another field goal in the paint to lead the team with six points.

The Pioneers will meet Gonzaga in the losers bracket Saturday at 6:20 MT. The game will be aired on 1600 KCKK tape delayed after the Pioneer hockey game. The Zags fell to Hawaii 71-61 in the earlier game, and North Carolina defeated DePaul (82-66), while Oklahoma got past Fordham (90-62).