Dec. 1, 2002

Box Score

Honolulu, Hawaii - The University of Denver women's basketball team lost to DePaul (55-44) in the consolation final of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Classic Sunday to finish sixth in the prestigious tournament. Denver falls to 1-4 on the season, while DePaul improved to 3-1.

For the second consecutive game, Denver got off to a fast start and earned the early lead. Illinois native Kellie Carwell (Villa Park/Timothy Christian) fueled the Pioneers' 12-0 game-opening run with six points. DePaul responded with an 11-point run to bring the score to 12-11, as Denver slumped into an eight-minute scoring drought. DePaul took its first lead of the game at 15-14 with seven minutes to play in the half, before Denver responded with back-to-back buckets and ended the half on a 10-7 run to take a narrow 24-22 lead to the locker room at the half.

"I thought we started the game well, but we didn't maintain our intensity for the complete 40 minutes," head coach Pam Tanner said. "We need to learn how to handle adversity much better. Offensively, we are scoring more points which is encouraging," Tanner continued. "We still need to be able to work together as a team better in order to be successful."

Khara Smith scored 11 straight points to lead the Blue Devils on a 13-0 run to start the second half and give DePaul a 35-24 lead with four minutes gone in the period. The Pioneers mounted a 16-6 run to take back the lead at 42-41. Three different Pioneers hit three pointers in the run, including Nakia Carlisle (St. Paul, Minn./Central), Ashley Atkinson (Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo) and Ragan Neblett (Arvada, Colo./Pomona). The one-point lead was short-lived as Sarah Kustok sunk a three pointer to give the Blue Devils back the lead at 44-42, which they built to 48-42 before Stephanie Hart (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood) converted a conventional three-point play. DePaul finished the game on a 9-3 run to earn a 55-44 decision.

Atkinson finished with 11 points to lead the Pioneers in scoring, and Carwell added eight points and five rebounds. Denver shot 36.2 percent from the field including 54.5 percent from long range. DePaul shot 43.8 percent from the field and scored seven points from the charity stripe (7-11).

In the tournament, Denver lost to defending national champion UConn (85-29) in the first game to enter the consolation bracket. The Pioneers defeated West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga, 62-43, and advanced to the consolation championship game. The Pioneers earned their first victory of the young season as Ashley Atkinson led the team with 13 points, and Stephanie Hart recorded her second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Denver lost to DePaul (55-44) in the consolation championship to finish fifth in the tournament.