Jan. 10, 2004

Box Score

The University of Denver women's basketball team dropped its Sun Belt Conference opening game at Louisiana-Lafayette 80-57 Saturday afternoon at the Earl K. Long Gym. The Pioneers fall to 7-6, 0-1 on the season, while Lafayette improves to 6-5, 1-0.

Lafayette ended the first half on a 17-10 run to take a seven-point lead to the locker room at the half, and Denver could not overcome the deficit despite an early run in the second half that cut the Lafayette advantage to one point (40-39). The Cajuns scored 25 points while Denver managed eight tallies, and finished the game with a 42.1 percent shooting percentage.

"This is a disappointing way for us to open conference play," Head Coach Pam Tanner said. "Lafayette is a much improved team, but we need to find a more consistency and execute the game plan much better."

Sarah Cyran (Broomfield, Colo.) scored eight straight points to start the second half to bring the Pioneers within one point of the lead 40-39. Lafayette scored the next 10 points to open an 11-point lead at 50-39 six minutes into the half. Denver fought back to within nine points (52-43) before Lafayette scored 13-4 run to open a 67-47 lead with five minutes left to play. Denver tried to stop the clock with fouls, but struggle to score, notching just 26 points on 30 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

After four lead changes in the first half, Lafayette's Anna Petrakova scored nine points in an 11-3 run to give Lafayette a 30-24 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. Three Lafayette 3-pointers to end the half gave the home team a 38-31 advantage at the intermission. Denver started the game strong behind nine points from Ragan Neblett (Arvada, Colo.) that helped Denver gain an early 11-6 lead. Lafayette responded with a 12-2 run, fueled by two 3-pointers from Bernette Tolston, take a 17-13 lead. Denver came back on the strength of Kaitlyn King (Albuquerque, N.M.) who scored five straight points to give the Pioneers a one-point advantage at 21-19 with seven minutes left in the half. Neblett and King each scored 11 points in the half, and Petrakova led all scorers with 15 first-half points.

Cyran notched a career-high tying 16 points to lead Denver, while freshman King added 14 points, including four three pointers. Neblett scored 11 points for the Pioneers. Petrakova led the Cajuns with a game-high 28 points, and 12 rebounds. Tolston added 24 points, including six three pointers, and Tiffany Washington scored 10.

The Pioneers return home to host North Texas Jan. 15 at Magness Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.