Jan. 4, 2004

Box Score

The University of Denver women's basketball team fell to Northern Arizona, 66-61, Sunday afternoon at Magness Arena. Denver falls to 6-5, while Northern Arizona improves to 6-4.

Northern Arizona opened an 11-point lead early in the second half, and made 6-6 free throws down the stretch to escape with a five-point victory. Denver shot just 26.9 percent (18-67) from the field, and 59.5 percent (19-32) from the line in the losing effort.

After trailing by two points at the half, Northern Arizona opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take the lead at 34-31 just four minutes into the period. The visitor managed an 11-point lead at 46-35 when Alexis Rhodes hit a three-point bucket from the top of the key with 12 minutes to play in the game. Junior guard Tasha Jones (San Antonio, Texas) scored five points in a 6-0 Denver run to get the Pioneers within five points (46-41), and freshman guard Kaitlyn King (Albuquerque, N.M.) closed the gap to just two points (56-54) with a 3-pointer with four minutes to play.

Stephanie Hart stole a pass and drove the length of the court before getting fouled on the play, forcing her out of the game. Ragan Neblett sunk one free throw for the injured Hart to get the score to 56-55. Denver shot just 50 percent from the free throw line down the stretch to trail 62-58 despite holding the visitor scoreless. Ragan Neblett hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds to play to get the Pioneers within one point at 62-61, but NAU converted 6-6 free throws down the stretch to steal a 66-61 victory.

Denver took a narrow 28-26 lead to the locker room after the first period, despite shooting just 28.1 percent from the field in the half. After trailing by six points early in the first half, Denver mounted a 10-0 run to earn a four-point lead (18-14) midway through the half. King began the run with a three pointer from the top of the key, and Tyesha Lowery added a conventional three-point play in the run. Denver used a 9-0 run to open a six-point lead at 28-26 before NAU scored the final six points of the first half.

Jones and King each scored 13 points to lead the Pioneers, and Neblett added 12 points. NAU's Alyssa Wahl led all scorers with 20 points and had 13 rebounds to go with it. Lacey Tolbert added 17 points, and Natalie Metz scored 12.

The Pioneers completed the non-conference portion of the schedule and will being league play at West Division foe Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 10. The Pioneers were picked to finish fourth in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference in a preseason vote of the head coaches.