Nov. 26, 2004

Box Score

DENVER -- University of Denver women's basketball team earned a nine-point lead late in the game, but the Wyoming Cowgirls came back to edge the Pioneers by one point 55-54 at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo., Friday afternoon. Denver falls to 0-2, while Wyoming improves to 2-1 on the season.

The Denver defense held Wyoming to just 13 points in the first 17 minutes of the second half, but in the final three minutes Wyoming capitalized on five Denver turnovers to score 12 points and edge the Pioneers by one. The Cowgirls converted 10 long range buckets in the game, including four apiece from Erin Hicks and Tarah Lapar.

"We played a very good second half," Head Coach Pam Tanner said. "When we switched to the zone in the second half, that really hurt Wyoming. We played our guts out in the second half, but we didn't take care of the ball in the end."

Wyoming opened the second half with two 3-pointers from Hicks to increase their lead to 11 points (37-26). The Pioneers whittled the lead back to five points at the 11 minute time out as the Pioneers worked the ball inside to the post. Sarah Cyran (Broomfield, Colo.) scored four points in the run. By the eight minute timeout, Denver had continued on an 18-3 run to take its first lead of the game at 43-40 when Jennifer Whetten (Evergreen, Colo.) hit a three pointer from the right of the arch.

Denver held Wyoming scoreless for periods of three and five minutes and finally allowed a three pointer at 6:36 by Hicks. Hanna Zavecz hit another three with 3:25 to play to get Wyoming to 52-46. Wyoming scored the next six points to tie the score at 52-52 until Venice Adams (Luling, La.) hit two critical free throws to get the Pioneers back on top at 54-52. Lapar struck again with six seconds to play to give Wyoming the one-point, game-winning margin.

In the first half, Lapar made three long range buckets, including the final shot of the half with no time remaining in the half, to help the Cowgirls take a 31-24 advantage to the locker room at the intermission. Wyoming got out to a 17-11 lead and held a narrow margin throughout the first stanza. Denver inched to within four points (28-24) with under a minute to play in the half, but the last second three pointer pushed the Cowgirls. Freshman Jenna Cole, who has assumed back up point guard duties, scored seven points in the half to lead Denver.

Hicks led all scorers with 18 points and Lpar added 12. Adams led the Pioneers with 15 points and six rebounds. Jenna Cole scored 14 points and Cyran added 10 points. Denver shot 42.0 percent from the field and outrebounded the Cowgirls 39-28. But the Pioneers relinquished 15 turnovers (Wyoming had 12), including five in the final three minutes of play.

Denver stays on the road, heading to Big 12 opponent Kansas on Tuesday, November 30 at 6 p.m.