Feb. 12, 2004

Box Score

The University of Denver women's basketball team relinquished a 73-53 decision to Sun Belt Conference East Division foe Western Kentucky Thursday at EA Diddle Arena. The Pioneers fall to 11-11, 4-6 on the season, while Western improves to 12-11, 6-3.

The Pioneers fell behind 10 points midway through the first half and went to the locker room trailing by 15 to spell defeat. Denver made a come-back attempt early in the second half, coming within eight points, but the home team responded and built their largest lead of 22 points before taking a 73-53decision.

"I thought we played hard tonight, but we didn't play very smart," Denver Head Coach Pam Tanner said. "In this league, most teams are athletic, so it comes down to what you do mentally and we didn't execute our game plan very well. Western did a good job and is a very athletic and physical team."

Denver was led by junior center Sarah Cyran (Broomfield, Colo.) with 13 points. Carla Bartee led Western Kentucky with a game-high 21 points.

Western got out to an early advantage as Tiffany Porter-Talbert scored six straight points to spark a 12-2 run to give Western Kentucky a 10-point lead (19-9) at the midway mark of the first half. Western inched its lead to 13 points with three minutes to play in the first period with three trips to the free throw line (34-21), and increased the advantage to 15 points by the intermission (40-25). The home team shot 61.5 percent from the field, on the strength of Talbert's 6-6 first half effort. Denver shot 37.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from the free throw line.

Denver got within nine points of the Lady Toppers early in the second half with an 11-3 run capped by a a jumper from Cyran to make the score 47-39. Western countered got the lead back to 16 points at 55-39 with three pointers from Tifany Zaragoza and Elisha Ford. Western continued to build its lead to 21 points with a 15-4 run to make the score 60-39 with 10 minutes to play.

Denver will return home to host its last East Division foe, Middle Tennessee, on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Magness Arena. The Pioneers will try to remain in contention for one of the eight spots in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament March 6-9 in Bowling Green, Ky.