March 8, 2004

Box Score

The University of Denver women's basketball team could not repeat the upset pattern against No. 4 Middle Tennessee in the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament (64-61) at E.A. Diddle Arena. Denver ends its season a 14-15, and Middle Tennessee improves to 22-7 and will go on to play the winner of the New Mexico State/Western Kentucky game to be played at 1:30 CT today.

After defeating the No. 1 seed South Alabama in the first round, Denver nearly pulled off another upset in the semifinal round, but fell four points short. After leading by 10 in the first half, Denver went to the locker room trailing by two points (22-20). In the second half, Middle got out to a nine point lead and led by as many as 14 points before the Pioneers stormed back.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of our kids. They didn't quit until there was :00 on the clock," Denver Head Coach Pam Tanner said. "They are an inspiration to me. They've gotten better every game. What we've been able to do in this tournament will propel us into next season and where we want to go."

Middle Tennessee got out ahead early in the second half, and opened a nine-point lead (44-35) when Patrice Holmes buried a three pointer and on the ensuing Denver possession sole the ball and finished with a layup. Holmes buried her third 3-pointer of the game to push the Middle lead to 52-39 as Denver struggled to find the bottom of the basket, notching only four points. Trailing by 11 points (55-44) with two minutes to play, Ragan Neblett (Arvada, Colo.) scored nine straight points to get the Pioneers within four points of the Raiders (57-53). Denver fouled to stop the clock and Middle hit one of two free throws down the stretch, but Denver missed two shots and could not close the gap.

Denver got off to a fast start, building a 16-6 lead early in the contest on the strength of back-to-back three pointers from Kaitlyn King (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Neblett. However, Middle Tennessee came back to tie the game at 22 points with a 16-6 run as Crystal Horton scored six points in the run. Horton put back an offensive rebound at the buzzer to give Middle a 29-27 edge at the end of one half. The teams shot identical 39.3 percent from the field in the first period.

Neblett led the Pioneers with 18 points, and Sarah Cyran scored 12, and Stephanie Hart added 10 points. Patrice Holmes led all scorers with 23 points. Middle won the battle of the boards 44-29.