Jan. 22, 2005

Final Stats

The University of Denver women's basketball team shot 23 percent from the field in the first half and could not recover from a 38-12 deficit to relinquish a 72-45 decision to Sun Belt Conference East Division opponent Arkansas State on Saturday. Denver falls to 2-15, 0-5 in the conference, while ASU improves to 9-8, 3-2.

Denver got off to a good start to lead 6-2, but went cold from the field for the remainder of the half and scored a season low 12 points in the period to fall behind 38-12 by the intermission. The Pioneers managed just 5-22 from the field while East Division leading Arkansas State shot nearly 60 percent (16-27). Denver committed twice as many turnovers (16) than the home team (8).

Denver could not recover in the second half, falling behind by as many as 39 points, and trailed the entire half. Only freshman forward Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) reached double figure scoring for the Pioneers with 10 points, eight in the second half. Leading scorer Venice Adams (Luling, La.) managed just six points, and Tasha Jones (San Antonio, Texas) added nine.

"We struggled with their defensive game tonight and we let their pressure get to us," Head Coach Pam Tanner. "We played well in spurts, but it's a 40-minute game, and we need to play a complete 40 minutes."

The Pioneers held ASU leading scorer Ali Carter to nine points, well under her average of 18.5, and Adrianne Davie to six points, under her average of 15.8. But, Rudy Sims and Katie Caraway each tallied 12 points for the Lady Indians. ASU shot 48.3 percent from the field for the game, while Denver converted just 37.8 percent of their shots.

Denver gets back into action at home, hosting Sun Belt Conference West Division foes New Orleans (1/27) and South Alabama (1/29).