Jan. 27, 2005

Box Score

The University of Denver women's basketball team gave Sun Belt Conference West Division foe New Orleans its first win of the season with a 56-46 decision Thursday at Magness Arena. Denver falls to 2-16, 0-6, while New Orleans improved to 1-16, 1-5.

Denver, playing without the services of second-leading scorer Tasha Jones (San Antonio, Texas), shot just 30 percent from the field for the game and relinquished a 10-point decision. The Pioneers fell behind by 15 points in the second half, but came back to trail by just two points with six minutes to play. The Pioneers used a 17-4 run, fueled by two 3-pointers from freshman guard Jennifer Whetten (Evergreen, Colo.) to close the gap to two points (45-43). New Orleans scored the next six points and finished on a 11-3 run to earn the victory.

"We had several chances to win this game even without Tasha in the game," Head Coach Pam Tanner said. "We didn't play smart - call it inexperience, but we didn't compete tonight. We will have to re-group and come back ready for South Alabama."

Denver took an eight-point lead early in the first half on the strength of two 3-pointers from Cassondra Bratton and Jennifer Whetten (16-8), but the Pioneers went cold from the field for the rest of the half, hitting just one more field goal. The Privateers scored 17 points in the half to take a 25-16 advantage to the locker room. Denver shot just 26.9 percent from the field for the half and UNO shot 34.5 percent.

Le'Della English led all scorers with 15 points, and Jaevone Markey added seven points 12 rebounds. Whetten led the Pioneers 12 points, including four 3-pointers, and Venice Adams (Luling, La.) and Cassondra Bratton (Arvada, Colo.) each scored 11 points.

Denver will play the second of three home games Saturday when the Pioneers host South Alabama (Jan. 29) at 4:30 p.m., in Hamilton Gymnasium. The annual alumni game will also be contested earlier in the day at 1:30 featuring former Pioneer greats.