Jan. 18, 2007

Box Score

DENVER - Junior Jenna Cole (Lincoln, Neb.) had a game-high 22 points, as the Denver women's basketball team cruised to a 76-60 Sun Belt Conference win over Florida Atlantic on Thursday evening in Magness Arena.

Despite falling behind early, Denver (10-7, 5-3 SBC) took the lead at 7:43 in the first half and never looked back, leading by as many as 25 midway through the second half. Florida Atlantic (4-16, 0-8 SBC) closed to within 14 late in the game, but Denver held them off.

"We played hard," head coach Pam Tanner said. "Our defense was particularly good up until the 10 minute mark in the second half. I thought we broke the press well and were able to get some transition buckets out of that."

Junior Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) added 14 points and five steals. Junior Alisha Godette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led Denver with eight rebounds. Denver shot 50.0 percent from the field.

The Pioneers' defense smothered the Owls to begin the second half, allowing six shots in the first seven minutes of the game. Offensively, Denver started the second half on a 19-6 run.

DU started the game 2-for-12, but picked up the tempo and ended the half by hitting 10 of the last 16 shots. Senior Tyesha Lowery (Arlington, Texas) had five assists in the half as Denver scored 18 points in the paint.

DU returns to action Saturday Jan. 20 against South Alabama (9-8, 3-4 SBC) at 2 p.m. in Magness Arena. The game will be heard locally on KKFN AM 950 "The Fan" and live on www.denverpioneer.com.