OMAHA, Neb. The University of Denver women’s basketball team (1-3) fell 82-68 to the Creighton Bluejays (2-3) on Sunday afternoon at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska in its first road contest of the season.

 

Junior Ashly Robinson (Bloomington, Minn.) led the Pioneers in scoring for the second time this season as she finished with 12 points, one shy of matching her career-high. The forward finished shooting 4-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.

 

Also turning in a solid performance for Denver was senior Celena Otero (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) as they both finished with 11 points. Rice’s 11 points matches her career-high, which she previously set against North Texas on Dec. 22, 2007.

 

Denver finished with a season-high 33 rebounds, including 22 defensive boards. For the game, the Pioneers finished shooting 46.2 percent from the field on 24-of-52 shooting and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.

 

Denver started the game with an impressive 13-4 run, was sparked by back-to-back buckets from Robinson and Bents and followed by three consecutive treys from Otero just five minutes into the game. Otero would finish the half shooting 75.0 percent from three-point land.

 

The Pioneers continued to hold the advantage throughout much of the first half, until the Bluejays rallied to take their first lead of the contest on back-to-back threes from Kelsey Woodard and Chevelle Herring for a 29-27 advantage. Denver grabbed the lead back with 3:20 remaining as Britteni Rice converted a jumper in the lane to give the Pioneers a 36-35 lead.

 

However, Creighton would close out the half on a 5-2 run to take a 41-38 cushion into the locker room.  

 

The Pioneers finished the first half shooting 56.0 percent from the field on 14-of-25 shooting and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc on 3-of-6 shooting.  Denver out-rebounded the Bluejays 19 to 15 in the opening stanza, including 14 defensive rebounds. The Pioneers continued to a strong showing at the free-throw line as they ended the period having only missed one shot on 7-of-8 shooting.

 

After a sluggish start, the Bluejays closed out the first half shooting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the three-point arc.

 

The Bluejays continued with the momentum in the second half, shooting a consistent 53.8 percent from the field.

 

Denver continues its three-game road stretch with a 7 p.m. (MT) tip-off against Colorado State on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

 

 

- PIONEERS -