DENVER The University of Denver women’s basketball team came from behind to win its second consecutive game, a 60-52 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday afternoon in Magness Arena.

 

“It’s important for us to be able to protect our home court and we were able to do that this week,” head coach Pam Tanner said. “I thought we had two huge offensive boards that allowed us to run 1:30 off the clock. It was important for us to be able to take that much time off the clock with the lead. We had some big free throws down the stretch that were key in the win.”

 

Denver (9-14, 4-8 SBC) improved on its first half shooting, going 50.0 percent (14-for-28) in the second half, including 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Denver held ULL (5-18, 1-11 SBC) to 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from behind the arc in the second half and 25.0 percent in the game. ULL was 2-of-12 from the line in the contest.

 

DU had four players in double figures. Senior Brooke Meyer (Denver, Colo.) had a team-high 13 points. Senior Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) added 11 points, while juniors Nnenna Akotaobi (Thornton, Colo.) and Sara Bents (Billings, Mont.) had 10 apiece. Bents and senior Alisha Godette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had a team-high nine rebounds each.

 

The Pioneers fared much better in the second half then the first, taking a 30-29 on a lay-in by Godette, Denver’s first lead since 8-7 in the first half. ULL tied the game at 31-31 but Denver went on a 10-2 run, capped by a lay-in by Benham, to take an eight-point lead at 41-33. Denver led by nine but ULL would come back to tie the game at 46-46 after Whitney Dunlap hit a three. Meyer broke the tie with a three-pointer of her own from the corner.

 

Meyer hit her third three of the half to extend Denver’s lead to four at 52-48. Denver’s 7-0 run ended when Courtney Ratliff hit a three-pointer. Denver was 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to clinch the win.

 

Both teams struggled to begin the game, with just four field goals combined in the first 8:45 of the game. Denver went up one point after a layup by Bents. ULL led by as many as six points twice in the first half, but Denver cut the lead to two points late in the half after Benham hit one of two from the line. ULL’s Alicia McDaniel hit a lay up with three second remaining in the half to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 23-19 lead at half. Denver didn’t have a field goal in the final 4:04 of the half.

 

Denver shot 27.6 percent from the field, while ULL shot 34.5 percent. DU was cold from behind the arc, hitting 1-of-9.

 

McDaniel had a game-high 14 points, while Sonora Edwards led all players with 10 rebounds.

 

Denver heads to Denton, Texas to take on North Texas at 4 p.m. MT on Thursday, Feb. 14.