Box Score Denver Senior Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) recorded her 1,000th point as a Pioneer, but the University of Denver women’s basketball team’s rally fell short against Middle Tennessee, 81-77, on Thursday evening in Magness Arena.
At 14:22 in the second half, Benham hit a layup for her historical points. Benham was the Pioneer’s leading scorer with a season-high 18 points. Benham becomes just the 16th player in Denver’s history to have at least 1,000 points.
“We beat them by 16 in the second half and we outrebounded them by six,” head coach Pam Tanner said. “If we don’t know after that game that we can beat anyone in this league and that we can maintain our composer against the press, then we missed the most important lesson of the season. With the conference tournament on the horizon it is going to be very exciting, and at this point it is anyone’s game.”
Denver (10-16, 5-10 SBC) trailed by as many as 24 points in the first half. Benham and junior Andie Mason (Gilbert, Ariz.) has six points apiece for DU in the half.
In the second half, freshman Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) had a lay-in, Holt answered for the Blue Raiders (17-10, 12-4 SBC) to put Denver down 20. Benham registered her historical points as part of a 10-5 Pioneer run that pulled DU within 13.
MT surged out to another 20 point lead but the Pioneers chipped away and got within 10 with 1:32 remaining after a 9-3 run. Denver kept hacking at the Blue Raiders’ lead, and a lay-in by senior Alisha Godette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pulled DU within five with 36 second left on the game clock.
With 19 second remaining and trailing by six, Benham nailed a shot from beyond the arc to pull DU within three. MT’s Amber Holt hit two free throws to push the Blue Raiders’ lead back to five, but Brooke Meyer (Denver, Colo.) hit a three with 11 second remaining to pull Denver within two, 79-77. Holt hit two more free throws with six seconds remaining to extend MT’s lead to four which is how the contest ended.
The Pioneers outscored Middle Tennessee in the second half 55-to-39 and shot 69.0 percent (20-for-29) in the second half and 53.6 for the game. Denver had 37 blocks to MT’s 31. Denver had 23 turnovers to MT’s 12, while MT had 10 steals to DU’s four.
Benham had eight rebounds to go along with her 18 points. Godette recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Junior Nnenna Akotaobi (Thornton, Colo.) and Mason added 12 points apiece.
Holt led MT with 32 points and 11 rebounds.
DU concludes its home regular season against New Orleans at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Pioneers will recognize its four seniors: Benham, Jenna Cole (Lincoln, Neb.), Godette and Meyer.
