Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The University of Denver basketball team fell to Arkansas-Little Rock, 52-45, in Sun Belt Conference action in the Jack Stephens Center on Thursday evening.
Senior Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) led Denver with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the fifth double-double of her career. Benham also moved into 23rd on the SBC’s all-time blocks list with her 118th.
“We defended the heck out of them again,” head coach Pam Tanner said. “But we struggled to put anything together offensively again.”
To begin the second half, the Pioneers (11-17, 6-11 SBC) went on a 14-5 run with 12 points coming from three pointers for DU, including two by Benham, to take a 35-32 lead. UALR (21-7, 13-4 SBC) knotted the game at 37-37 on a jumper by Andrea Keys.
Tied at 41-41, the Trojans went on a 7-1 run to take a 48-42 lead. Denver would pull within five points twice in the final minute of the contest, but the Pioneers’ efforts fell short.
The Denver defense held UALR to 12.5 percent shooting early in the first half, and led by as many as five points at 8-3. UALR went on a 10-2 run but the Pioneers pulled to within three after freshman Abbey Leichliter (Greeley, Colo.) hit a layup.
Trailing 25-16, junior Celena Otero (Aurora, Colo.) hit a three from the top of the key to pull DU within six. Benham hit a three at the end of the half to keep Denver within six at the break, 27-21.
Denver shot 39.5 percent in the game, while UALR hit 40.8 percent. The Pioneers committed 21 turnovers to the Trojans’ 10. DU did outrebound UALR 32-to-29.
Anshel Cooper led UALR with 27 points.
Denver concludes its regular season on Saturday, March 1 against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cajun Dome at 4:30 p.m. CT.
