DENVER - Scoring a regular season high, the University of Denver women's basketball team (6-5) dominated the Montana State Bobcats (6-5) 82-48 on Saturday afternoon in Magness Arena. With the victory, the Pioneers extend their winning streak to five games.

Sophomore forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) shot 80.0 percent from the field to finish with a game-high 18 points. Juniors Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) and Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, while freshman Laura Palmere (Denver, Colo.) tallied 11 points.

"Montana State is a very well coached team that has faced some pretty tough opponents so far this season and for us to build a significant lead and then get the win, even with our shooting being very inconsistent throughout the game, is a testament to how well our girls are responding," said head coach Erik Johnson. "We did a great job of spreading out our offense as the game went on and we got some good performances from our freshmen who are playing a lot of minutes for us."

Rice and freshman Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) both led the way for the Pioneers with six assists apiece, while Culberson and Murdoch grabbed a game-high eight boards each.

Beate Bak led the Bobcats with 15 points, while Sarah Strand and Erica Perry added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Pioneers' defense held the Bobcats to just 29.8 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent from long distance.

Next, the Pioneers will host SBC foe Louisiana-Monroe on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be available on Pioneer Vision and Live Stats at www.DenverPioneers.com.

Pioneer Notes:

• Sophomore Kaetlyn Murdoch extended her consecutive games with one or more blocks to 18 games as she finished the day with two blocks.
• Junior Brianna Culberson's 12 points extends her consecutive games with double figures to 11. Culberson has finished in double figures in each of the Pioneers' game this season.
• Freshman Emiko Smith's nine points marks a career best. Her previous high was eight points against FIU (12/14/09).
• Junior Britteni Rice's perfect showing at the line for the game ties the Pioneer record for best free-throw percentage during a game as she finished 8-of-8 for the day.
• After opening the first seven minutes of game shooting 2-of-11 (18.1) from the floor, the Pioneers rallied to close out the first half shooting 14-of-21 (66.6) from the floor to take a 41-22 lead into the break.
• The Pioneers' 41 points scored in both the first and second half are the most points scored by Denver in a half this season.
• Denver's 82 points are the most points scoring by the Pioneers in a game this season.
• Pioneers were a perfect 6-of-6 from the line in the first half and 16-of-18 in the second half, finishing the game with their best free-throw percentage of the season (88.9).
• Denver held the advantage in rebounds (43 to 28) and assists (22 to 7) over MSU.
• Denver is currently sporting a five-game win streak heading into its match-up with Louisiana-Monroe on Monday night.

- PIONEERS -