LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The University of Denver women's basketball team (13-7, 8-2 SBC) fell 64-58 to the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (16-5, 9-1 SBC) on Wednesday night in the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark. The loss drops the Pioneers to second in the Sun Belt Conference West Division and gives the Trojans sole possession of first-place.

Sophomore Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) led the Pioneers with 19 points and nine rebounds, while junior Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) added 17 points and two assists. Also contributing for Denver was junior Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) as she finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Denver held the advantage on the boards, grabbing 32 to UALR's 18, and shot an impressive 55.6 percent (25-of-45) from the floor compared to the Trojans' 49.2 percent (29-of-59). Coming into the match-up, both teams were tied for first place in the West Division and were the top two teams in the conference in field-goal percentage.

The Pioneers also were perfect from the line and were 4-of-6 from three-point land, compared to UALR's 2-of-9 from long distance.

Action was close throughout as both teams battled to change the lead 11 times. Denver's largest lead was by six points with 14:49 in the first half, while UALR was able to get a 12-point lead with 5:43 in the second. However, the Pioneers used a 16-11 run in the final minutes to cut the Trojans' lead to six points as time expired off of layups from Murdoch and three treys from Rice.

Chastity Reed led the way for the Trojans with 37 points as she provided 58 percent of UALR's offense.

Denver remains on the road in Arkansas, traveling to Jonesboro for a 2:05 p.m. (MT) match against the Red Wolves on Saturday. Fans can follow the action via Pioneer Vision and Live Stats at www.DenverPioneers.com.

Pioneer Notes:

• With her 19 points for the game, Murdoch extended her consecutive games with double figures to 10.
• With her 17 points for the game, Rice has now scored in double figures in 16 consecutive games for the Pioneers.
• Unable to tally a block, Murdoch's 26-consecutive-game streak of one or more blocks ended against the Trojans. For her career, Murdoch now has 131 blocks, ranking her fourth all-time in the DU record books.
• Culberson's nine points ends her consecutive games with double figures at 19. Until tonight, Culberson had finished in double figures in each of the Pioneers' game this season.
• Denver held the advantage in rebounds (32-18).

 

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