TROY, Ala. - Junior Britteni Rice's (Pampa, Texas) 22 points helped lead the University of Denver women's basketball team (9-5, 4-0 SBC) to a 60-58 win over the Troy Trojans (7-4, 1-2 SBC) on Saturday evening in Trojan Arena. The win extended the Pioneers winning streak to eight games and gives them a perfect 4-0 mark in conference play.

"This was a very big win for us tonight," said head coach Erik Johnson. "We battled back from double-digit deficits twice to get this win, which just shows how tough our team is when it comes down to the final minutes. Britteni had a big game for us and sank some key free throws in the final seconds to help us get this win."

Also finishing in double figures were junior Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) with 15 points and sophomore Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) with 14 points.

Trailing by as many as 11 points, the Pioneers rallied back from double-digit deficits twice in the second half as Rice provided 16 points after the break to go along with eight points from both Murdoch and Culberson.

The Trojans led for the majority of the second half until a Rice jumper with 3:11 remaining tied the game at 51-51. Denver then grabbed the lead less than a minute later when Rice sank her third three-pointer of the game to give the Pioneers a 54-51 cushion.

Despite offensive pushes from the Trojans, the Pioneers held on to the advantage throughout the final two minutes to seal their third straight road win.

Next up, Denver returns home to host two games in Magness Arena facing New Orleans first on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. The Pioneers then welcome Western Kentucky for a Sunday afternoon match as action will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be available on Pioneer Vision and Live Stats at www.DenverPioneers.com.

Pioneer Notes:

• With 22 points for the day, Rice has now scored in double figures in nine consecutive games for the Pioneers. This is Rice's third 20+ points game of the season and second consecutive. Of Rice's 22 points, 16 came in the second half.
• Murdoch extended her consecutive games with one or more blocks to 21 games as she finished the day with two blocks.
• Culberson's 15 points extends her consecutive games with double figures to 14. Culberson has finished in double figures in each of the Pioneers' game this season.
• Denver is now 5-1 all-time against the Trojans, including a perfect 4-0 when playing in Troy, Ala.
• Denver held the advantage in rebounds (26 to 21), steals (8 to 5) and blocks (2 to 0).
• Denver is currently sporting an eight-game winning streak heading into its match-up with the New Orleans Privateers. Denver's longest winning streak is 19 games, which was set during the 1992-93 season from Dec. 12, 1992 to March 4, 1993. The Pioneers' have now also won three consecutive road games. Denver's longest road-winning streak is nine games, which was also set during the 1992-93 season from Dec. 18, 1992 to Feb. 24, 1993.
• Denver finished the night shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, 50.0 percent from long distance and 82.6 percent from the line.

- PIONEERS -