LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of Denver women's basketball (1-3) team fell 73-51 to No. 17/18 Georgia (4-1) in the second game of the LMU Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Tournament, hosted by Loyola Marymount in the Gersten Pavilion.

Denver will face Stephen F. Austin tomorrow in the Consolation game at 2 p.m. MT, while Georgia will face hosts LMU at 4 p.m. MT in the Championship game.

"Georgia is a very good team and they did a great job of adjusting to our game plan," said head coach Erik Johnson. "I think we frustrated them a bit in the first half, but they made some great adjustments at halftime to really take control of the game. I'm proud of our girls because they didn't give up or let up on the pressure. To become a really good basketball program, you need to play the best and we played some of the best student-athletes tonight."

Senior Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) led the Pioneers for the second time this season with 12 points, while senior Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) finished with 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds. Junior Kaetlyn Murdoch's (Temple, Texas) nine points ended her 25-consecutive game double-figure scoring streak that dated back to Dec. 19 of 2009.

Also contributing for the Pioneers was freshman Quincey Noonan (Broomfield, Colo.) with six points, while sophomores Morgan Shell (Marble Falls, Texas) and Sarah Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.), along with freshman Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) all finished with four points.

Sophomore Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) led the Pioneers for the fourth straight game in assists, finishing with four.

Jasmine Hassell led the Bulldogs with 22 points, while Porsha Phillips finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Also finishing in double figures for the Bulldogs was Jasmine James with 17 points while also leading the way with six assists.

Denver kept the action close in the opening 10 minutes of action. After the Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 18:06 remaining, Denver went on an 11-5 run to tie the game 13-13 with 13:38 left. However, the Pioneers committed four costly turnovers during an 11-0 run by the Bulldogs to give Georgia the momentum.

Culberson ended the run with a jumper, however Georgia answered right back as Armstrong converted a fast-break lay-up to put the Bulldogs back up by 11. Culberson cut the lead to nine points with her fourth bucket of the day, but Georgia's Hassell answered right back with a jumper. Denver was never able to cut the lead to single digits again and took a 12-point deficit into the locker room.

Georgia continued to extend its lead in the second half, jumping out to an 18-point advantage three-minutes into the action. Denver was able to cut the lead to 14 points with 2:14 remaining in the game off a lay-up by Feeney, however the Bulldogs closed out the game on a 10-2 run to win 73-51.

As a team, Denver finished the day shooting 91.7 percent from the free-throw line while grabbing 25 rebounds and finishing with 14 assists.

- PIONEERS -