DENVER - University of Denver women's basketball senior forward Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) scored 19 points, while senior guard Britteni Rice (Pampa, Texas) and junior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) added 18 and 16, respectively, to lead the Pioneers in a 73-62 victory over in-state rival Air Force Wednesday night at Magness Arena.

"Our big three stepped up tonight and for us to win we need them," said head coach Erik Johnson. "We still have some things to work on defensively, but we are starting to play better."

The Pioneers (5-4) forced 24 Air Force (4-6) turnovers and had four blocks. Air Force shot 53.3 percent (24-of-45) from the field, but DU recorded eleven more possessions than the Falcons with the extra shots being a factor as DU shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56).

"We put a big emphasis on playing aggressively going into this season," Johnson added. "Our defense was not to the level I had hoped and we gave up a lot of points tonight, but our aggressiveness is definitely starting to show."

The Pioneers came out blazing in the first half and took an early 9-0 lead with six of the nine coming from Culberson. Air Force spent the rest of the half trying to catch up and thanks to 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) three-point shooting they were able to tie the game at 24 with 4:57 to go before intermission.

The Pioneers quickly regained command of the game by forcing 13 Falcon turnovers in the first half and dominated the offensive glass by a margin of 8-to-2. The Falcons went nearly five minutes without a field goal, ending the drought when Megan Muniz threw up a prayer in the final second of the half to close the DU lead to seven at 35-28 at halftime.

Denver continued to dominate in the second half, holding the Falcons to 25 percent (2-of-8) from three-point range and forcing eleven more turnovers. A Rice three-pointer with three minutes to play in the game gave DU its largest lead of 13 at 68-55. Near perfect free-throw shooting in the final two minutes (5-of-6) sealed the win for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers have now won four of their last five and returned to form at the free-throw line going 17-of-20 (85 percent), including 13-of-14 (92.8 percent) from Murdoch, Rice and Culberson combined. The Pioneers tallied 14 assists with Rice's five leading the team, while Murdoch led DU with seven rebounds.

Kelsey Berger led the Falcons with 19 points, while Dymond James added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Denver know holds a 2-1 record against in-state rivals, having defeated Colorado earlier this season before falling to CSU in Moby Arena.

Denver continues its home stand on Saturday, Dec. 11, facing off against San Jose State at 1:30 p.m. MT in Magness Arena. Fans can follow the game on Pioneer Vision, Live Stats and CoverItLive, all through www.DenverPioneers.com.

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