Pioneers Upset by New Orleans, 55-48

Box Score

Post-game Press Conference (Video)

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Sophomore Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) scored a game-high 17 points, and redshirt junior Brianna Culberson (Jefferson City, Mo.) had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but the No. 4 seeded University of Denver women's basketball team (18-13) was upset 55-48 by No. 12 seeded New Orleans (12-19) in the Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals in Convention Center Court on Sunday afternoon.

Entering the game with the second best field goal percentage in the nation at 49.0 percent behind only No. 1 Connecticut, the Pioneers struggled mightily shooting, hitting just 14-of-50 (28 percent) from the field and 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from three-point range.

"We are the No. 2 shooting team in the nation, but our shots just did not fall today," head coach Erik Johnson said. "Give New Orleans a lot of credit for that. They played well, especially defensively. Our team did a lot of things right today, but the ball just was not falling through the basket."

The teams battled through 14 lead changes and a dozen ties. With the score knotted 46-46 with four minutes remaining, UNO's Candice McGee sparked a 7-0 Privateers' run over the following 3:30 and iced the game with a pair of free throws down the stretch.

McGee and Brittany Helm led New Orleans with 14 points apiece, while McGee recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. Juanita Cochran also had 10 boards for UNO.

Denver turned the ball over a season-low eight times, but the Privateers outrebounded DU 41-33 and outscored the Pioneers in the paint 34-20. New Orleans shot 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half, as DU was 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) from the field, and UNO was 7-of-26 (26.9 percent). Each team hit just one three-pointer before the break.

Pioneer Notes:

The loss likely ends Denver's season.
DU's 18 wins overall and 12 victories in the Sun Belt Conference are the most by the Pioneers since 2006-07, when the team went 20-11 overall and 12-6 in the SBC).
With her 17 points, Murdoch extends her consecutive games in double figures to 21 games. She led the Pioneers in scoring in 15 games this season. Fourteen of Murdoch's 17 points came in the second half.

Murdoch also finished the night with three blocks for her 11th consecutive game with one or more blocks.
Freshman Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded just one assist, snapping her streak of 16-straight game with multiple assists. Smith led the Pioneers in assists in 23 games this season.