Box Score DENVER - University of Denver junior guard Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded her 428th career assist to become the Pioneers' all-time assist leader, helping the Pioneers open Sun Belt Conference play with an 73-51 win over Troy at Magness Arena on Wednesday evening.
Smith had six assists in the game along with 11 points and four steals. Senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) led Denver with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, and sophomore forward Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) scored 10 points for the Pioneers.
"We made some big shots and had a lot of players step up," head coach Erik Johnson said. "It is nice to be back in Denver and back in Magness Arena."
The Pioneers improved to 9-6 on the season, including 1-0 in the SBC. Troy falls to 1-11 overall and 0-1 in the SBC.
Denver grabbed the lead to open the game when Smith drained a three and led by as many as five during the half when a Smith jumper at the 10:04 mark gave the Crimson and Gold a 14-9 advantage. Troy closed the margin as the half wore on, and the game went to intermission tied 25-25.
The Pioneers took command of the contest early in the second half, going on a 14-2 run coming out of halftime. The run was capped by a three-pointer from freshman guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) that gave Denver a 39-27 lead with 15:49 to play. The Crimson and Gold continued to build on its advantage, as Murdoch scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half.
Denver was 28-of-69 (40.6 percent) from the floor and 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Troy shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field and was 5-of-19 (28.6 percent) on its three-point attempts. The Pioneers were 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the free-throw line, compared to the Trojans who were 6-of-10 (60.0 percent).
Redshirt-freshman guard Chaunise Powell (Union City, Calif.) recorded career-highs with nine points and seven rebounds, and freshman guard Jordan Johnston (Waterloo, Iowa) had a career-high with eight rebounds.
Smith surpassed Heather Hotler's mark of 427 career assists with a dish to Johnston for a three-pointer with 9:44 to play in the game.
DeAngela Sword led the Trojans with 19 points. Ieva Nagy had eight rebounds in the loss.
The Pioneers host Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MT. Fans can watch live on Pioneer Vision and follow along with Live Stats and CoverItLive, both available at DenverPioneers.com.
