DENVER - The University of Denver women's basketball team edged the Montana Lady Griz 53-52 on Monday evening at Magness Arena. The win improves the Pioneers to 6-2 on the season, while the Lady Griz fall to 4-4.

Junior guard Emiko Smith (Los Angeles Calif.) led Denver with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists and four steals in 39 minutes of action. Senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) also finished in double figures with 14 points in the Pioneers first win against the Lady Griz in four tries.

"We hit some big threes and Emi and Maiya opened the game up for us late in the second half," said head coach Erik Johnson. "When Maiya can go score and open things up underneath for Kaetlyn and be another target for Emi and Quincey on the perimeter, we can be a very good team."

The two squads took a 24-24 tie into the lockers after a first half that saw six ties and nine lead changes. The game finished with nine ties and 13 lead changes.

After Montana junior guard Kenzie De Boer hit a free-throw to give the Lady Griz a 30-26 lead with 16:28 to go in regulation, the Pioneers reeled off 15 of the game's next 21 points to take a 41-36 advantage with 11:12 remaining.

The Lady Griz did not go away, responding with a 5-0 run to knot the score up for the ninth time at 41. In the final nine minutes, the two teams traded baskets to set up a nail-biting finish. Smith hit a pair of clutch free-throws with 10 seconds remaining to put the Pioneers up 53-49.  Montana answered with a three-pointer by Torry Hill to narrow the margin to one with under three seconds to play.

The Pioneers played solid defense in the closing seconds and did not allow the Lady Griz to get a shot off.

Redshirt-junior guard Morgan Shell (Marble Falls, Texas) tied her career-high in rebounds with nine to go with four points.  Sophomore forward Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) matched Shell's numbers with four points and nine boards of her own. 

De Boer lead the Lady Griz with 13 points, while Kellie Cole added 10.

Freshman guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored eight points, and sophomore Quincey Noonan (Broomfield, Colo.) added seven.

Next up for DU, the Pioneers will travel to Boulder to take on Front Range rival Colorado (7-0) on Thursday, Dec. 8. The 7 p.m. game will be televised on ROOT Sports.

Visit DenverPioneers.com for the most comprehensive coverage of Denver women's basketball, as well as all of DU's 17 athletic programs.

-PIONEERS-