LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - University of Denver senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) and freshman guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) both had 15 points, propelling the Pioneers to a 60-50 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock at Jack Stephens Center on Saturday.

The win gave Denver (15-8, 7-2 SBC) sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division and snapped a nine-game losing streak to UALR, dating back to March 3, 2007.

"The best coaching move we made was to get out of the way tonight," said head coach Erik Johnson. "We've come a long way since the first time we played them this year. I could not be more proud of the team tonight. All the credit goes to the players."

Junior guard Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) added nine points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and sophomore forward Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

DU held a 37-23 lead at halftime, but the Trojans chipped away at Denver's lead, cutting it to six points with 7:52 remaining in the game. However, DU went on a 9-2 run to extend the lead back to double digits with less than five minutes remaining.

Denver shot a scorching 56.0 percent (14-of-25), including 4-of-5 from three-point range, while holding UALR to just 25.0 percent (7-of-38). The Crimson and Gold ended the half on a 13-4 run over the final seven minutes.

The Pioneers next head to Louisiana-Lafayette for a meeting with the Ragin' Cajuns on Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be webcast live on Pioneer Vision and via a live blog available at DenverPioneers.com.