Pioneers Fall to Wyoming 81-66

Box Score

LARAMIE, Wyo. - The University of Denver women's basketball team fell to Wyoming 81-66 Saturday evening at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo. The loss drops the Pioneers to 0-3 on the season, while the Cowgirls move to 2-0.

DU shot 45.8 percent (27-59) in the contest, but Wyoming topped them by shooting 59.2 percent (29-of-49), on the evening, including 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from three-point range.

Sophomore guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the Pioneers with 16 points. She was followed by fellow sophomore forward Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.), who added 10.

Wyoming's Kayla Woodward led all scorers with 20 points, while Alison Gorrell tallied 15.

"Wyoming is very good at home," said head coach Kerry Cremeans. "Our team is going through some growing pains, but we still believe in each other. I absolutely love the fight in this team. From the beginning to the end they believe in each other, and I'm proud that we are continuing to grow."

Junior forward Desiree Hunter (Cypress, Calif.) scored seven points and added a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Johnston (Waterloo, Iowa) and freshman guard Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas) scored seven apiece.

Kaitlyn Mileto and Ashley Sickles both finished with 14 points for Wyoming.

The Cowgirls opened the game shooting 7-of-8 from the field, starting the contest with an 8-0 run, on their way to a 23-9 advantage seven minutes in. Denver responded with a 9-0 run to cut the advantage to 23-18 with 11 minutes remaining in the opening frame, before Wyoming bounced-back to take a 42-32 advantage into the break.

Van Riper-Rose led all scorers with 11 first-half points. She was followed by Woodward and Mileto, who scored nine apiece.

Wyoming shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the first half, compared to 48.1 percent (13-of-27) for DU.

The Cowgirls continued their hot shooting in the second frame, hitting on 59.1 percent (13-of-22) of their attempts from the field. Wyoming took its biggest lead of the game with 8:53 remaining at 70-50. The Pioneers cut the lead to 11, but could not overcome the deficit, as the Cowgirls took the 15-point victory.

Denver shot 43.8 percent (14-of-32) in the second half.

Denver will return to action Wednesday, Nov. 21 when it travels to take on UC Irvine. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT.

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