DENVER - Despite having five players in double figures, the University of Denver women's basketball team dropped its Western Athletic Conference opener 82-77 in double overtime to Louisiana Tech on Saturday evening from Hamilton Gymnasium.

The Lady Techsters used six straight points in the second overtime to seal the win that drops the Pioneers to 5-7 overall, 0-1 in league play. Louisiana Tech is now 5-6 overall, 1-0 in conference.

Junior forward Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) led the Pioneers with a career-high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while junior Quincey Noonan (Broomfield, Colo.) matched with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Also finishing with double figures was senior Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.), sophomore Jordan Johnston (Waterloo, Iowa) and freshman Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) as all chipped in 11 points.

DU was able to dominate the bench scoring 34-6, led by Noonan and Edwards combined 26 points, while junior Alison Janecek (Omaha, Neb.) finished with eight points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.  

Louisiana Tech was led by Keila Shelton's 26 points and Brittany Lewis who added 17 points.

After trailing 6-3 Denver went on a 18-2 run to open a 21-8 lead. The Pioneers used their transition game, aggressive rebounding, and defense to take an early double-digit lead on the Lady Techsters. After Louisiana Tech was able to cut the lead to 26-19, Noonan made two great passes to Michel to up DU's lead back into double figures. Noonan and Michel led DU in scoring in the opening frame, both scoring seven points. The Pioneers led the Lady Techsters 31-23 at the half.

The Lady Techsters battled back in the second half, taking a 46-44 lead with 10:36 remaining, giving them their first lead since the 16:23 in the first half. DU bounced back with a 9-0 run to regain the lead at 53-46.

With DU leading 67-64, Louisiana Tech's Shelton buried a three-pointer with 14.4 seconds to tie the game. Sophomore guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had her baseline jumper fall just short at the buzzer, which sent the game to overtime.

At the end of the first overtime, Louisiana Tech forward Whitney Frazier knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 72. Smith was short on a three point attempt at the buzzer, sending the game to double overtime.

Denver will return to action Monday when Texas Arlington comes to town. Tip is at 2 p.m. MT. at Magness Arena.

Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.

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