DENVER - In her final career game at Magness Arena, senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch (Temple, Texas) recorded 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, helping the Pioneers to a 55-36 win over the Mean Green of North Texas on Sunday.

"They didn't shoot the ball very well in the first half, and a lot of that had to do with our players following the game plan," head coach Erik Johnson said. "It worked flawlessly for the first 20 minutes, but they made some good adjustments at halftime and there was a good chess match going back and forth. But still the ability for our players to be able to handle the game plan and understand what it takes to stop them, and then bring the emotion and energy and toughness to a defensive battle like that, I was really proud of them."

The Crimson and Gold led the contest the entire way. Denver (19-11, 11-5 SBC) opened the first 12:18 of the first half on a 15-2 run. The Pioneers held North Texas (14-15, 7-9 SBC) to 7.1 percent shooting from the field during the run. The Pioneers allowed a season-low 12 points in the first half, forcing 10 turnovers and recording four blocks.

 

 

 

Freshman guard Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) tallied 11 of her game-high 20 points in the final 3:50 of the game. The Pioneers finished on a 17-5 run in the last 6:31 to ice the victory.

North Texas opened the second half on an 8-0 run, cutting the Denver lead to six at 26-20 with 14:40 left in regulation. That was the closest UNT would get, as the Pioneers answered with a short 5-2 run to stretch the lead back to nine.

Sophomore forward Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) totaled eight rebounds and contributed six points. Freshman guard Jordan Johnston (Waterloo, Iowa) tied a career-high with eight rebounds and added six points, as the Pioneers won for sixth time this season after being outrebounded.

Also saying farewell to Magness Arena was senior guard Morgan Shell (Marble Falls, Texas), who returned to action after missing the last three games. Shell scored two points, while adding six rebounds and two steals in her final regular season home game.

Denver will travel to Hot Springs, Ark., this week for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Pioneers will be the No. 2 seed out of the West and will play the winner of the Florida International and Louisiana-Lafayette first round contest.  Denver is scheduled to play the winner on Sunday, March 4 at 11:15 a.m. MT.

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