BOCA RATON, Fla. - Despite a 19-point showing from freshman Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.), the University of Denver women's basketball team dropped a 51-50 heartbreaker to the Florida Atlantic Owls on Wednesday evening at the FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Fla. The loss drops the Pioneers to 16-10 overall, 8-4 in the SBC. FAU improves to 13-9 overall, 8-3 in the SBC.

"FAU is really good defensively and their double teams on Kaetlyn were very effective," said head coach Erik Johnson. "Their posts did a great job of getting us into foul trouble at the other end. I was pleased with our effort. Now we got three days to get ready for a big game at FIU."

Van Riper-Rose finished the night shooting 61.5 percent from the field (8-of-13), converting two of the Pioneers' toughest baskets of the night. In the closing seconds of the first half, the guard drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Owls' lead to four points heading into the locker room. That spark carried over into the second half as the Pioneers used an 8-2 run to take a two-point lead over the Owls with 15:49 left on the clock.

FAU battled back to tie the game a little over two minutes later off a jumper by Vontrice Dennis and then eventually grabbed the lead for good off a jumper by Latavia Dempsey. However, the Pioneers continued to play tough defense and were able to pull within one point of the Owls with 1:06 left on the clock. After two made free throws by FAU's Teri Stamps with five seconds left on the clock, coach Johnson called a timeout to draw up a play.

Down by three and only five seconds remaining, the Pioneers streaked down the court and got the ball into the hands of Van Riper-Rose for a three-pointer, who had been 3-of-5 from long distance on the night. As the final second ticked off the clock, the freshman launched a shot that swished into the basket, however her toe had crossed the three-point arc and her shot was deemed a jumper. The buzzer sounded and the Pioneers were forced to swallow a 51-50 defeat.

Sophomore Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) led the Pioneers on the boards with nine rebounds, while junior Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with nine assists. Smith posted her 500th career assist at the 18:04 mark of the first half. The junior finished with nine assists to bring her career total to 508. She has now moved in a tie for eighth place in the SBC Record Books.

Chenise Miller led the scoring efforts for the Owls as she finished with 14 points. April Goins added 11 points and led the way with nine rebounds.

The Pioneers remain on the road, traveling south to Miami, Fla., to take on the Florida International Panthers on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. MT. The game is available on Pioneer Vision. Live Stats and a Live Blog will also be available at DenverPioneers.com.

- PIONEERS -