DENVER – Junior Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 22 total points and a career-high eight rebounds in the University of Denver’s 73-70 loss to Wyoming. The Pioneers fall to 0-2 on the season, while the Cowgirls improve to 2-0.

“Both teams put all their heart out into this game. The fans saw a great game and a great effort by both teams,” said second-year head coach Kerry Cremeans. “It just came down to where Wyoming hit a big shot. Each of us was hitting big shots throughout the game. It was back-and-forth; they gained some momentum there in those last five or six minutes, but we were able to scrape our way back and really affect them and lessen the lead that they had. You have to give hats off to Wyoming to nail that big shot and not send it into overtime.”

 

 

Senior Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.), junior Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.) and sophomore Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) all contributed eight points for the Pioneers. Wirth and Edwards added eight rebounds each, while Michel added four. Denver out-rebounded Wyoming 50-45 throughout the game.

Fallon Lewis led Wyoming with 17 points and nine rebounds. Kayla Woodward finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Chelan Landry added 14 points, 10 of which were off of 11 free-throw attempts.

Denver shot 34.8 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from three-point range, while Wyoming shot 37.1 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from long distance.

“Once you have an immediate two hands on the ball handler pursuing to the rim, it’s an immediate foul,” coach Cremeans said in regards to a new rule change. “You saw that today; it’s a big adjustment for all of us. You’re going to see so much more of our games go to the free-throw line. We’re trying to create better avenues to the rim without the two hands on the ball-handler. Tonight it went into Wyoming’s favor. They got to the free-throw line and they nailed their free-throws. We also got to the line, just didn’t have high of a percentage that we’re capable of to match what Wyoming had.”

The Pioneers came out strong starting the game on a 6-0 run in the first 2:17 minutes. Van Riper-Rose led Denver in the half shooting 2-for-4 behind the three-point line and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. The Pioneers led by as much as eight points, six different times throughout the half.

Denver pushed the momentum and got an early 10-point lead just over five minutes into the game. Wyoming responded shortly after by cutting the lead down to two points with 10 minutes to go in the half. Woodward helped the Cowgirls by shooting 2-for-3 from beyond the arch in the half. Denver led Wyoming 38-37 at halftime.

Wyoming gained its first lead with just 6:55 on the clock when Landry converted a three-point play to put the Cowgirls up 60-59. The Cowgirls largest lead happened with 1:49 left when they led by six points.

Edwards made it a one possession game with 1:05 minutes left after drawing a foul in the paint and converting both free-throws. Van Riper-Rose tied the game with only 13.4 seconds on the clock, before Kaylee Hoffman made a three-pointer just seconds later to put Wyoming back in the lead with 3.2 seconds before the clock ran out. As time expired, sophomore Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas) made a three-point attempt to tie the game and push the Pioneers into overtime, but her shot bounced off the rim and the Cowgirls held on to win 73-70. Bradley ended the game with six points, five rebounds and a career-high four assists.

The Pioneers will travel to Air Force on Saturday, Nov. 16, where they will take on the Falcons at 1 p.m. MT in USAFA, Colo.

Denver Team Notes

• Denver held Wyoming to a first half FG% of 33.3%, the lowest against an opponent in 2013.
• The Pioneers scored a season-high 18 points off the bench against the Cowgirls.
• DU set a season high in blocks (3) and rebounds (50).
• Denver’s 13 assists set a new season high for the Pioneers.
• The Crimson and Gold’s five steals was a season-high this year.
• The Pioneers scored a season-high 70 points against the Cowgirls.
• After going scoreless in the season opener, Van Riper-Rose scored 22 points, her 24^th double-digit career game.
• Van Riper-Rose led DU with two blocks against Wyoming, the fifth career time she has lead the Pioneers in single-game blocks.
• Michel set a new season-high total with her eight rebounds.
• Van Riper-Rose set a new career high with her eight rebounds against Wyoming.
• Bradley tied a career high with four assists.

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