Pioneers Fall to Bobcats 89-69 on the Road

Box Score

BOZEMAN, Mont. – The University of Denver women’s basketball team fell 89-69 to Montana State at the Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Mont., on Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Pioneers to 1-4 on the season, while Montana State improves to 3-1.

“It comes down to defensive stops, and we didn’t get that done today as evident by the score,” said head coach Kerry Cremeans. “We knew that they would be tough, gritty and feisty and they exceeded that. That was what won the ball game.”

Sophomore Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 26 points off 8-of-15 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 showing from the free-throw line. Edwards’ performance at the line, ties the DU single-game record for free-throw percentage.

Junior Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) chipped in with 15 points, while sophomore Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas) finished with 10 points and a career-high seven assists. Sophomore Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.) finished with 13 rebounds (five offensive) to go along with four points and one block.

Six Bobcats finished in double digits as Jasmine Hommes posted 18 of 9-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds and three blocks.

The Pioneers shot 36.7 percent from the field in the game and a season-high 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the free-throw line. Denver out-rebounded Montana State 40-to-37.

Denver led by as much as seven to start the game, but Montana State went on an 11-3 run to take a 15-14 lead with 13:14 left to play in the half. A three-pointer less than a minute later by Van Riper-Rose put the Pioneers back on top, 17-16, but a jumper by the Bobcats put them back up front.

With 2:42 left to play in the half, Van Riper-Rose drained her second three-pointer of the half to put the Pioneers in front 35-33. MSU answered with a lay-up to tie the game and then took the lead off a jumper just moments later. Denver tied it once more with 2:14 left to play at 37-37 off free-throws by Bradley, but the Bobcats converted a jumper with seven seconds left to take a two-point lead, 39-37 heading into the locker room.

Edwards led the Pioneers in the first half with 13 points off a perfect 4-of-4 showing from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Van Riper-Rose also posted double-figures in the first half with 10 points off 3-of-4 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point range.

Denver grabbed 15 rebounds in the first half, shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the line.

The Pioneers tied the game at 39-39 right out of the game off a jumper by Edwards. Following a Bobcats’ bucket, Edwards got her lay-up to go and tied the game again at 41-41. MSU answered seconds later to take a 43-41 lead before senior Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) converted her lay-up to tie the game for the sixth time with 17:09 left to play.

The Bobcats responded with a three-pointer to take the lead and did not relinquish it for the rest of the game, extending it by as much as 14 points with 8:55 remaining. Following a 30 second timeout, the Pioneers rattled off nine straight points to cut the Bobcats’ lead to five with 6:32 left to play. However, Montana State answered with a 20-6 run to close out the game and secure the 89-69 win.

Edwards scored 13 of her 26 points and Wirth grabbed 11 of her 13 rebounds in the second half. Montana State shot 57.6 percent from the field in the second half.

Up next, Denver hosts Montana at Magness Arena on Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be available live on Pioneer Vision and via Live Stats.

DENVER NOTES

Paige Bradley finished with a career-high seven assists. Her previous high was five at Air Force (11/16/13).
Kailey Edwards finished shooting 9-of-9 from the line, tying DU’s single-game record for best free-throw percentage in a game.
Edwards also finished with 26 points for her fourth game this season in double figures; 18 over her career.
Van Riper-Rose finished with 15 points for her fourth game in double figures this season, 34 over her career.
Van Riper-Rose is on a 54-consecutive game starting streak; Michel is on a 53-consecutive game starting streak.
Three or more Pioneers have scored in double digits in three straight games, four of the last five.

 

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