Box Score DENVER - The University of Denver's women's basketball team held off the visiting University of Texas- San Antonio Roadrunners, 53-49 Thursday Night at Magness Arena. The win moves the Pioneers to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Roadrunners fall to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the conference.
Senior Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) led all scorers with 15 points. Smith also added four assists, four rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes of play. Freshman Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) added 11 points and sophomore Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.) contributed eight points and four rebounds.
Simone Young scored 13 points to help bring the Roadrunners as close as two points, but UTSA never led in the contest, as the Pioneers came up with important stops down the stretch.
"It came down to defensive stops late," said head coach Kerry Cremeans. "And in the end we came up with some big stops."
Sophomore Jordan Johnston (Waterloo, Iowa) cemented the win for the Pioneers, hitting two clutch free throws to give DU the final four-point margin with under six seconds to play.
The Pioneers started quickly with a 10-0 run to open the game, as DU's tight defense held the Roadrunners scoreless for the first 5:13 of play. UTSA also played tough defense, forcing 13 first-half Pioneer turnovers. Denver went into the break holding a 25-16 lead.
Denver's rebounding edge was a key factor in the team's 10th victory. The Pioneers out-rebounded the Roadrunners 40-29, pulling in 13 offensive boards. Junior Maiya Michel (Loma Linda, Calif.) led the Pioneers with 12 rebounds, seven of which came in the opening frame.
"We just battled hard on the boards tonight," Cremeans said. "We cleaned things up inside."
DU finished the game shooting 43.2 percent (19-for-44) to UTSA's 36.4 percent (20-for-55). Denver did not convert a three-point field goal attempt on the night (five attempts). The Crimson and Gold last failed to convert a three-point attempt on Dec. 2, 2009 at Colorado (0-for-1).
The Pioneers' next game is Saturday against Texas State. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. MT at Magness Arena. The game will be Denver's Play4Kay Pink Game.
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.
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