HOCKEY (16-10-5, 11-8-5 WCHA)
No. 10/10 Denver returns to the road this weekend for a pivotal WCHA Conference series at No. 2/2 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday night in Minneapolis. Friday's game will start at 6:07 p.m. (MT) and be televised live on the Big Ten Network, while Saturday contest will also have a 6:07 p.m. (MT) puck drop and be aired on Fox Sports North. Both games will be broadcast via audio on Denver's 102.3 FM ESPN Radio. Denver enters the week tied for sixth place in the WCHA standings with Wisconsin and 27 points, with just four conference games remaining. The Pioneers sit two points behind Minnesota State for fifth place and three points short of North Dakota and Nebraska Omaha, who are tied for third with 30 points. The Pioneers trail the all-time series with Minnesota, which began in 1950-51, 71-94-12. Denver is 26-52-6 all-time against the Gophers in games played in Minneapolis. The Pioneers split in their most recent road meeting against the Gophers on Feb. 11-12, 2011. This weekend's series at Minnesota will mark Denver's final road trip this regular season. The Pioneers sport a 5-5-2 road mark this season, including a 1-3-1 mark on away ice vs. ranked foes. The Pioneers boast a record of 9-6-2 on the season vs. ranked foes and have outscored their opponents 64-55 over those previous 17 contests. Last Saturday's 6-1 loss vs. No. 6/6 North Dakota snapped the Pioneers seven-game home unbeaten streak. Both games last weekend at Magness Arena vs. North Dakota were sellouts, marking the Pioneers fourth and fifth home sellouts this season. Friday's 5-4 win over No. 6/6 North Dakota marked the 12th time this season that Denver has posted five or more goals in a single game. The Pioneers are 11-1 in those contests. Junior David Makowski (Wildwood, Mo.) has totaled 16 assists on the season and 12 in the last 12 games overall. Freshman Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) has registered at least one point in nine of his last 12 games overall.
MEN'S BASKETBALL (18-8, 13-2 WAC)
Sitting in second place just 1.5 games behind WAC leader Louisiana Tech, the Pioneers return home to host the final three games of the regular season, beginning with No. 3 New Mexico State on Saturday, March 2 at 4 p.m., which will air live on ESPN3 and Altitude. Denver will also host No. 4 Texas-Arlington (March 7) and No. 1 Louisiana Tech (March 9). The Pioneers trail 5-12 overall and 2-6 in Denver in the all-time series with the Aggies, who beat DU 53-42 in Las Cruces, N.M., on Jan. 23. Denver's 63-57 win at Northern Iowa in the Ramada Worldwide BracketBuster on Feb. 23 gave the Pioneers an 8-6 road record for the season, matched the most road wins in DU's NCAA Division I history, originally set in 1942-43. The win was also Denver's seventh straight and snapped Northern Iowa's six-game winning streak. For the second-straight week, sophomore Brett Olson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) stepped up in crunch time in front of raucous road crowd, scoring six of his team-high 16 points, making one of his three steals and getting one of his two blocks in the final 1:57 against the Panthers, extending a one-point lead to seal the victory. Senior Chase Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) leads the WAC with 2.19 steals per game, and his 57 steals is just 14 shy of the DU single-season record. The Pioneers have five players among the WAC's top 15 in steals: Hallam is first, junior Chris Udofia (Irving, Texas) is fifth with 1.62, sophomore Cam Griffin (San Antonio, Texas) is eighth with 1.46, sophomore Royce O'Neale (Killeen, Texas) is ninth with 1.42 and Olson is 14th with 1.15. Denver leads the WAC in scoring defense (55.0), field goal percentage (.480), assists (16.08), assist/turnover ratio (1.41) and three-pointers made (8.00). DU is 17-0 when leading at halftime and 12-1 when shooting 50 percent or better this season.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (12-14, 7-8 WAC)
The University of Denver women's basketball team will return to action this week when it travels to take on New Mexico State Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT. The Pioneers defeated the Aggies 67-58 when the teams faced off on Jan. 26. Denver is currently sixth in the Western Athletic Conference standings with a 7-8 league record. Saturday's game will be the first of three road contests for DU to close out the regular season. The Pioneers will follow their trip to New Mexico State with road games at Texas Arlington and Louisiana Tech, before heading to the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Denver last saw action two weeks ago, when they split a pair of home contests. The Pioneers fell to Utah State 92-89 in a double-overtime heartbreaker on Feb. 14. Freshman Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) recorded 31 points in the game, while sophomore Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) added 25. Denver followed that up with a win in its final home game of the season, as it defeated San Jose State 83-68 on Feb. 16. Senior Emiko Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with 12 assists in her Senior Day game, while Van Riper-Rose paced the Pioneers with 18 points.
NO. 13 GYMNASTICS (11-2, 4-0 WAC)
The No. 13 University of Denver gymnastics squad heads to No. 16 West Virginia for a rare Sunday (12 p.m. MT) afternoon meet. DU and WVU will be joined by Temple and George Washington in Denver's second-straight quad meet. This is the first week the GymInfo rankings are sorted by Regional Qualifying Score. DU has a 195.990 mark through the first eight weeks of the season. Last week, Denver clinched the Western Athletic Conference regular season title. The Pioneers will look to repeat their 2012 WAC Postseason Meet Championship on March 23 in Cedar City, Utah. On individual events, Denver ranks No. 13 on vault (49.155), No. 13 on bars (49.005), No. 20 on beam (48.815) and No. 11 on floor (49.055). Junior Moriah Martin (Lake Mary, Fla.) is No. 7 in the vault rankings (9.900) and sophomore Nina McGee (Cincinnati, Ohio) is No. 15 on bars (9.865).
MEN'S LACROSSE (3-1, 0-0 ECAC)
The University of Denver men's lacrosse team remains at home this week, hosting Penn at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT. The game will be available via Live Stats at DenverPioeners.com. Denver is 4-1 all-time against Penn, including 2-1 when playing at home. Both teams last met on March 6, 2010 as Penn defeated the Pioneers 11-7 in the Face-Off Classic. The Pioneers finished the Frontier Airlines Face-Off Classic with a 2-0 mark, posting an 18-10 win over No. 8/12 Lehigh and an 11-4 win over Canisius. Senior Eric Law (Centennial, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 11 points on four goals and seven assists to earn a spot on the All-Classic Team and his first Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor. Also turning in strong performances were sophomore Wesley Berg (Coquitlam, B.C.), who finished with six goals and two assists, and freshman Gordie Koerber (Baltimore, Md.) who led the way with seven goals. Law leads the Pioneers through four games with 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists, while Berg is second on the team with 13 points on 11 goals and two assists.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE (2-1)
The Pioneers open their home schedule this week, welcoming Louisville on Saturday and High Point on Monday, March 4. DU has never faced the Cardinals or Panthers. Sophomore Jill Remenapp (Woodbine, Md.) is averaging 4.33 points through the first three games, and redshirt senior Kara Secora (Denver, Colo.) has averaged a hat trick per game. Denver is 8-2 in the last 10 home openers, including wins in the last three.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The women's tennis team hosted New Mexico on Friday. The Pioneers cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Lobos. Senior Emma Isberg (Tyreso, Sweden) defeated Kristin Eggleston 6-1, 6-1. The Pioneers won five of six singles matches to edge New Mexico. The Pioneers next match is Friday, March 1 when they host Wyoming at Monaco Athletic Club. The match starts at 7 p.m. (MT).
MEN'S TENNIS
The men's tennis team had a tough weekend. On Friday, the Pioneers fell to No. 41 Northwestern on Friday, 5-1. The Pioneers were upset by Wichita State, 4-2 on Saturday. The team was without No. 41 Enej Bonin (Koper, Slovenia), who has been sidelined with an injury. Freshman Henry Craig improved his singles record to 9-2 with wins over Northwestern's Sidarth Balaji 3-6, 7-6, 10-5 and Wichita State's Tomislav Gregurovic 6-3, 6-4. The Pioneers next match is March 1 against Nebraska. The match will take place at Gates Tennis Center at 12 p.m. (MT).
SWIMMING AND DIVING
The University of Denver women's swimming and diving team will compete in the Western Athletic Conference Championships this week in San Antonio, Texas. The event will run from Feb. 27-March 2, and will be streamed online at WAC.tv. The Denver women last saw action when they fell to Boise State 145-78 at El Pomar Natatorium on Jan. 25. Sophomore Samantha Corea (Vancouver, British Columbia) leads the Pioneers into the conference finals. The three-time WAC Swimmer of the Week is ranked first in the conference in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. The Pioneer men competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships last week, finishing fourth. Junior Kyle Milberg (Littleton, Colo.) highlighted the meet for the Pioneers by being named MPSF Swimmer of the Year.
