OMAHA, Neb. – Even with a large contingent of Pioneer fans in attendance at Sapp Fieldhouse and a 10-point performance by native senior forward Alison Janecek (Omaha, Neb.), the University of Denver women’s basketball team fell 65-41 to Omaha on Saturday.

“Obviously, we’re just very disappointed; everybody in that locker room from the staff down; in this performance going into our last week of the season,” said DU head coach Kerry Cremeans. “Every day, you just want to continue to get better and improve. Unfortunately, we just took some steps backward. Omaha had a great win on Thursday and that propelled them into the win on Saturday."

With the loss, the Pioneers fall to 6-21 overall and 4-8 in The Summit League, while the Mavericks improve to 12-14 and 4-8 in conference play.

Janecek, the only Pioneer player to score in double digits, also had a share of the game-high eight rebounds and a block. Sophomore guard Kailey Edwards (Broomfield, Colo.) scored all eight of her points in the second half, which included a perfect 4-for-4 mark at the line.

UNO never trailed in the game and was led by guard Mikaela Shaw with her game-high 25 points and matched Janecek with eight rebounds. Shaw also received support on offense from center Taijhe Kelly and guard Madi Robson, who each contributed 10 points. Kelly recorded a game-high 3 blocks as well.

With the Pioneers trailing 33-23 at the intermission, the Mavericks kicked off the second half with a 7-0 run. The Pioneers’ scoreless stretch was ended when junior forward Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.) made a jumper with 17:29 left in regulation to make the score 40-25.

An 8-0 run followed for UNO, which was broken by Janecek’s layup at the 10:59 mark to trim the deficit to 48-29. The Pioneers trailed by as many as 26 twice. The last such instance occurred when Robson made her last free throw of the game with 3:11 left on the clock to give the Mavericks a 63-37 lead.

The Pioneers shot 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) from the paint in the first half, while the Mavericks made 14-of-31 (45.2 percent). In addition, UNO made one more three-pointer, going 2-of-7 (28.6 percent) and sank all three of its free-throw attempts. At the charity stripe, the Pioneers only made 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) before the half.

In spite of the 10-point halftime deficit of 33-23, the Pioneers’ bench outscored UNO’s non-starters 13-5 prior to the intermission and 15-7 for the game. Senior forward Desiree Hunter (Cypress, Calif.) paced the Pioneers with a DU-high eight points coming off the bench prior to the intermission.

For the game, the Pioneers only made 15-of-54 (27.8 percent) from the field. At the line though, DU finished 10-for-13 (76.9 percent), including a flawless 6-of-6 in the second half.

The Pioneers begin their final regular-season home stand on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT when they host South Dakota State in a game that will be broadcast on ROOT Sports.

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