BOX SCORE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A career day from both Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas) and Jesse Spittel (Yorba Linda, Calif.) wasn't enough on Saturday, as the University of Denver women's basketball team fell 68-58 to UMKC at the Municipal Auditorium.

The duo powered the offensive attack for the Pioneers, combining to score 42 points in the loss, with 27 coming from Bradley, and Spittel putting in 15, a new career high as well. Bradley also swiped seven steals in the contest, also a new career high.

Ciera Morgan (Parker, Colo.) also chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds for DU.

The Roos were led by Aries Washington, who recorded 21 points and six assists in 34 minutes.

Kiana Law also had a good day for UMKC, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds.

The Roos jumped out to a solid lead early, taking a 13-7 advantage into the first media timeout. Washington really was in the groove to start for UMKC, scoring eight of the teams's first 13 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting.

Denver responded out of the timeout with an 8-3 run to cut it to within one at 16-15 before Sierra Bone drilled a 3-pointer right at the end of the first quarter to push the Roos lead to four.

Neither team showed much to start the second, with both teams going cold in the first five minutes. The Pioneers finally snapped a four-minute scoreless streak after a Morgan jumper, her first basket of the game.

A 9-2 scoring run by UMKC in the final four minutes of the half put them up 30-21 going into the break.

Bradley was able to keep DU close, scoring 12 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting. Bench scoring proved to be a big factor in the first 20 minutes, with the Roos outscoring Denver 13-0 in bench points.

The third quarter opened with UMKC extending its lead to 12 after a Taylor Leathers basket at the 6:25 mark. The senior's bucket was part of a fast start for the Roos in the second half.

The Pioneers cut it to single digits with a 5-0 run in the final 53 seconds to make it a 48-39 game at the end of the third.

A 3-pointer from Bradley got DU back to within nine at 53-44 at the 4:52 mark. It was the third made 3 for the senior guard on the afternoon.

Bradley wasn't done, connecting on two more 3s minutes later, setting her career high with 27, and bringing Denver back within six at 63-57 with 37 seconds remaining.

Down six late, the Pioneers were forced to foul to extend the game. But the Roos were able to answer at the foul line, going on to take the game.

Back to the Grind
DU never let this one slip away and continued to fight back numerous times throughout the game, despite never having the lead and losing leading scorer Samantha Romanowski (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) just 15 seconds into the first quarter. Denver has shown a resiliency this year to continue to fight and work itself back into games, which will serve it well once it hopefully gets two starters back here in the near future.

Up Next
The Pioneers (1-8) travel to Milwaukee to close out the road trip with a game against the Panthers on Monday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN 3.

- JOIN THE DENVER PIONEER NATION -

Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of Denver's NCAA Division I sports.

Like Denver Pioneers and DU Women's Basketball on Facebook

Follow @DU_Pioneersand @DU_WHoops on Twitter

Follow @duwhoopson Instagram