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Denver -The University of Denver (8-17, 5-6 Summit) upset second place South Dakota State University (16-8, 7-4 Summit) 77-72 at Magness Arena on Wednesday night. Senior Morgan Van Riper-Rose (Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the Pioneers with 24 points, on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line. This marks her seventh game this season with 15 points or more.

Fast-paced offense by both teams kept the game close with nine lead changes and six ties. Three point shooting by Paige Bradley (The Woodlands, Texas) and Van Riper-Rose late in the second half put the Pioneers up 66-62 with just under one minute remaining. Van Riper-Rose, Bradley and Jordyn Alt (North Oaks, Minn.) came up clutch down the stretch connecting on 11-of-12 free throws in the final minute to take a five-point lead with 20 seconds remaining and secure the win.

Bradley scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, grabbed five boards and dished out a game-high nine assists. Jacqlyn Poss (Shoreview, Minn.) added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Forward Alecia Espinoza (Hacienda Heights, Calif.) tied her career-high with 12 rebounds and scored nine points.

Trailing by as much as nine in the first half, Denver shot 42 percent (13-of-31) from the field giving them a 34-33 advantage at halftime.

Freshmen guard Macy Miller scored 30 points for the Jackrabbits and grabbed eight rebounds. Sophomore Kerri Young added 17 points and freshmen Ellie Thompson tallied eight rebounds.

For the game, Denver shot 47 percent (27-of-58) from the field and 42 percent (8-of-19) from the 3-point line, while South Dakota State connected on 36 percent (26-of-73) of its attempts from the field and 44 percent (7-of-16) from behind the 3-point arc. The Pioneers sank 83 percent (15-of-18) of their free throw attempts. South Dakota State dropped in 87 percent (13-of-15) of their attempts from the foul line.

This was the 7^th meeting all-time between Denver and South Dakota State and the Pioneers first win in the series that dates back to January of 1984.

Denver's next game is Senior Day and Pink Day at Magness Arena against IPFW Saturday at 1 p.m. MT. The Pioneers beat the Mastadon's 82-75 in their last meeting on January 24 in Fort Wayne. An audio-only broadcast will be available on Pioneer Vision.

Information on all DU basketball ticketing options can be obtained by calling the Daniel L. Ritchie Center Box Office at (303) 871-2336 or by visiting the ticket page on DenverPioneers.com.

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