DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team downed Oral Roberts 93-76 on Sunday afternoon in Magness Arena. A season-high six players reached double-digits for DU while holding the Golden Eagles to just 24-of-70 (34.3 percent) from the floor.

With the win, Denver improves to 12-8 overall and 5-2 in the Summit League while Oral Roberts drops to 10-9 and 3-3 in league play.

Madison Nelson led Denver with 20 points, five steals (career high), five rebounds, four assists and one block. The junior has now reached double-figures in all but three games this season.

Lauren Loven, who came into the game leading the nation in 3s made, finished with 17 points while shooting 4-of-8 from downtown. She is now just five 3s shy of breaking the DU single-season record that she set back in 2016-17 as a freshman.

Samantha Romanowski, who entered the game ranked 13th in assists per game (6.2 per game) had 13 points and nine assists. The senior shot 3-of-5 from downtown while adding three rebounds in 36 minutes of action.

Courtney Smith recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also added four assists and a career-high four blocks.

Claire Gritt tallied 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal over 20 minutes of action.

Tsimba Malonga finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 from the floor while going 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.

DU and Oral Roberts traded blows in the first four-plus minutes of the contest as the teams were tied at 5-5 early on. Despite struggles from the floor, a pair of free throws from Jasmine Jeffcoat gave Denver a two point lead at the media timeout.

The back-and-forth action continued out of the break with the teams trading 3-pointers to end the quarter. The Pioneers led 17-16, holding the Eagles to just 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from the floor.

The offense came to life for Denver in the second as head coach Jim Turgeon's squad ripped off an 11-0 run in the first 3:26 of the frame. The Eagles finally put an end to the run with a 3, but Denver responded with an 11-2 outburst to extend its lead to 20 points with just over 3:30 to play in the half.

Despite the large deficit, Oral Roberts ended the quarter with a 10-5 stretch to stay within reach of the Pioneers. Nelson led Denver with 11 points, three rebounds, four assists and four steals in the first half.

ORU opened the second half with five straight points to cut the deficit to single-digits but a corner jumper from Smith kept DU comfortably ahead. The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes but the Pioneers stayed in control with a 59-45 lead at the media timeout.  

Over the final five minutes of the frame Oral Roberts cut further into DU's lead, but three straight 3s from Romanowski and Grace White made it 71-55 with ten minutes to play.  

Despite trailing, the Eagles kept up the effort and got within 13 points of the lead with 3:56 left in the game. The Pioneers remained calm and managed the clock to lock up their fifth league win of the season.

Next up: Denver will return to the floor at 2 p.m. MT on Saturday January 26th at Purdue Fort Wayne.

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