DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team hosts North Dakota on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. MT in the first-ever Summit League matchup between the two squads.

The Pioneers are coming off one of their best performances of the season after defeating [RV] South Dakota 104-99 on Thursday evening. It was just the third win all-time and first since 2014 over the Coyotes, who hold non-conference wins over #22 Missouri and #23 Iowa State. Lauren Loven (32 points) and Jasmine Jeffcoat (20 points) both set career-highs in points in the victory while Samantha Romanowski recorded her second double-double of the year with 17 points and 13 assists. Head coach Jim Turgeon will look to guide his team to its first 3-1 start in league play since the 2014-15 season.

North Dakota sits at 7-8 overall and 2-0 in their first two games as members of the Summit League. The Fighting Hawks are led by senior forward Lexi Klabo who has been named Summit League player of the week twice this season (Dec. 3 & Dec. 31). Klabo leads the team with 19.1 points per game while grabbing 8.5 boards. Jill Morton (10.1 points per game) is the only other Fighting Hawk to average over seven points a game for seventh-year head coach Travis Brewster. North Dakota shoots a solid 39.3 percent from the floor but struggles defensively, allowing opponents to shoot 39.9 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from downtown.

This will be the second-ever meeting between Denver and North Dakota. The first came back in 1988 when the Fighting Hawks downed the Pioneers 93-54.

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