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University of Denver Athletics

Tsimba Malonga

Women's Basketball

Pioneers Continue Home Stand Against Cal Poly

SCOUTING CAL POLY
•    Faith Mimnaugh leads the Mustangs in her 23rd year at the helm.
•    The Mustangs are currently seventh in the Big West standings.
•    Sierra Campisano is leading Cal Poly through its first two games with 19 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
•    Cal Poly dropped its first two games, the last coming at Pepperdine, 63-53, on Nov. 10.

DOUBLE THE FUN
•    Nelson notched her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds against New Mexico State on Nov. 9.
•    The senior forward recorded back-to-back double-doubles with a 17 point and 14 rebound performance against Wyoming on Nov. 14. She is averaging 17 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
•    Freshman Uju Ezeudu recorded her first career double-double against Kansas City on Nov. 5 with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
•    Nelson's 11.7 rebounds per game is 27th best in the country and her 26 made free throws are seventh best.
•    The senior forward has 252 career free throws made, 44th best among active players.
•    Loven's 255 career three-pointers made is sixth among active players in the country.
•    The senior guard is seventh among active players with 2.68 three-pointers made per game in her career. Her career three-point percentage of 39.8 is 13th best in the nation.
•    The Scottsdale, Arizona native is 11th among active players with 641 career three-point attempts.

ATOP THE LEAGUE
•    Nelson leads the Summit League with 11.7 rebounds per game, 35 total boards, and eight steals. She is third in points per game with 17.0 and fourth in points (51).
•    Ezeudu is fourth in the league with 49 points.
•    Jeffcoat is shooting 90.0 percent from the charity stripe to sit fifth in the league.
•    Ezeudu and junior Claire Gritt are tied for eighth with a free throw percent of 83.3, while Nelson is 10th shooting 80.8 from the line.
•    Redshirt junior Briana Johnson's 15 assists are third best in the Summit League.
•    As a team, Denver is second in free throw percent (75.9), third in rebounds (42.3) and steals (9.7) per game, and fourth with 75.0 points per game. 

FIRST TIMERS
•    Freshman Meghan Boyd made her first career start against New Mexico State on Nov. 9.
•    Boyd tallied eight points, five rebounds, and an assist in 24 minutes.
•    Four Pioneers -- freshmen Sophia Zulich, Boyd, Ezeudu, and junior Alexius Foster made their Denver debuts against Kansas City on Nov. 5.

CAREER DAY
•    Johnson dished out a career-high nine assists against Wyoming. 
•    Sophomore Tsimba Malonga tied a career-best grabbing six rebounds against New Mexico State on Nov. 9.
•    Nelson shot a career-best 11 free throws made with a career-high 12 free throws attempted against New Mexico State.

LOVEN THE RECORDS
•    Loven moved to 13th in the Summit League records with 641 career three-pointers attempted.
•    The Scottsdale, Arizona native is eight threes away from moving to fifth all-time in the Summit League record book for career makes.
•    After scoring eight points against Wyoming, Loven moved to 24th on Denver's all-time scoring list with 1,031 career points.

NELSON SHOOTING INTO THE RECORDS
•    After making 11 free throws against New Mexico State, Nelson moved to ninth in Pioneer history with 245 made in her career.
•    Her 12 free throw attempts put her in eighth in the program record books with 348 for her career.

PIONEERS PRESEASON HONORS
•    The Crimson and Gold were picked to finish third in the Summit League Preseason Poll.
•    Seniors Lauren Loven and Madison Nelson were tabbed Preseason All-Summit League First Team.
•    Loven was named to the Anne Meyers Drysdale Award watch list as one of the top-20 shooting guards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
•    Denver finished with a scoring average of 80.2 points per game, the third highest in school history and 10th best in Summit League history.
•    Last year's squad shot the second best mark in program history and sixth best in Summit League history behind the arc with a 38.6 percent.
•    Turgeon's squad set new program records for points (2,568) and three-pointers made (297). The points mark is 11th, while the three-pointers are sixth best in the Summit League record book.
•    The Pioneers blocked 161 shots to record the ninth highest total in Summit League history.

ROSTER AT A GLANCE
•    The 2019-20 Pioneer roster includes seven returners and five newcomers that is headed by seniors Loven and Nelson, and junior Claire Gritt -- all returning starters.
•    Nelson led Denver last season in scoring (16.5), rebounds (8.9), steals (55), and blocks (34).
•    Loven led the way with for three-pointers made (111) and free throw percentage (97.0).
•    Meghan Boyd, Sophia Zulich, Sam Deem, Ezeudu come in as freshman. Alexius Foster joins Denver as a junior transfer from Dawson Community College.
•    This will be the first season on staff for assistant coaches Crystal Reed and Ellen Holton who both joined the program this past summer.

TOP OF THE PACK
•    The 2018-19 Pioneers finished in the top-20 in the nation in four statistical categories -- scoring offense (11th; 80.2), three-point field goals per game (12th; 9.3), three-point field goal percent (3rd; 38.6), blocks per game (20th; 5.0), three-point field goals made (17th; 297), and blocks (19th; 161).
•    Individually, Loven was top-20 in the country in three-point field goal percent (8th; 44.4), three-point field goals per game (6th; 3.47), and three-point field goals made (7th; 111).

LEADING THE CHARGE
•    Nelson and Johnson were voted the 2019-20 team captains.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers host Colorado Christian on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 pm (MT) in Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
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Players Mentioned

Claire Gritt

#12 Claire Gritt

Guard
5' 10"
Sophomore
Briana Johnson

#2 Briana Johnson

Guard
5' 6"
Junior
Lauren Loven

#3 Lauren Loven

Guard
5' 7"
Junior
Madison Nelson

#23 Madison Nelson

Forward
6' 1"
Junior
Tsimba Malonga

#32 Tsimba Malonga

Guard
5' 7"
Freshman
Meghan Boyd

#0 Meghan Boyd

Guard
5' 11"
Freshman
Sam Deem

#22 Sam Deem

Guard/Forward
6' 0"
Freshman
Uju Ezeudu

#24 Uju Ezeudu

Forward
6' 0"
Freshman
Alexius Foster

#21 Alexius Foster

Guard
5' 7"
Junior
Sophia Zulich

#1 Sophia Zulich

Forward
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Claire Gritt

#12 Claire Gritt

5' 10"
Sophomore
Guard
Briana Johnson

#2 Briana Johnson

5' 6"
Junior
Guard
Lauren Loven

#3 Lauren Loven

5' 7"
Junior
Guard
Madison Nelson

#23 Madison Nelson

6' 1"
Junior
Forward
Tsimba Malonga

#32 Tsimba Malonga

5' 7"
Freshman
Guard
Meghan Boyd

#0 Meghan Boyd

5' 11"
Freshman
Guard
Sam Deem

#22 Sam Deem

6' 0"
Freshman
Guard/Forward
Uju Ezeudu

#24 Uju Ezeudu

6' 0"
Freshman
Forward
Alexius Foster

#21 Alexius Foster

5' 7"
Junior
Guard
Sophia Zulich

#1 Sophia Zulich

5' 11"
Freshman
Forward