DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team won 82-62 over Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday evening. The win is Denver's second-straight and moves the Pioneers to 14-11 overall and 7-5 in the Summit League.

In the win DU forced 22 turnovers and converted 25 points while adding 32 points in the paint. The Pioneers also held the Mastodons to just 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc.  

Madison Nelson had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block to lead DU.

Claire Gritt finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals over 33 minutes.

Samantha Romanowski produced 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals in a team-high 37 minutes of action.

Lauren Loven hit three 3s and scored 13 points. She is now just eight 3s shy of a new Summit League single season record.

Tsimba Malonga went 5-of-8 from the floor and finished with 11 points, three steals and two rebounds.

Denver and Purdue Fort Wayne traded baskets in the opening five minutes of play but the Mastodons held a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout. Out of the break the 'Dons ripped off six-straight points and forced DU head coach Jim Turgeon to take a timeout.

Trailing 16-10 the Pioneers responded out of the break, putting together an 8-2 run to trail by just two at the end of one period.

Denver opened the second quarter with a pair of 3-point baskets but the Mastodons answered with two layups to make the score 22-22 with 8:30 left in the half. The squads then went back-and-forth, trading small leads for the next few minutes but the Pioneers took control with a 10-4 outburst which gave DU a 37-30 lead with just under three minutes left in the half.

The Pios extended the lead to eight after a Romanowski 3 but a free throw from Purdue Fort Wayne's Anna Lappenkuper made the score 40-33 at the end of one half.

It was a slow start to the second half for both teams but Purdue Fort Wayne used a 5-0 stretch to cut Denver's lead to 40-38. DU responded with a 10-2 surge in the next two minutes of action, pushing the lead to 10 at the media timeout.

The Pioneer run continued after the timeout, increasing their lead to 58-40 thanks to 3s from Loven and Romanowski. The 'Dons got the last point of the quarter with a free throw from Hannah Albrecht which cut the Denver lead to 58-41 at the end of three.

Despite trailing by nearly 20 points Purdue Fort Wayne refused to go away, opening the quarter with a 6-0 run to make it an 11 point game with 8:15 to play. The Pioneers showed no panic during the outburst and used a pair of Loven 3s to rip off a 12-4 stretch and take control of the contest.

The 'Dons kept fighting in the remaining few minutes of action, but Denver executed on both ends of the floor down the stretch to lock up its seventh Summit League win of the season.

Next up: Denver breaks for a week and then returns to the floor for a two game road trip at South Dakota (Feb. 21) and North Dakota (Feb. 23).

DENVER ATHLETICS TICKETS: For all Denver Athletics ticket inquiries, call 303-871-GOAL (4625), or visit DenverPioneers.com.

PIONEER MOVEMENT: 
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Play4Kay Game: 
Join us and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund in fighting and bringing awareness to breast cancer across the world. Players, coaches and fans will be uniting in an effort to extend and improve the lives of all women battling cancer by raising money for research and assisting the underserved. You can help us by participating in the National Free Throw Challenge benefitting the Kay Yow Cancer Fund using this link - https://pledgeit.org/denver-play4kay?fbclid=IwAR0or0WCxuC0yp-tiyaa64FktKHAHRAvUdpB_jozPP2OcIMkRxCQ9P-aMUY.

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