DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team begins its final home stand of the 2018-19 season on Thursday afternoon when the Pioneers host Western Illinois at 1 pm MT.

The Pios are 15-12 overall and 8-6 in the Summit League with just two games remaining in the regular season. DU split its most recent road trip, losing to South Dakota but responding with a 92-91 OT win over North Dakota to complete the season sweep. Head coach Jim Turgeon's squad is fighting for positioning heading into the Summit League tournament as three teams are fighting for third place, each with six losses on the year.

The Crimson and Gold fell 87-77 in the season's first matchup with the Leathernecks despite Denver outscoring WIU 48-32 in the second and third quarters. Four Pioneers reached double-figures in the loss as Madison Nelson led the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

DU will continue to lean on a potent offense that averages a league-best 80.6 points per game (11^th in NCAA) while producing nearly 10 3s per game. Nelson, along with teammates Samantha Romanowski. Claire Gritt and Lauren Loven average double-figures to lead the team and Loven ranks inside the top-five in the nation in all major 3-point shooting categories.

The Leathernecks are just 12-15 overall but are tied with Denver at 8-6 in the Summit League. Eight-year head coach JD Gravina's team rides a two-game losing streak that includes a 92-85 loss to Oral Roberts in WIU's final home game of the season.

Western Illinois is led by Olivia Kaufmann (15.9 points per game), lone senior Taylor Higginbotham (14.0 points per game) and Annabel Graettinger (12.0 points per game) who combine for more than half of the Leathernecks offensive production. Ranking 27th in the Nation in scoring, Western Illinois has proved the ability to score in bunches this season but it does struggle defensively allowing opponents to score nearly 78 points per game.

WIU will try to win its 10^th-straight game over DU, dating back to the 2014-15 season.

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Play4Kay Game: 
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