SIOUX FALLS. S.D. – The University of Denver women's basketball team fell 80-67 to North Dakota in the first round of the Summit League tournament on Sunday afternoon. Denver led 41-28 after two quarters but the Fighting Hawks outscored the Pios 52-26 in the final two quarters to complete the comeback.

Jasmine Jeffcoat led the Pioneers with 13 points, three rebounds and one assist in just 17 minutes of action.

Claire Gritt added 11 points, four boards, three assists and one steal while playing 33 minutes.

Madison Nelson, who was named second-team All-League last week, had 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and one rebound.

Senior, Courtney Smith, ended with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steal and two blocks in 23 minutes.

The Pioneers led 67-64 with nearly seven minutes to play, but the Fighting Hawks held them scoreless for the remainder of the game, forcing DU to go 0-of-11 from the floor during the stretch.

North Dakota, which shot just 27 percent from 3 during the regular season, opened the game with three-straight long-range jumpers. Despite the hot start, DU showed no panic going 3-of-6 from downtown to hold an early 13-9 lead at the first media timeout.

The run continued out of the break as the Pios scored eight consecutive points to push their lead past double-digits at 23-11. UND hung tough over the final minute of the quarter, getting a bucket from Julia Fleecs to cut DU's lead to 10 after one quarter.

The tempo slowed in the opening minutes of the second quarter as North Dakota used a 6-0 outburst to cut the deficit to four, 23-19, with seven minutes left in the half. Romanowski ended the UND stretch with an old-fashioned three-point play to put Denver back up seven. Following the ensuing Fighting Hawk possession Gritt pushed the lead back to 10 with a long-range jumper.  

North Dakota then cut Denver's advantage back to single-digits with two free throws from the Summit League's leading scorer, Lexi Klabo, but DU scored three-straight buckets to take a 14-point lead, the largest of the afternoon.

The teams would trade blows over the final four-plus minutes of the half but a free throw from Gritt put Denver ahead 41-28 after two periods.

The back-and-forth action continued in the early portion of the third quarter with UND cutting the deficit to single digits, but Nelson's and-one put DU back up 11 with 7:45 left in the third. The Fighting Hawks cut further into the Pio lead with four-straight points, to trail by seven three minutes into the period.

Despite the run, Denver remained calm and answered the UND outburst with a 6-1 stretch of its own,  regaining a double-digit lead at 55-43. North Dakota refused to go away, scoring eight-straight over the next two minutes to cut the Pioneer lead to just four with 1:44 left in the quarter.

Again, the teams traded punches with Smith hitting two free throws to put DU up six with a minute to play. North Dakota then got a layup from Faith Dooley and a 3 from Fleecs to cut the deficit to one but a buzzer-beating layup from Nelson made it 61-58 at the end of three.

It was more of the same in the fourth quarter with both teams putting together scoring runs but Denver continued to lead by three at 67-64. With 6:28 left in the game, North Dakota picked up the defensive intensity and got three consecutive stops, allowing the Fighting Hawks to flip the script and take a two-point lead. Leading 69-67, UND scored the final 11 points of the contest, holding Denver scoreless for the final 6:28 of the final quarter.

During the stretch Denver shot 0-of-11 from the floor while committing six turnovers.  

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