SANTA BARBARA, Calif.  – The University of Denver women's basketball team got off to a good start, but a run from UC Santa Barbara in the middle quarters outweighed the Pioneers 17-8 run to end the game to take the Gauchos past the Pios 89-80 on Thursday night at the Thunderdome.
 
Inside The Box Score:
Meghan Boyd and Tess Santos led the Pioneers with 15 points apiece. Indeya Sanders chipped in 14 that included 10 in the second half and Uju Ezeudu rounded out the Pioneers in double figures with 12 points, five boards and four assists.
 
Denver shot 47% from the field on 27-of-57 shooting, including 11-of-25 from beyond the arc (44%).
 
UCSB countered with a 58% shooting day from the field (32-of-55), led by a 13-for-14 night from Ila Lane, who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
 
First Quarter:
Denver got off to a strong start from behind the arc as Anna Jackson and Santos hit a pair of triples to give Denver an early 6-0 lead. Ezeudu put an end to an 8-0 response by the Gauchos a few minutes later with a pair of buckets to give Denver the lead back at 10-8 at the media timeout.
 
On the other side of the media, the lead changed hands several times before the Pioneers ended the quarter on another 6-0 spurt on back-to-back threes by Santos and Jackson.
 
Denver shot 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter, with Santos and Jackson connecting on two apiece. Ezeudu added her four to make up 16 of Denver's 20 points in the opening quarter.
 
Second Quarter:
The Gauchos started the second quarter on a 5-0 run before Joclyen Wyatt connected on a pair from the line to even the score back up at 22-22. Both teams continued to exchange buckets with neither team taking more than a three-point lead through the first quarter and a half after the Pioneers 6-0 spurt to start the contest. Boyd connected on a pair of second-quarter triples before the media timeout, but it was the Gauchos that took a one-point lead at the mandatory stoppage with 4:10 to play in the half.
 
Lane, who entered the game averaging a double-double for UCSB, made a run for the Gauchos out of the timeout, improving to 6-for-6 from the field in the first half for 13 points. UCSB's 6-0 run pushed its lead to seven with under two minutes to play before the intermission. Makayla Minett put an end to the run, converting a feed from Sanders to get the UCSB lead down to five.
 
UCSB stretched the lead to nine at the break. Santos led the Pioneers with nine, while Boyd had eight in the opening 20 minutes, all in the second quarter, and Jackson chipped in six. For the home side, Lane and Megan Anderson led the way for the Gauchos with 13 apiece.
 
Third Quarter
UCSB opened the half on a 8-0 run, including four more from Lane, before Boyd connected on her third three of the night out of a Doshia Woods timeout to cut the deficit to 15.
 
The Gauchos ran the lead out to as many at 21, but Denver's ninth triple of the night made Ezeudu the third Pioneer in double figures and the Pioneers trailed by 18 after three.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Sanders got Denver to double digits in made threes in the early stages of the fourth, making Denver 10-for-21 on the night with nine minutes to play.
 
Denver's defense held UCSB without a field goal for a stretch of 4:39, but the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest in the middle stages of the final quarter and both teams knocked down a high-percentage to allow Denver only to get the lead down to 15 with four minutes to play.
 
Sanders got back-to-back buckets off Gaucho turnovers to cut the lead to 11 with 3:18 to go and then a Santos triple got the lead down to eight and forced a UCSB timeout with 1:56 to play.
 
Cheyenne Forney answered a pair of UCSB free-throws on Denver's fourth attempt of the ensuing possession to get it back to eight. The Gauchos first bucket in over seven minutes late in the shot clock pushed the lead back to double digits in the final minute and Forney's seventh point of the night, from the stripe, was the final point in the contest to trim the Gauchos advantage to the final nine-point margin.  
 
Notes:

• Makayla Minett made her first start in Crimson and Gold on Thursday night, and her fourth collegiate start overall (three at Howard in 2020-21).
• Meghan Boyd finished in double figures for the third-straight game, the fifth time this season and the 32^nd time in her career.
• Tess Santos finished in double figures for the third time this season and the 18^th time in her career.  
• Indeya Sanders finished in double figures for the second time this season and the 22^nd time in her career.
• Denver had four players in double figures for the second time this season and the 11^th time in two seasons under head coach Doshia Woods.
• The Pioneers finished with double digit three-pointers made for the second time this season. 

What's Next:
Denver will close out its two-game road swing in California on Saturday when the Pioneers head to Cal Poly. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT. The Pioneers will return home on Tuesday to take on Colorado Christian at 7 p.m. MT.
 
DENVER TICKET OFFICE:
For women's basketball ticket information, click here
 
CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION:
For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
 
DONATE:
Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom, in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
 
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of Denver's NCAA Division I sports.-
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Basketball on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Whoops on Twitter
Follow @denverpioneers and @du_whoops on Instagram