FARGO, N.D.  – Summit League Female Athlete of the Month Uju Ezeudu turned in 24 of her 31 points in the second half, but the University of Denver women's basketball program's second-half comeback attempt fell short in a 74-68 loss to North Dakota State on Thursday night at the Scheels Center.
 
Inside The Box Score:
Ezeudu finished a point shy of her career high with 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting to go with eight rebounds a block and a steal in a season-high 34 minutes.
 
Meghan Boyd also finished in double figures for Denver with 11 points and three rebounds. Makayla Minett gave Denver valuable minutes off the bench, netting nine points to go with eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 26 minutes. Joclyen Wyatt played 36 minutes in the first start of her collegiate career, finishing with nine points, including five from the free-throw line to go with three assists.
 
Denver was able to dress just eight players on Thursday, missing the services of starters Anna Jackson and Indeya Sanders.
 
The Pioneers shot 52.1% from the field, thanks in large part to a 38-points in the paint night, as Denver finished +12 in that category.
 
First Quarter:
Denver quickly responded to an early 5-0 run for North Dakota State to start the game with a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead at the media timeout. Ezeudu knocked down Denver's first two buckets of the night before Boyd splashed a triple from just right of straight away to give the Pioneers the lead at the midway point of the quarter.
 
Following a 14-day layoff and with a short bench, the Pioneers got off to the start they needed from the field on Thursday night, connecting on six of its first 11 shots.  
 
Denver took a 15-12 lead into the second quarter, led by five points from Boyd and four apiece from Ezeudu and Joclyen Wyatt.
 
Second Quarter:
Similar to the start of the second quarter, Denver went inside for the first four points of the second quarter with Ezeudu and Minett connecting on a pair of buckets in the early stages of the quarter to make it 19-19 with 6:42 to play in the half.
 
An 11-1 run by the Bison in a span of 3:39 broke the game open to stretch NDSU's lead out to 10 in the final three minutes of the half. One more free-throw in the final three minutes gave NDSU an 11-point advantage at the intermission, as the Pioneers were held without a field goal in the final 6:45.
 
Third Quarter:
Denver raced out to an 8-0 run to start the third quarter with the first five coming from Ezeudu to make her the first player in double figures and a second triple on the night for Boyd to cut it to 31-28 with 6:41 to go.
 
The Bison came out of the media timeout with an 8-0 run of their own to get their lead back to 11.
 
Ezeudu led the Pioneers with nine points and four rebounds in the third quarter to trim the Bison lead to eight at the final quarter break. Minett added five points and three more rebounds in the third.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Back to back buckets from Ezeudu to start the quarter and a quick 6-0 run a couple minutes later had Denver right back in the game, trailing by just three with 7:49 to go.
 
North Dakota State was able to get its lead back up to seven, but a Santos triple and a Wyatt three-point play cut the lead to one at 60-59 with 3:52 left on the timer.  
 
The Bison had the answer to Denver's run once again, quickly pushing their lead back to seven with a 6-0 spurt of their own with under two minutes to play.
 
Denver was able to trim the lead down to as little as four, but NDSU connected on its final six free-throws on the night to pull off the victory on its home floor.
 
Notes:

• Joclyen Wyatt and Cheyenne Forney made their first career starts on Thursday night.
• Uju Ezeudu finished in double figures for the ninth-straight game, the 13^th time this season and the 47^th time in her career.
  • Ezeudu also finished with her third 20-point game of the season, all coming in the last five contests.
  • Ezeudu finished with the second 30-point game of her career.
• Meghan Boyd finished in double figures for the 10^th time this season and the 37^th time in her career. 

What's Next:
Denver will remain on the road to take on North Dakota on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT. The Pioneers will then return home to battle Oral Roberts on Monday at 4 p.m. MT as part of a double header with the men's program (7 p.m.). One ticket will be good for admission to both contests.  
 
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