DENVER – The University of Denver women's basketball team couldn't overcome a 20-0 Northern Colorado spurt to end the first and start the second on Friday night, falling to the Bears 77-68 inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Pioneers (0-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Jojo Jones, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. Mary Wilson added 12 points and Cheyenne Forney helped out with 11 points from the bench off 5-of-9 shooting.
Mikenzie Jones added eight points in 10 minutes off the bench in her first collegiate game.
How It Happened
After playing to a 6-6 tie early in the game, Denver went on a 7-0 run with 6:03 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Makayla Minett, to take a 13-6 lead. The Pioneers then surrendered that lead and entered the second quarter down 18-13.
Northern Colorado kept adding to that lead, building a 35-23 advantage before Denver went on a 5-0 run to narrow its deficit to 35-28. Northern Colorado responded and expanded its lead, leaving the Pioneers trailing 41-32 heading into halftime.
UNC continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 60-44 advantage before Denver went on a 6-0 run, punctuated by a three from Jones, to trim its deficit to 60-50 with 1:06 to go in the third. The Pioneers were unable to cut further into the deficit, but did not cede ground to Northern Colorado either and entered the fourth quarter trailing 62-52. Denver knocked down four three-pointers in the quarter to score 12 of its 20 total points.
Northern Colorado kept widening its lead in the fourth, constructing a 66-54 advantage before Denver went on a 6-0 run, finished off by Forney's layup, to shrink the deficit to 66-60 with 4:44 to go in the contest. Northern Colorado responded and outscored the Pioneers the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 77-68. Denver took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring 12 of its 16 points in the paint in the quarter.
Game Notes
» Denver lit it up from three point land, knocking down 10 treys in the game, Denver's first double digit game from beyond the arc since the regular season finale a year ago.
» The Pioneers recorded an assist on 74 percent of made baskets, including a career-high seven from Ally Haar in her 97th career game.
» The Denver bench came alive by adding 24 points to its scoring output. Forney finished in double figures for the first time this season and the fifth time in her career.
» Denver got a game-high seven rebounds from both Makayla Minett and Jojo Jones.
» Ally Haar became the first Pioneer to play the full 40 minutes in regulation since Lauren Loven did so on March 8, 2020 vs. North Dakota State.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
