DENVER – The No. 1-seed Denver Pioneers women's lacrosse team goes for its second consecutive Big East Tournament Championship on Saturday as they face the No. 3 Georgetown Hoyas in the conference title game at 12 noon MT at Peter Barton Stadium.
DU earned its first-ever Big East championship last season, which also mark the second in program history as the squad also won the 2014 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
Saturday's game will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 2.
Denver defeated No. 4 seed Connecticut 16-6 in the semifinals on Thursday to stay unbeaten in conference play this season (6-0). DU has now won 18 consecutive contests vs. Big East opponents (15-0 in the regular season, 20-0 in regular season since 2019).
The Pioneers are hosting conference tournament games on home turf for the fifth time and is looking to win a title for the second time at Peter Barton stadium after also winning the 2014 MPSF at its own venue.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 1 seed DU secured its spot in the Big East Title game with a 16-6 victory over No. 4 seed UConn on Thursday. Denver took an early advantage as it jumped out to a 4-0 lead and had an 8-1 lead at one point in the first half. Three different Pioneers recorded hat tricks as
Bea Behrins,
Lauren Black and
Julia Gilbert all tallied three times each, with Black adding three assists as well to finish with a game-high six points. Goalkeeper
Emelia Bohi made nine saves and
Abby Jenkins won 11 draw controls.
Full Recap
HISTORY VS. GEORGETOWN
Denver is 6-5 all-time vs. Georgetown but has won each of the past three meetings and is a 5-1 in the last six matchups. DU's only loss in that time was a 9-8 double-overtime loss in the Big East Final in Milwaukee, Wis., on May 4, 2019. The Pioneers own a 2-2 record against the Hoyas at Peter Barton Stadium, with both wins coming in the two-game series last season.
LAST MEETING VS. GEORGETOWN: APRIL 15, 2022
The Pioneers held off a fourth quarter rally by Georgetown to earn a 14-12 victory in Washington, D.C. last month.
Julia Gilbert had six points with five goals and an assist and
Bea Behrins also deposited five tallies as well for DU. Denver led 7-2 at halftime, before the Hoyas staged a furious comeback.
Lauren Black scored the eventual game-winner for DU at 4:14 of the fourth quarter and Gilbert tallied a key insurance marker with 95 seconds remaining to end a 5-2 run by Georgetown.
Full Recap
BEHRINS SETS RECORD
- Bea Behrins set a new program record for games played on Thursday as she appeared in her 79th career contest.
- She broke the record that was previously held by Kelly O'Connell and Danielle Provance, who both set the mark from 2005-2008.
DRAWS & 'JUICE'
- Abby Jenkins' 11 draw controls on Thursday tied a career high (March 15 vs. Fairfield) and were the most in a postseason game in program history (conference or national tournament).
- The 11 draw controls were tied for the fifth-most in a contest in school annals.
- The Pioneers finished with a 16-9 edge in draw controls, which included holding UConn's Sydney Watson to just four.
LAST GAME NOTABLES
- Denver is now 6-3 all-time in Big East Tournament games, improved to 16-17 overall in conference tournaments and 5-3 in such contests at home.
- The Pioneers' nine assists were tied for the most in a conference tournament game in school history.
- Bea Behrins now has 59 goals on the season, tied for the third-most in a single campaign in program history. Only Kristie Leggio has more as she scored 67 times in both the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
- Behrins now has 80 points, which ranks sixth-most in a season in school history.
- Behrins moved into a tie for third place in DU history with Steph Greenlees (2003-06) with 187 career goals.
- Lauren Black recorded her fourth consecutive hat trick and became the 12th different DU player (14th time overall) to record six points in the conference tournament.
- Sam Thacker recorded four caused turnovers on Thursday and now has 100 in her career, becoming just the fifth player in school history to reach the century mark in forced turnovers.
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