EVANSTON, Ill. - The University of Denver women's lacrosse team will take on the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with opening draw set for 12 p.m. MT/1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
SERIES HISTORY:
Denver is 0-8 against Northwestern, including a back and forth 10-14 loss earlier this season.
THE LAST TIME OUT:
The Pioneers defeated the Standford Cardinal 13-12 on Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ryan Dineen recorded a season-high seven points on two goals and five assist, while
Julia Gilbert and
Lauren Black each earned hat tricks in the win.
WORK IN THE DRAW CIRCLE
• Denver has a 265-224 advantage in the draw circle this season.
• Senior draw specialist
Abby Jenkins leads the Pioneers with 91 this season.
• Jenkins hauled in 10 in the Pioneers win over Butler on April 10, her first double-digit output this season and the eighth of her career.
PENOYER THE DISTRIBUTOR
• Yale graduate student transfer
Olivia Penoyer leads the team and is tied for 7th in the country in assists with 55.
• Her 55 assists ranks second in the Pioneer record books for most assists in a single season.
• The fifth-year set a new career-high after dishing out eight assists in the Big East Tournament semifinal against Villanova. Eight assists is the second most assists by a Pioneer in a single game, and the most ever dished out in a Big East Tournament game.
• Penoyer has 3+ assists in 11 games this season.
• Penoyer had back-to-back five assist games in BIG EAST wins over Marquette (April 6) and at Bulter (April 10), one shy of her career-high six which she produced three times in her time with the Bulldogs.
• In her career at Yale, Penoyer broke Yale's career assists record, finishing her time in New Haven with 106 in her career.
• Among active players in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse, Penoyer ranks third in career assists with 161.
FORCING TURNOVERS
• Denver has had double digit caused turnovers in 14 games this season.
• The Pioneers finished with double-digit caused turnovers in all but one game last season (4/8/23 at UConn).
LIMITING SHOT ATTEMPTS
• Denver held Butler to just 13 shots on April 10 in Indianapolis.
• It was the lowest shots allowed for the Pioneers since holding Georgetown to 10 on April 22, 2023.
• The Georgetown total last season was Denver's lowest since allowing just eight shots at Coastal Carolina on March 11, 2020, the final game before the COVID-19 Pandemic.
DENVER'S HOME FOR COLLEGE SPORTS
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