The 2004-2005 season was nothing for the DU women’s basketball to write home about with plenty of injuries and tough losses, but this season has seen a 360 degree turnaround.

Last year the Pioneers finished 6-22 overall and 4-11 in the Sun Belt Conference and at the beginning of this season were ready to start anew and put last season in the past.

“I think we have a lot more confidence this year,” said lone senior Venice Adams.

She added, “I think last year we were skeptical about our season, but I think now our attitude is that we can be competitive in the Sun Belt conference.”

This year’s squad is revamped with two new assistant coaches to aid Head Coach Pam Tanner and many new players.

Although last year’s team only had two seniors, seven of the 14 players on last years team are no longer with the Pioneers and DU has welcomed in five freshmen and one red shirt transfer to the team this season.

“I think the biggest difference is healthy bodies. We had two ACL injuries, a heart problem, we had coaches practicing last year, and we are so much healthier this season,” said Tanner.

Last season Denver relied heavily on then junior Adams and senior Tasha Jones, who both finished averaging 10.8 points per game.

But this season is a different story as all five starters are a threat and score consistently.

“Last year the team depended on one or two people and this year we can score from all five positions, just getting the ball moved around and in and out,” said junior Tyesha Lowery who sat out last season with an ACL injury.

She added, “I worked my but off to rehab and come back this season. I was just looking forward to get back on the court and helping my team to a better record this year and showing leadership and what I can do after surgery.”

Lowery leads the team in scoring and assists averaging 10.4 ppg and 3.3 apg.

The five starters on average put in 47.4 ppg out of the team average of 58.5 ppg.

“I don’t think teams know who to guard when they scout us. You never who is going to come up with the big score for us. We are comfortable with anyone putting the ball in the basket for us,” said Tanner of the five starters.

Last year’s squad was outscored on average 60 to 52 and lost six of its 22 games by four points or less.

“Our starting five is all balanced, it is something that we can use to our advantage and is one of our strong points this season,” said Adams.

Three of the five starters are sophomores and all three had a lot more playing time last season than they probably ever imagined they would with all of the injuries.

“Getting all the playing time last year forced all of us freshman to act like sophomores. Everyone got more experience and just had to jump into our roles and figure it out sooner than usual,” said Benham.

With last season behind them, the Pioneers have come out to play this year with a current 15-12 record overall and 8-7 in SBC play.

DU has had key wins over Colorado State, Boise State, Air Force, Gonzaga, North Texas and Louisiana-Lafayette this season.

Denver has finished the regular season in second place in the Sun Belt and will start the conference tournament hosted by Middle Tennessee State on Thursday.

“This is a successful season for us compared to last year, but I think it is also successful because the freshman are still getting a lot of playing time this year and that will be helpful for the future,” said Lowery.

All five freshmen this season may not be playing as much as last year’s freshman, but that is allright for Tanner, whose five freshmen are all making a big impact off of the bench.

The Pioneers will only be losing Adams to graduation after the season and will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt next season with all of their experience, talented freshman and transfer from Arizona State.

“I think the future is a lot brighter than it has been in a lot of years. We have three really good freshman coming in and a transfer from Arizona State, and I think those four people are going to help us be better than we are this year,” said Tanner.

Last season is far behind the Pioneers and now it is time to concentrate on a very bright and winning-field future for a fast growing women’s basketball program at the University of Denver.

“Things are really looking up, the more experience we have the better we are going to be, every year just looks better,” said Benham.