The University of Denver women’s basketball team continued to show why it is arguably the top defensive team in the Sun Belt Conference, as the Pioneers won a pair of SBC games at Magness Arena last weekend.
Junior Jenna Cole’s hot shooting could have melted the snow in Denver as she scored a game-high 22 points in the Denver win against Florida Atlantic on Thursday evening in Magness Arena.
The Pioneers eased their way to a 76-60 win against their Sun Belt Conference rivals. Sara Benham helped Cole in the scoring department with 14 points and added five steals as Denver shot 50 percent from the field.
Although the Pioneers fell behind early in the first half, they gained the lead with seven minutes left in the half and went on to push the lead to 25 in the second half.
The Pioneers’ defense was very impressive once again, and in the second half allowed only six shots in the first seven minutes of play.
Senior Tyesha Lowery dished out five assists and the Pioneers went on to score 18 points in the paint against the Florida Atlantic Owls.
On Saturday, sophomore Sara Bents’ career-high 11 rebounds and three blocked shots helped in the Pioneers’ easy 54-34 home win over South Alabama, behind a strong defensive performance that held USA to a season-low 34 points.
DU’s defensive dominance also held the Lady Jags of USA to 26.3 percent shooting from the floor, along with seven blocked shots, eight steals and the edge in rebounding 41 to 35.
“It felt great being able to go into the game and do my part on the defensive end. The win puts us in a good position in the Sun Belt standings,” said Bents.
The Pioneers held South Alabama scoreless for 10 minutes in the first half while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and hitting 6-14 from behind the three-point arc.
Junior Alisha Godette scored a game-high 12 points in only 11 minutes of playing time and fellow junior Sara Benham added 10 points to the DU win. Denver is now 11-7 over all and 6-3 in the SBC standings.
Despite the impressive home wins, the Pioneers still did not have an undefeated week of basketball.
On Jan. 15 in Arkansas, DU fell short to Arkansas State University, 53-48.
In the first half, Denver jumped out to an eight-point lead led by Lowery and went into half time with a three point lead.
At the start of the second half, the Lady Indians went on a 10-2 run. Brooke Meyer hit a three-point shot, bringing DU within three and Lowery hit a jump shot to put DU only one point behind.
A three-point shot from sophomore Andie Mason gave DU the one point lead, but a jumper from ASU’s Adrianne Davie put ASU ahead with five minutes left in game play.
Benham hit a three-pointer, putting Denver in the lead 48-46, but a lay up and two free throws by ASU late in the game gave Arkansas State the win.
The win upgraded ASU to 14-5 overall and 8-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Pioneers look to continue their defensive dominance as they head into Troy, Ala., to take on Troy University Thursday at 4:15 p.m. MT.
