The Pioneer women’s basketball team looked to be carrying plenty of momentum into their crucial Sun Belt Conference matchup with first-place University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday, having won their past five games including wins over Arkansas State Tuesday and North Texas Thursday.
However, the SBC second-place Pioneers hit a wall on Sunday, shooting a dismal 18.9 percent in the second half, squandering their four-point halftime lead and ultimately losing the game 67-55.
The Pioneers, who have recently been very strong offensively, jumped out to an early lead in Sunday’s contest, while connecting on 6-13 three-point shots to extend their lead to as much as 11 points midway through the first half.
But, the Ragin’ Cajuns of ULL fired back with strong defense and strong shooting of their own. They cut the Pioneer lead all the way back down to two points and finished the first half down by four.
The Pioneers began the second half well, scoring on their first attempt, but it was all downhill from there. The Pioneers’ shooting went dry, as they didn’t record a point over the next seven minutes, while ULL went on an 11-0 run.
ULL extended its lead to as many as 11 points before the Pioneers began to work their way back into the game. After dwindling the ULL lead to only four points with some impressive defense and efficient offense, the Pioneers once again hit a dry spell, finishing the game with ULL going on a 12-5 run.
Three Pioneers finished in double figures in scoring despite the poor offensive performance. Senior Tyesha Lowery, junior Alisha Godette and sophomore Nnenna Akotaobi each had a team-leading 10 points. Godette also led the Pioneers with nine rebounds.
The loss cost the Pioneers a chance to take over first place in the SBC West Division, with only one regular season game remaining.
Earlier in the week, the Pioneers had two very impressive wins by defeating Arkansas State 87-70 on Tuesday at Hamilton Gymnasium and North Texas by a 72-63 score at Magness Arena on Thursday.
The Pioneers lit up the ASU Lady Indians, shooting an impressive 57.9 percent (11-19) from behind the arc and jumping to a 13 point lead at the halfway mark of the first half.
Cruising through the rest of the game, the Pioneers were never really challenged by the then first place Lady Indians. The Pioneers controlled the play with their stifling defense and finished it off with their hot shooting.
Junior guard Jenna Cole led the Pioneers with a career-high 24 points, which included an astonishing 6-7 on three pointers. Lowery chipped in 16 points and a game-high nine assists.
The win helped to give the Pioneers momentum heading into Thursday night’s home match up with North Texas. Though the Pioneers didn’t repeat their unbelievable shooting performance from two nights before, they were able to outplay the UNT Mean Green and earn the victory 72-63.
Once again for the Pioneers, Godette and Lowery starred, combining for 37 points. Godette scored a game-high 20 points while snagging 7 rebounds. Lowery continued to show her well-rounded game by nearly picking up her first triple-double of the season by scoring 17 points, dishing out 10 assists, and recording 7 steals.
The Pioneers now sit in third place in the SBC West behind both ASU and ULL.
DU (17-10, 11-6 SBC) heads into their regular season finale at the University of Louisiana-Monroe Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT.
