The Pioneers women’s basketball team beat the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (11-8, 5-4 SBC) for the first time in program history on Saturday in Magness Arena.

The lady Pioneers are now ranked No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.

The final score was 66-50, adding a win to DU’s record (10-9, 5-3 SBC) in front of a crowd of 542 people.

“Congratulations players who were leading the court,” said head coach Erik Johnson, who began his first season with the Pioneers this year. “We’re redefining what Denver means. It was a great job today. To all the fans who gave us all that support, that was huge.”

Freshman forward Kaetlyn Murdoch led the Pioneers with five field goals and five free throws, bringing her to a total of 15 points.

Junior forward Ashly Robinson added 12 points to the scoreboard with her four field goals, and 4-4 accuracy at the free throw line.

Senior guard Celena Otero made all of her attempted field goals including those from the three-point line, contributing 10 points.

Also noteworthy were senior guard Andie Mason, who had three field goals and two three-pointers, and senior forward Nnenna Akotaobi, who shot with perfect accuracy for a 4-4 field goal, 1-1 three-pointer, and 2-2 free throw percentages.

Denver had greater shooting accuracy as a team than Western Kentucky.

The Pioneers shot 43.4 percent for field goals, 41.2 percent for three-point field goals, and 72.2 percent at the free throw line.

Denver also out-rebounded the Hilltoppers 46-27. Murdoch had 10 rebounds, while Robinson had eight. The game was a hard-fought battle between both teams, as the score was tied twice and the lead changed four times.

The Pioneers will take on the South Alabama Jaguars, who have second place standing in the Sun Belt Conference East, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Magness Arena.

On Saturday, DU will travel to Alabama to take on Troy University (8-11, 3-6 SBC), who is falling behing in the SBC East Division.

Both games will be broadcast on Pioneer Vision.