Photo by: Justin Edmonds
The women’s basketball team had an up-and-then-down weekend, going 1-1 against two SBC competitors. Denver lost by just one point against University of New Orleans in their previous road game.
Last Thursday they were finally able to pull out a 69-53 win over Florida Atlantic. The glory didn’t last long however, because on Sunday afternoon they were defeated 48-40 in a close game against South Alabama.
The Pioneers (7-12, SBC 2-6) had 28 points off the bench against Florida Atlantic (4-13, 0-8), led by senior Sara Benham who had a season-high 18 points. Three DU players had seven rebounds, including sophomore Ashly Robinson who matched her career-high. Robinson was also 4-4 with free throws and scored 10 points in the game. Other players who led the Pioneers were guard Brooke Meyer who scored two three pointers and forward Nnenna Akotaobi who had 13 points and played the longest with 31 minutes. There were five lead changes and two times when the teams were tied but Denver dominated in the end with 30 points in the paint compared to Florida’s 14.
“Our game against Florida Atlantic was a great one for the team because we played a complete game. We did a nice job executing our defensive game plan and were able to make several offensive adjustments that lead to scores,” said Head Coach Pam Tanner of Thursday’s win. “Our team played well and we received contributions from a lot of players.”
On Sunday, it was a different story. Neither of the two teams shot well and Denver had an astonishing 21 turnovers compared to South Alabama’s 12. However senior Alisha Godette recorded her second double-double of the season with the most points of the game at 14 and 10 rebounds. Godette was also 6-6 with her free throws and was only one of three Pioneers to get fouled throughout the game. Denver was only down 17-14 at the half but couldn’t manage to get the edge on the Lady Jags. Robinson also had to leave the game late with a possible leg injury.
“Sunday’s game against South Alabama was different in that we did not play a complete game,” said Tanner. “We executed our defensive game plan well until the last five minutes, but we were not able to get on track offensively the entire forty minutes.”
There is still hope however for the Pioneers to end above .500 for the season. With only 10 games left in the Sun Belt Conference the team hopes to finish in the top eight.
“The end of January and the entire month of February are particularly important for our team,” said Tanner. “We need to win 90% of our home games and half of our road games in order to do so. It is certainly an important month coming up.”
Women’s basketball is home against Florida International this Thursday, Jan 31st in Magness Arena at 5 p.m. as the opening game of a double-header with the men’s team.
