Although DU women’s basketball lost 72-65 on the road Sunday afternoon to Arkansas State University (14-13, 8-8 SBC), sophomore Britteni Rice led the Pioneers with 19 points and scored in the double-digits for the fifth consecutive game.
Rice was not alone. Also leading Denver with double-digits were junior Ashly Robinson, with a career-high 18 points, and freshman Kaetlyn Murdoch, who had her fifth double-double of the season, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Denver (14-12, 9-7 SBC) took a 6-4 lead in the first three minutes of the game but couldn’t hold it when the Arkansas State Red Wolves rallied for 16 consecutive points.
Contributing to this lead for the Red Wolves was Caroline Starr, who had three back-to-back three pointers. The Pioneers were able to cut the lead to four points twice during the first half but never took the lead back and were down by eight heading into the locker room.
Denver shot 51.9 percent from the floor, and Robinson had a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. Going into the second half, the Pioneers were able to cut the lead to four with buckets from Murdoch, Robinson and senior Celena Otero. This didn’t last long, however, and the Red Wolves were quickly back up by 12. With five minutes remaining, Murdoch gave the Pioneers a fighting chance when she converted a lay-up and the free throw off the foul to cut the lead to three points.
The Pioneers played in front of 2,273 fans against Arkansas State, compared to a lowly 279 at home against University of Louisiana-Lafayette last Wednesday night.
Despite the small crowd, Denver defeated the lowest ranked team in the Sun Belt Conference, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (3-23, 0-15 SBC), by a staggering score of 74-59.
“I am very proud of the way our team responded in the second half tonight,” head coach Erik Johnson said. “Louisiana-Lafayette was a tough opponent, which was evident in the first half. We had a chance to regroup during the break and refocus our game plan, which was key. I am also very proud of the performances from all those who played, because they put up some great numbers and put forth a great effort.”
Rice had a record-setting game with a career-high 20 points, the first Pioneer this season to reach 20 points in a game, and also added five rebounds, two assists and one steal to the Pioneers victory. Robinson had another spectacular performance with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, making her one point shy of a double-double.
Denver only has two games left in the regular season and will play their final away game this Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.
