DU Women’s Basketball earned its first win of the season on the road against the Air Force Falcons in an impressive 75-54 outcome. Crimson and Gold Basketball shot 28 for 70 for 40 percent from the field.
Leading the way for the Pioneers was sophomore forward Madison Nelson (Dover, Minn.) , who scored 26 points, eight rebounds, a block and a steal. Behind her was junior guard Samantha Romanowski (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) as she added 14 points along with four assists and three steals. The junior shot 5 for 12 from the field and one for five from behind the arc.
The matchup started slow as neither team could get a basket in the first two and a half minutes of the game. However, a Nelson layup gave Denver the first lead of the game and started her excellent offensive performance.
Following Nelson’s layup, Air Force went on a 7-4 run. Romanowski ended the Falcons’ momentum with a jumper that started a 7-1 run for the Pioneers which was capped off by a classic three point play from redshirt junior forward Jahla Osborne (Stafford, Va.).
Both the Falcons and the Pioneers added two more points before the end of the first quarter, but Denver held the lead at 13-10 going into the second.
Air Force took a 14-13 lead with two baskets to start the second quarter, but a fast break lay in from sophomore guard Abi Curtin (Sydney, Australia) returned the lead to Denver.
With less than two minutes until the half, the Pioneers looked to add to a one point lead after Nelson drew a shooting foul. The sophomore connected with both shots and Denver found their 19-16 lead for the half.
On Air Force’s next possession, Kaelin Immel cut the lead back to one with a jumper. Both squads looked to add to their point totals before the break, but to no avail.
Romanowski started the second half strong for the Pioneers, draining the team’s first three of the game.
The Romanowski triple started an 11-2 run and put Denver up by eight, 30-22.
Despite a Falcons comeback to minimize the DU lead down to four, the Pioneers bounced back to increase their lead to 10, 37-27 off a Romanowski dash to the basket.
Denver Basketball extended their lead to 18 points to start the fourth, 50-32. By the five minute mark, Denver had one of its largest leads of the game at 22.
The lead was too much for Air Force to overcome, as the Pioneers continued to light up the scoreboard in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, the Crimson and Gold shot an impressive 11 for 18 for 61.1 percent, finalizing their first win of the season over Air Force, 75-54.
The squad will face Wyoming on their home court on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
