Denver secured its best finish in the Summit League after securing the no. 3 seed for the Summit League Women’s Basketball tournament with an 82-76 win over Omaha. The Pioneers improved to 17-12 overall, the most wins for the program since the 2010-11 and 2011-2012 seasons when they won 18 games in consecutive years.

Junior Madison Nelson (Dover, Minn.) tied her career record of 28 points with her tenth double-double of the season, as well as recording 10 rebounds and two steals.

Sophomore Claire Gritt (Arlington, Ill.) finished with nine rebounds, four assists and 15 points in 34 minutes played.

Senior Samantha Romanowski (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) finished out her senior night with her fourth double-double of the season, recording 13 points and 12 rebounds. With her four assists, Romanowski moves into tenth place for assists in a DU career, totaling 315 assists.

The Pioneers started scoring early, leading 22-15 after the first 10 minutes of play. Gritt contributed four points and freshman Sydney Mech (Englewood, Colo.) hit a jumper to help put the team ahead.

In the second quarter, Omaha struck back, coming within two points at the end of the first half of play.

Going into the third quarter, the Pioneers retook the lead from Omaha with a three-pointer from junior Lauren Loven (Scottsdale, Ariz.) after Omaha tied things up with a 7-3 run. Denver continued their run with five straight points from Romanowski. At the end of the quarter, DU had the lead at 56-48.

Both teams fought hard through the last 10 minutes of play, but the Pioneers managed to preserve their lead behind strong performances from Nelson, Mech and sophomore Grace White (Redby, Minn.), finishing with a score of 82-76.

With the win, Denver secured the no. 3 seed for the Summit League Women’s Basketball Tournament. They travel to face sixth-seeded North Dakota in the first round of the tournament on Sunday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m. MST.