Both Denver men’s and women’s basketball teams were eliminated from the Summit League playoffs in Sioux Falls, S.D. last week following losses in the quarterfinals and play-in, respectively.
DU Women’s basketball, which was seeded at No. 9 in the Summit League following a 2-14 conference record, was matched up against No. 8 Omaha in the play-in game on March 5. They lost 76-68.
Denver was slow to start, going down 10-2 just 2:13 into the first quarter. Omaha took their hot start through the end of the quarter, closing out at 26-14. The early differentiator was three-point shooting, with Omaha going 4-8 from behind the arch compared to Denver’s 0-4.
The Crimson and Gold held their own in the second quarter but could not cut into the deficit. They went back to the locker room down 44-34.
The third quarter saw a spark from Denver. Two big layups from junior guard Jordan Jones and a three from sophomore guard Laia Monclova with 35 seconds left in the quarter put Denver within one. They went into the fourth down, 60-59.
Early in the 4th quarter, junior guard Angelina Robles hit a mid-range jumper. Then, on the other end of the floor, Jones grabbed a rebound and took it down for a layup to give Denver a 63-60 lead with 8:09 left in the game.
Omaha bounced back and went on a 9-0 run to go up 70-63 with 3:49 left to play. They went on to close out the game and defeat Denver 76-68.
Jones led Denver in scoring for the game with 22 points, while Robles followed with 18 points.
DU men’s basketball, which was seeded No. 7, played No. 2 St. Thomas on March 6. They lost 80-62.
The game started to slip early for Denver. St. Thomas went on a 16-4 run that was finished by a Ben Oosterbaan three-pointer to go up 25-12 just 8:18 into the half.
Denver’s offense got going again to stop St. Thomas’ momentum, but they could not make a comeback before halftime, and they went to the locker room losing, 48-32.
The second half was a similar story to the first. It started with freshman forward Josh Pickett and St. Thomas’ Miles Barnstable exchanging threes, then St. Thomas started to pull away.
St. Thomas found their biggest lead of the night following an Oosterbaan layup with 2:00 left in the half to put them up 25. Denver worked the score back to 80-62 to end the game.
Sophomore guard DeAndre Craig led Denver in scoring with 15 points, while Pickett had 14 points.
Both teams’ losses ended their seasons and their March Madness tournament bids. Denver women’s basketball has not made it to March Madness since 2001, while the men’s team has never made an appearance.
