Similar to last season, DU earned a first-round bye in the SBC tournament only to become one-and-done in the quarterfinals after blowing a second-half lead.

The Pioneers lost to Western Kentucky 65-57 in the 2011 tournament’s quarterfinal round despite having a lead with less than eight minutes to play.

On Sunday, Denver (19-12) led by as many as 13 points in the second half only to see that lead quickly evaporate.

FIU was led by sophomore guard Jerica Coley, who was named the SBC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday. While the Pioneers were able to hold Coley to four points through the 7:32 mark of the second half, she recorded 18 points during the remainder of the game, including 11 from the free throw line.

“FIU did a phenomenal job in the second half,” said Johnson. “Jerica Coley was named SBC Player of the Year for a reason. I thought we did a great job defending her, but she willed her way to the line and found ways to score. When two great teams play each other, the team that makes more plays is going to win, and FIU did that today.”

During the 2011-2012 season, Coley recorded 20 or more points in an impressive 22 games, reaching double digits in all 30 games of the season. Prior to Sunday’s game, she was averaging 24 points per game, leading FIU in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. She finished the regular season ranked 3rd in the NCAA in scoring.

“She was the difference in the game,” said Johnson. “She made big plays when she needed to.”

The Pioneers were unable to top the Panthers despite senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch’s 21-point performance and the return of sophomore guard Quincey Noonan, who missed 15 of the last 17 games due to injury. Noonan recorded a career-high 18 points in her first appearance since mid-January, shooting 7-of-9 from the field.

“It was awesome [having Noonan back],” said head coach Erik Johnson. “She makes such a difference in so many ways, and she’s really a shot of energy for our offense. She defended their best player and did a great job. It was nice to see her back on the floor.”

The Panthers (22-9) opened Sunday’s contest by scoring the first six points, but Murdoch and Noonan combined for 11 Pioneer points and sophomore forward Maiya Michel converted on a three-point play to give Denver a 14-12 lead at the 10:16 mark. Six straight points from senior guard Morgan Shell capped a 13-4 run by the Pioneers, and the team headed into halftime leading 30-23.

“Kaetlyn and Morgan Shell, our two seniors, both continued to give solid performances and played really well,” said Johnson. “I was proud to see them go out; they played their hearts out.”

Denver opened the second half with an 8-2 run and led by as many as 13 points. However, after Coley’s explosion and a 10-2 run by the Panthers, Denver surrendered the lead and trailed by as many as nine points. The Pioneers were unable to recover and lost by eight points.

“Our problem tonight was turnovers,” said Johnson. “We are one of the best teams in the conference, even nationally, at taking care of the ball, having high assists and low turnovers. That really broke down today, and that’s uncharacteristic of us. Other than that I’d say we need to work on rebounding; we gave up a couple and that hurt us as well.”

The Pioneers’ season is now in the hands of the National Invitation Tournament committee, as Denver will look for its second straight appearance in the postseason tournament. Denver received an invitation from the committee during the 2010-2011 season, but fell 75-60 to BYU in the first round last March.

“The NCAA selection is Monday evening, and the NIT makes their selection after that,” said Johnson. “If we had gotten into the semifinals I think that really would have solidified it. It’s going to be tight, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Despite the disappointing loss, the Pioneers had a positive week in terms of both team and individual player honors. In addition to numerous Pioneer athletes being named to the academic honor roll in Hot Springs this weekend, Denver received the team GPA award for having the highest cumulative GPA in the SBC.

“Every year, we have more on the honor roll than anyone else,” said Johnson. “But getting the team award is a really nice honor.”

Recognizing some of the individual talent on the roster, Murdoch and junior guard Emiko Smith were each honored by both the SBC and College Sports Madness after their accomplishments this season.

Murdoch, who led the team in scoring (16.4) and field-goal percentage (53.4) during the regular season, was named to the All-SBC First Team by both the conference and College Sports Madness. Before taking on FIU, Murdoch was ranked 4th in the SBC in scoring and 19th in the nation in field-goal percentage.

As for Smith, she was named to the All-SBC Second Team by the conference and the All-SBC Fourth Team by College Sports Madness after leading the SBC in both assists (6.5) and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.6). During the regular season, Smith ranked 7th in the NCAA in assists per game as one of the most unselfish players in the nation. Smith became Denver’s all-time assists leader earlier this season and led the team in free throw percentage (73.4).

“Great coaches are made by great players, so I can’t even tell you what a blessing it has been for our coaching staff to have been able to work with Emi and Kaetlyn,” said Johnson. “Those two have been the backbone of our program, especially with Quincey Noonan being out of the line-up for most of the games. They’ve been great role models to our freshmen in their work ethic and their team attitude, and are not about individual accolades. They are true team players and I’m just so proud to be able to coach the both of them.”