Photo by: Andrew Fielding
Since joining the Division I ranks in the 1999-2000 season, the DU women’s basketball team hadn’t beaten a ranked opponent.
That changed Sunday afternoon when the Pioneers topped then-No. 23-ranked Vanderbilt 70-65 in what is shaping up to be the biggest win in the program’s short Division I history.
“This is what we’ve been gunning for as a team, as a program and as a school,” said head coach Erik Johnson. “We set our schedule this way, playing perennial Sweet 16 teams, to put ourselves in a position where we have an opportunity to win these types of games.”
In a year where tough opponents, including Wyoming (5-2), Colorado State (5-2) and Georgia (6-2), have challenged and beat the Pioneers (4-4) away from Magness Arena, the team remains perfect at home after beating the Commodores (4-3).
Now the Pioneers enter a stretch in their schedule where they play six of their next seven at home as they conclude their out-of-conference schedule.
“We don’t feel like playing on the road is a big deal at all,” said Johnson. “We are very capable of winning on the road and we have a home court advantage [in Magness], which we are happy about, so we are confident in our ability to win wherever. Hopefully we can take advantage of this nice home stretch.”
In the upset effort, senior forward Brianna Culberson, who scored a season-high 22 points and was one of four players that finished in double figures, led the Pioneers.
In addition, junior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch added 16 points, senior guard Britteni Rice dropped 12 points and freshman Quincey Noonan contributed a season-high 10 points to help the Pioneers drop the Commodores, a team that won the SEC Championship game last season.
“The best thing about this was our players don’t think it’s some miracle win, because it’s not,” said Johnson. “We didn’t do anything that different and our players performed step-by-step, executed our game plan and made the right adjustments.”
When comparing this game to the Pioneers contest with Georgia last month, Johnson said the biggest difference was an improvement in the interior of the defense.
“Against Georgia and in some other early games our interior defense was exposed, but we made adjustments that are working now,” said Johnson.
Two other keys to the Pioneers success have been turnover margin and depth from their bench.
DU won the turnover battle, forcing 19 turnovers and only registering 15.
As for the bench, the Pioneers played 10 players in the game, which allowed their starters to get much-needed breaks against the ranked Commodores.
“We have become a lot better at creating turnovers and limiting our own,” said Johnson. “It helps to have a lot of options off the bench, which gives us a whole other dimension that we didn’t have [last year].”
Last season, the Pioneers finished the season with only seven players on their active roster.
Culberson, Rice and Murdoch, along with sophomore Emiko Smith, all averaged over 32 minutes per game.
In addition to the added rest time, the returning starters have benefited from passing the ball more than they did last season.
“Our starters have been really consistent for us and we need that to continue,” said Johnson. “But what is really important is that we remain unselfish with the basketball and continue to pass the ball around and create the best look possible.”
The Pioneers enter their second game of their home stretch tomorrow night when they host Air Force at 7 p.m.
