A sweeping performance from women’s tennis, two wins to keep women’s lacrosse undefeated streak going, another record-breaking performance from women’s gymnastics and a regular season capping sweep from men’s hockey.
Here’s what happened last week in DU Athletics.
Women’s Gymnastics
The No. 10 gymnastics squad set several records in their yet again season-high performance Sunday afternoon against Towson University. Denver broke the school record for total score on senior day, recording a 198.150 overall which marked the first time the program has ever recorded a score past 198. DU also broke the floor record which stood strong for twenty years, recording a 49.825 and it was also the first time in school history, two gymnasts recorded a 10 in the same meet. Those two gymnasts were junior Jessica Hutchinson (Gilbertsville, Penn.) and Lynnzee Brown (Raytwon, Mo.) who have led the way for the squad all season long. Hutchinson posted her second ten of the season, this time on the beam event and Brown captured her 10 on the floor event which was her third in her career. Brown also won the vault event in the meet with a 9.875 and won the all-around title with a 39.725. Junior Rylie Mundell (Parker, Colo.) and graduate student Alexandra Ruiz (Lake Mary, Florida) would tie to win the bars event with a 9.950 score, which was also a career-high for Ruiz. The squad will look to take first place in their sixth straight meet in Nebraska against the University of Nebraska and Air Force Academy on March 11. The Big 12 Championships for gymnastics will be after that and will take place on March 18 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s tennis squad had four matches last week and dominated their slate of opponents. On Wednesday afternoon, the team took on out-of-conference opponent Wyoming and nearly swept the Cowboys at Denver Tennis Park. Freshman Caroline Driscoll (Brookline, Mass.) dominated her singles match winning in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-1. Every singles match was won in straight sets by DU and the only point Wyoming captured in the match was in the doubles matches, topping DU in the #1 and #2 doubles matches. The team then moved on to their Summit League opener against Omaha and topped their dominant performance with another annihilating performance. Fresh off of her recent Summit League Peak Performance of the week award, Freshman Louise Wikander (Helsingborg, Sweden) trounced her opponent in the #5 singles contest and won in straight sets. Denver did not drop one set en route to a sweeping 7-0 victory. Their last two matches of the week came in a doubleheader on Sunday at home against Summit League opponent St. Thomas and on the road against Air Force. The team got their second straight sweep against St. Thomas in the morning and made it three in a row in the evening with a sweep over Air Force. The team will travel out east for their next slate of matches against Harvard and Boston University on March 11-12.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis squad competed in two matches last week in Los Angeles and split the weekend slate. They lost 2-5 on Friday against Loyola Marymount but rebounded the next day with a 4-0 win against Boise State. Two doubles wins picked up the first point for DU in the Friday contest against Loyola Marymount. Junior Charlie Miller (Glasgow, Scotland) picked up the other point for DU with a dominant singles win in the #5 singles match. The team then moved on to the Saturday afternoon contest and swept the Broncos. Junior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (Segovia, Spain) took care of business in straight sets in the #1 singles match and sophomore Daniel Sancho Arbizu (Zaragoza, Spain) also won his singles match in straight sets. The team will come back home and host two matches this weekend against Idaho State and Purdue at Denver Tennis Park.
Women’s Lacrosse
The No. 9 women’s lacrosse team had two contests this past week and kept their undefeated streak on the season alive with two ranked wins against No. 21 Michigan and No.5 Maryland. It was the first home contest on Wednesday afternoon for the squad against the Wolverines and fans were greeted with snow flurries as they watched a close game. It was all tied up at five after the third quarter before DU pulled ahead with two goals from redshirt sophomore attack Raegan Wilson (Milton, Ontario) and senior attack Julia Gilbert (Mclean, Va.). Gilbert had two goals in the contest which led the way for the Crimson and Gold. Gilbert also led the way in Sunday’s close contest against the Terrapins and scored her third hat trick of the season. After Maryland tied the game at three in the middle of the second quarter, Denver scored four unanswered goals to give them a wide lead in the third quarter. Maryland would not go down without a fight and crawled back to make the score within one, but senior midfielder Ellie Curry (Lutherville, Md.) sealed the game with her second goal of the game. The team’s next two contests will be at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium where they will host Niagara University on March 9 and the University of Delaware on March 13.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse squad was in Chapel Hill this past weekend and upset the No. 12 University of North Carolina, by a score of 9-8. Junior attack Joshua Carlson (Centennial, Colo.) scored two first-half goals to lead the Crimson and Gold to a three-goal lead going into the second half. The Tar Heels snuck back into the game and took their first lead of the game in the opening segment of the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Mic Kelly (Towson, Md.) scored his second of the game to tie the game at eight and senior attack and leading goal scorer JJ Sillstrop (Encinitas, Cali.) found room near the crease to fire away the game-winning goal with 1:23 left in the game. The team now improves to 3-2 on the year and will stay on the east coast to take on Yale in their next contest on March 11.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team played their final contest of the season in the first-round Summit League tournament. The squad put up a great effort in the contest against Kansas City but ultimately fell on a buzzer-beater, 65-66. Denver was up 10 at the half and three-pointers were instrumental in their offensive action. The team made 13 three-pointers and it was the 11th time this season, the team made more than 10 threes. Freshman guard Emma Smith (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) led the charge with 18 points which was the 20th game this season that she scored more than 10 points. Senior forward Makayla Minett (Chicago, Ill.) brought in 17 rebounds and blocked three shots. Minett was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year in last week’s yearly awards and also captured a Summit League Honorable Mention alongside Smith. After the third quarter, DU still had a marginal lead but Kansas City was closing in as the minutes drew by. Graduate forward Mikalya Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill.) scored a clutch bucket to give the Crimson and Gold the lead with three seconds in the game but Kansas City’s Sanaa St. Andre nailed a three-pointer to give DU the heartbreaking ending to the season. DU women’s basketball will be losing five seniors after the season including Minnett.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team was also competing in their Summit League tournament this past weekend and ultimately fell short to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 68-83. Graduate forward Lukas Kisunas (Vilnius, Lithuania) posted a career-high 27 points alongside 11 rebounds to lead the charge for the Crimson and Gold. Fresh off of his Summit League Newcomer Team nod, junior guard Tommy Bruner (Columbia, S.C) added 18 points and six assists to cap off his solid individual season. The team was never able to capture the lead in the game and only led after a 7-0 run five minutes into the first half. DU was outscored in the second half by 11 and never had a lead in their season-ending contest. Denver outrebounded North Dakota 38-29 and was able to put up 10 second-chance points amidst their plethora of rebounds. Kisunas, Burner and freshman guard Justin Mullins (Oak Park, Ill.) combined for 56 of the 68 points the Crimson and Gold scored. The men’s basketball squad will be losing four seniors including Kisunas and their senior manager after the season.
Men’s Hockey
The No. 3 men’s hockey team closed out their regular season with another weekend sweep against rival Colorado College. Denver defeated CC at home Friday night in a close contest, 2-1 and at Colorado Springs Saturday night, 4-2. Friday night was senior night and the team honored their six seniors in front of the largest crowd at Magness Arena this season. One of the seniors honored was captain defenseman Justin Lee (Waskada, Manitoba) who scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Crimson and Gold in the middle of the second period. Junior defenseman Mike Benning (St. Albert, Alberta) scored the goal before Lee’s and would tally his NCAA defenseman-leading 13th goal of the season. Benning took a feed from sophomore forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) next to the goal and fired the puck top shelf on the power play. Sophomore goaltender Matt Davis (Calgary, Alberta) started in both Friday’s and Saturday’s contests and allowed three goals on 49 shots faced. It was his first start since December. Saturday’s contest was different as CC was the team that got up early on the Crimson and Gold. The Tigers were up 2-1 at the start of the second period until freshman forwards Tristan Lemrye (Mirabel, Quebec) and Aidan Thompson (Fort Collins, Colo.) scored two quick goals to lift the Crimson and Gold on top. An empty net goal for DU would make the score 4-2 to complete the season sweep over CC. The next matchup for DU hockey is against Miami (OH) in the NCHC conference tournament. Game one of the three-game series will take place at Magness Arena on Friday, March 10 and game two will follow the next day. Game three will be on Sunday if necessary.
