DENVER – The ULM women's basketball team was outscored 58-34 in the second half to fall to Sun Belt Conference West Division rival Denver Wednesday night in Magness Arena 87-63.
The Pioneers held the Warhawks to just 34 points in the second half and zero 3-pointers after it went 5-for-9 in the first half. Denver also shot a scorching 64.0 percent from the field in the second half while holding ULM to just 34.5 percent and also outscored the Warhawks 15-6 off of turnovers.
Kassie Courtney scored 13 points in the first half but was held scoreless in the second half to lead the Warhawks for the evening. Jordan Rawson had a stand-out game with a career-high tying 11 points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of play while Larrie Williams had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Sannisha Williams also pulled down seven boards while Elizabeth Torres had five assists. As a team, ULM shot 36.7 percent from the field.
Quincey Noonan scored five points to start the second half and give Denver a 34-29 lead before a Culberson basket and three points by Larrie Williams made the score 36-32 at the 17:23 mark. The Pioneers began to pull away with an 11-5 run over four minutes to take a 10-point lead 47-37 with 12:59 to play.
Denver continued to distance itself with a narrow 9-6 run over two minutes to take a 56-43 lead at the 10:02 mark. A subsequent 17-2 streak by the Pioneers including an unanswered 12-point run put the game out of ULM's reach for good 71-45 with 6:43 remaining.
The Pioneers took their biggest lead of the game off an 11-8 run to hold a 29-point advantage 82-53 with 3:35 to play. The Warhawks utilized a final 9-5 spree including five points by Jordan Rawson to end the game with an 87-63 loss.
A slow start to the first half saw both teams remain scoreless for nearly three minutes until Torres sank a 3-pointer to put ULM on the board at the 17:11 mark. Denver answered immediately with three straight baskets to take a 6-3 lead before a layup by Larrie Williams and a 3-pointer by Mbiandja forced a tie 8-8 with 12:55 remaining in the half.
Another tie resulted before a fast-break layup by Courtney gave the Warhawks their second lead of the game 12-10 at the 12:10 mark. The Pioneers responded with a 7-0 run to immediately reclaim the lead 17-12 with 7:57 to play.
ULM grabbed a 7-2 run including five points by Courtney to force another tie 19-19 before Denver's Kaetlyn Murdoch scored eight-straight points during a 10-4 spree for the Pioneers to claim their biggest lead of the half 29-23 with 2:58 remaining. Courtney would answer with back-to-back baskets from downtown as the Warhawks held the Pioneers scoreless to end the half tied 29-29.
Four Pioneers scored in the double-digits as Brianna Culberson led with 20 points and Kaetlyn Murdoch contributed 16 points. Britteni Rice scored all 13 of her points in the second half while Quincey Noonan had 11 points for the night. Culberson also led the Pioneers with eight rebounds while Emiko Smith had six assists.
ULM will play its final road game of the season Saturday when it travels to Denton, Texas, to take on North Texas at 5 p.m.
