DENVER, Colo. - The Omaha women's basketball team suffered a late cold spell and fell 73-66 at Denver on Thursday night at Magness Arena.
The Mavericks are now 9-9 overall and 1-3 in the Summit League. Denver improved to 4-15 and 2-2 in Summit League play.
The Mavs trailed by as many as eight points late in the first half but fought back to take a 52-50 lead on a 3-pointer by House with 11:59 to play. But the Mavs converted just one field goal and scored four points over the next 8:51, while Denver went on a 15-4 run to take a 65-56 lead with 4:26 left. The Mavs finally were able to put together productive possessions late in the game, but it was too little too late. Omaha got within four, 70-66, with 31 seconds left, but Denver made 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.
Ericka House matched her career high with 26 points on 9-of-21 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Taijhe Kelly had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Mikaela Shaw had 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Denver got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Paige Bradley and 13 points from Jordan Johnston.
The Mavs grabbed a 20-17 lead at the 11:47 mark of the first half on a Kelly layup. But Omaha would go the next 5:50 without scoring, as Denver ran off a 10-0 run to take a 27-20 lead.
Omaha answered with a 6-0 run of its own, thanks to back-to-back buckets by Shaw in the paint and a fastbreak basket by Felicia Anderson, who finished with eight points. Leading 34-33 with 2:06 left, Denver went on a 7-0 spurt to take a 41-33 lead after two free throws by Alecia Espinoza with 53 seconds remaining. But the Mavs came back quickly with a nice post move and layup by Kelly to make it 41-35. After the Mavs got a defensive stop, House took an inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast in the final seven seconds of the half to convert at the buzzer to pull UNO within 41-37.
The Pioneers hit 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from 3-point range in the first half, including 6-of-9 to start the game. They came into the game averaging just 5.7 made 3-pointers per game and nearly equaled their season high of nine 3-pointers in a game in the first half alone.
The Mavs fell behind 45-39 early in the second half and House went to the bench at 18:03 with her third foul. But UNO battled back to tie it at 46-46 on a hustle play by Kelly to win an offensive rebound against two Pioneer players and finish the putback with 14:56 to play.
House checked back in and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Mavs up briefly 52-50 with 11:59 remaining. But the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run for a 58-52 lead as the Mavs struggled to put the ball in the basket and went another 3:22 without scoring until two free throws by House. Denver extended the lead to 61-54 before Kelly scored in the paint with 6:10 left, ending a string of seven straight missed field goals by UNO. But the Mavs misfired on their next three shots until Bough scored with 3:07 left with the Mavs down 65-56.
Omaha shot 40.3 percent for the game on 25-of-62 from the field, but was just 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) in the second half. The Mavs were 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) from long distance but connected on 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) after halftime.
Denver finished 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field and 8-of-21 (28.1 percent) from 3-point range, all eight coming in its 41-point first half. Denver outrebounded UNO 43-29 and had 12 offensive rebounds, although the Mavs outscored the Pioneers in second-chance points, 8-6.
UNO outscored DU in the paint, 30-20, but the Pioneers hit 19-of-26 from the free throw line, while Omaha was 9-of-12 from the stripe.
UNO travels to Vermillion, S.D. to play South Dakota on Saturday at 2 p.m.
