DENVER, Colo. – Behind a combined 64 points and 19 rebounds from senior forward Mikaela Shaw (26), senior forward Michaela Dapprich (18) and junior guard Remy Davenport (18), the Omaha women's basketball team downed Denver on Saturday afternoon at Magness Arena, 82-73.
The win lifted the Mavericks to 10-10 on the season and 3-4 in Summit League play, while the Pioneers fell to 4-16 overall and 1-6 in conference.
Shaw led the Mavericks in scoring, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting with a 10-of-10 effort at the free-throw line. She added six rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot. It was the fourth 20-point scoring game of the season for the Deweese, Neb., native.
Davenport finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting while going 4-of-5 from the beyond the arc and adding nine rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals.
Dapprich also had 18 points and shot 5-of-12 from the field with four 3-pointers. Senior guard Abi Lujan and sophomore center Courtney Vaccher each had six points.
Jacqlyn Poss led four double-figure scorers for Denver, finishing with 21 points. Lauren Loven had another 16 points with four 3-pointers, while Jesse Spittel added 11 points and Briana Johnson had 10.
As a team, Omaha shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor to Denver's 45.2 percent (28-of-62). UNO finished 40.9 percent (9-for-22) behind the arc, while DU came in at 33.3 percent (6-of-18). The Mavericks were a perfect 19-of-19 at the line, while the Pioneers managed 84.6 percent (11-of-13). Denver held a 34-28 advantage on the boards, while Omaha led in assists, 16-11, and blocked shots, 6-0.
Omaha hit its first three shots in the opening 90 seconds of the first quarter to take a 7-4 edge. Denver answered with back-to-back baskets from Loven and Spittel to move ahead 8-7 with 7:20 left. A three-point play from Lujan and 3-pointer from Davenport put Omaha up five midway through the quarter. After the Pioneers had trimmed the UNO lead to one late in the period, sophomore guard Ellie Brecht hit a pair of free throws for a 21-18 lead.
The Mavericks increased their lead to eight points early in the second quarter thanks to a three from Lujan. DU withstood UNO's strong start to the quarter and cut the lead to 36-32 on a 3-pointer from Loven with 4:26 left. Shaw then scored seven straight, as the Omaha lead grew to 11 points late in the first half. After a pair of Denver free throws, UNO took a 43-34 lead into halftime.
The Pioneers came out of the break on fire as the Pioneers tied the game 47-all with 3:42 left in the third quarter. Three-pointers from Dapprich and Davenport put UNO ahead 53-49 with under two minutes left. Denver continued to keep Omaha off the boards and tied the game at 57-all by the close of the quarter.
Shaw put the Mavericks briefly back on top with a jumper to open the fourth quarter. Denver seized a four-point lead at 65-61 with 7:11 left. Four straight free throws from Shaw evened the game at 65-all. Dapprich then hit two 3-pointers to give Omaha a four-point lead with 5:24 remaining. Shaw scored the next seven points as UNO built its lead back to nine points, 78-69. The Mavericks clamped down on defense by limiting the Pioneers only four points in the final 2:48 to claim victory.
Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. CT at the Jungle in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2 and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
