OMAHA, Neb. - Needing a win to secure the No. 6 seed in the Summit League Tournament and a first-round bye, the Mavericks got the job done and then some Saturday afternoon as they defeated Denver 83-73 earn the bye and cap off the regular season with a victory on senior day.
Omaha will end the regular season at 13-16 overall and 8-10 in conference play. Those 13 wins are the most by the Mavericks since 2016-17 (16-15), while their eight conference victories are also tied with the 2016-17 team for the most by the program in the Division I era. As for the Pioneers, they entered the day a game ahead of Omaha in the standings, but now finish with the exact same overall and conference record as the Mavericks. Due to losing both games against Omaha this year they end up as the No. 7 seed.
Saturday was also Senior Day for the Mavericks as four members of the team were honored. Two-year team member
Sam Mitchell and newcomer
Aaliyah Stanley were recognized and will return next season. Four-year team member
Akili Felici and five-year team member
Elena Pilakouta were also acknowledged in what was the final game of their careers at Baxter Arena.
Leaders For Omaha
Pilakouta finished off a historic season with a flourish as she shot 8-for-10 for a team-high 18 points, giving her 22 double-digit scoring games on the year and 388 total points. With at least one game in store at the Summit League Tournament, she will have a chance to become the first Maverick since the 2016-17 season to top 400 points. Likewise, Pilakouta now has 1165 career points, tying her for 16th on Omaha's all-time list, with 15th place only five points away from her now. She also pulled down 11 rebounds today for her sixth double-double of the season and to soar past the 200 rebound mark, becoming the first Maverick in four seasons to do so.
Stanley had a strong finish to the regular season too, scoring 11 points to end the day at 327 points on the season. This was her 14th double-digit scoring game. Stanley also recorded three assists and steal to cross 50 total assists and 30 steals.
In addition to leading Omaha with four and six assists apiece,
Grace Cave and
Kennedi Grant scored 18 and 13 points today, respectively. With Cave at 289 on the season and Grant at 278, they will not only have a chance to each top 300 points next week, but depending on if one or both of them does, they would join Stanley and Pilakouta as the first Mavericks trio or quartet to ever top 300 points each in a single season in the Division I era.
Leaders for Denver
Emma Smith led all players today with 26 points, as well as going 12-for-14 from the line. Makayla Minnett, the league leader in blocks, led everyone with two more today, as well as pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
Team Stats
The Mavericks outshot the Pioneers in every single category, besting them in FG% (48.1%, 25-for-52 vs. 37.5%, 24-for-64), 3-PT FG% (46.2%, 6-for-13 vs. 29.2%, 7-for-24), and FT% (75.0%, 27-for-36 vs. 69.2%, 18-for-26). Omaha also held a massive lead in total rebounds at 44 to 31.
Inside the First Quarter
From the beginning both teams were almost perfectly matched. Omaha did hold an early advantage, as Felici drained two from behind the arc to get them started, followed by three points from Pilakouta and four from Cave to make it 13-7 with 3:15 left. Denver, though, responded with a 10-2 run over the next couple of minutes to take a 17-15 lead.
Trailing with just 16 seconds left in the period, Pilakouta grabbed a key defensive board and passed it off to Stanley who set up Cave for the three-point buzzer beater to give Omaha a slim 18-17 lead.
Inside the Second Quarter
Neither team was able to score more than two baskets in a row during the second quarter as they remained completely deadlocked.
Morgann Gardner and Stanley accounted for most of Omaha's offense during the period, with Gardner making three layups in a six-minute span and Stanley making her first three-pointer of the day at 6:07 to put the Mavericks back out on top.
In the end, the Pioneers were just barely able to outscore Omaha in the period at 15-13, sending the game to halftime with a one-point lead at 32-31.
Inside the Third Quarter
After two incredibly close periods, the Mavericks were finally able to break through and gain the upper hand in the third, going on to take a 57-47 lead after outscoring the Pioneers 26-15. Cave initially gave Omaha back the lead with two free throws and a jumper within the first 90 seconds. Grant would later put the Mavericks up by six with her first three-pointer at 6:29.
Though Denver was able to get back within three points halfway through the quarter, the Mavericks came back strong over the final five minutes, as Pilakouta made four layups and Grant and Mitchell each added two points as well to make it a 10-point game.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
The final quarter proved to be the closest yet as both teams were relentless on offense, scoring 26 points each. Three minutes in, Omaha had taken its biggest lead of the day at 64-51 after a three from Mitchell and four points from Pilakouta and Grant. Over the next five minutes, however, the Pioneers staged a huge comeback to cut Omaha's lead to four points at 69-65 with only 2:36 left on the clock.
Just when it seemed like the Pioneers were on the verge of retaking the lead, the wheels completely came off. With seven Mavericks free throws already in the quarter, Cave sunk two more to end the Denver rally. After another Pilakouta layup made it 73-66 with just under two minutes remaining, the Pioneers committed seven more fouls that led to 10 more Omaha free throws to all but guarantee a Mavericks victory.
Of the 17 free throws made during the quarter, eight were made by Grant and seven by Cave.
Next Up
With the regular season complete and the No. 6 seed locked in, the Mavericks are set to square off with No. 3 North Dakota on Sunday, March 5 at 3 p.m. in the second round of the Summit League Tournament.
