OMAHA, Neb. — The Omaha Women's Basketball team dropped its regular-season finale as Denver pulled away in the second half for a 71-50 win Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena.
Omaha (5-26) finishes the conference season 3-13. The Mavericks will play (9) North Dakota, which also went 3-13 in Summit League play, in the opening round of the 2026 Summit League Championship at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at 4:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. Tickets are available now.
Freshman Leekaya Burke Perryman (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led a balanced Omaha offense with 12 points off the bench. Graduate Sarai Estupiñan (Cedar Park, Texas) added nine points, while freshmen Regan Juenemann (Crsoby, Minn.) and Elsa Vedral (Omaha, Neb.) scored eight each.
But Omaha, coming off an upset win over Oral Roberts on Wednesday, couldn't find its offensive rhythm most of the day.
The Mavericks shot 23.3 percent (7 of 30) from the field in the first half, but what had a bigger effect on Omaha was foul trouble.
Estupiñan and top rebounder freshman Avril Smith (Omaha, Neb.) were each whistled for three fouls in the first 15 minutes, and Juenemann, who scored 40 points against Oral Roberts, picked up her third in the final minute before halftime. All three picked up their fourth fouls in the third quarter.
Still, Omaha stayed close throughout the first 20 minutes as Denver (11-18, 5-11) never led by more than 10. The Mavericks trailed 28-21 at the break.
A Vedral 3-pointer cut the deficit to four points to start the third quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Denver made it 36-24, and Omaha never got closer than eight after that.
Omaha shot 31 percent from the field for the game. The Mavericks outrebounded Denver 41-32 as Smith finished with a game-high 12 rebounds in 25 minutes.
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