UTSA went close with a late charge but just couldn’t get there as Denver held on for a 75-73 win in a Women’s Basketball conference game at the Convocation Center on Saturday.
Kamara King was the star for UTSA with 18 points through a 6-of-13 night from the floor and a perfect five-of-five from the line while both Miki Turner and Lyndi Thorman hit 12 a piece, with all of Turner’s coming in the second half.
There were four ties in the opening stages before a short 5-0 run from Denver gave them a 13-8 lead, an advantage that they maintained until UTSA responded with eight consecutive points to take their first lead of the night.
Thorman started the run with a 3-pointer from the left before King also added a trey to put UTSA in front 23-22. Thorman then completed the run as she blocked a shot and then scored inside to make it 25-22 with 5:52 left in the half.
The Pioneers fought back and reclaimed the lead only for another run from UTSA of six straight points which put UTSA back in front at 31-30 with a minute remaining in the half.
That wasn’t all that was left in the half as Denver restored their lead through an Alison Janeck three point play, which gave the Pioneers a 33-31 half-time lead which they never gave up.
Denver built that lead immediately after the break using an 11-2 run to take a 44-33 lead before pushing it even further as a Emiko Smith jumper made it 51-37 for Denver’s biggest lead of the game.
It was then that the Roadrunners started their comeback as they used seven unanswered points to cut that lead in half with Ashley Spaletta hitting a 3-pointer and a free-throw followed by a three point play from Niaga Mitchell-Cole to make it 51-44 with nine minutes left on the clock.
With 5:13 to play Denver held a 61-53 lead but that gap was quickly closed through three free-throws and a Manasha Bell jumper in the paint to close the gap to three.
Denver again responded as they pushed the lead to eight with 49 seconds to play but UTSA made things nervous for the Pioneers with Turner scoring eight of her 12 points in the final minute, while a Thorman 3-pointer with three seconds to play gave the final score of 75-73
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