Omaha, NE. – The Omaha Mavericks dropped their fourth straight game 71-62 against Denver, Thursday night at Baxter Arena. Both Mariah Murdie and Elena Pilakouta finished in double-digits in the losing effort
Leaders For Omaha
Pilakouta paced the Mavericks with a team-high 12 points while hauling in four rebounds. Murdie also finished in double digits with 11 points to go with four rebounds. Freshman point guard Alexis Pratt led Omaha with five rebounds and four assists.
Leaders for Denver
The Pioneers were led by Uju Ezeudu, who finished with a team-best 28 points and 17 rebounds. She drew 14 Maverick fouls and went 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. Anna Jackson joined her in double digits with 15 points, all from the three point line, and Indeya Sanders chipped in 13.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 44.8 (26-58) percent from the field and drained six shots from beyond the arc. Denver shot 41.1 (23-56) percent from the field and made ten of their 30 attempts from beyond the arc. The Pioneers outrebounded the Mavericks 38-30, while Omaha won the battle in the paint 30-22.
Inside the First Quarter
Both teams came out hot on the offensive end, the Mavericks shot over 58 percent in the quarter including back-to-back three’s from Senior Sophie Johnston to make the score 10-8 in favor of Omaha. Buckets from Katie Keitges, Lauren Frost and Pilakouta before the end of the period gave the Mavericks the 23-19 lead.
Inside the Second Quarter
Denver fought back in the second quarter forcing the Mavericks to just 30.8 percent from the field in the period. The Pioneers went on a 20-4 run that took up more than six minutes led by 11 points from Ezeudu. They would take a 39-34 lead into the half.
Inside the Third Quarter
The third quarter was an evenly fought period with both teams trading buckets. Omaha went on their best scoring run of the night in the quarter putting together seven straight points including the third three of the night from Johnston to cut the Denver lead to 45-43. However the Pioneers weathered the storm and took a 56-51 lead into the final period.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
Both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes of the quarter, but the Pioneers would maintain their advantage for much of the quarter. A Keitges corner three with 52 second left cut the Denver lead to 65-62 but the Mavericks would be unable to score again falling 71-62.
Next Up
The Mavericks will have Saturday off and return to action on the road on Thursday, Jan. 27 against Oral Roberts, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
