Britteni Rice

DENVER–The University of Denver women’s basketball team got its first win of the 2009-2010 season tonight against Front Range foe Colorado State by a score of 68-55.

After taking Mountain West Conference opponent Wyoming down to the wire in the Pioneers’ season opener, DU head coach Erik Johnson was happy to get a win against a “good Colorado State team.”

“It feels good. CSU is much improved. Kristen Holt’s in her second year and the team is so much improved–playing with energy and confidence,” Johnson said. “What I like most about our team is that they have the ability to play well even when things aren’t going well. We’ve played two tough Mountain West opponents … and it was a great win here at the start.”

Leading the charge for Denver was junior guard Britteni Rice, who had a career-high 24 points on nine of 14 shooting from the floor.

CSU’s Kim Mestdagh added 17 for the Rams.

Next up:

CSU at Valpo (Sunday)
DU at Montana (Tuesday)

Mestdagh leads all scorers with 12 points

DENVER – At halftime here in Magness Arena, the Denver Pioneers women’s basketball team leads Colorado State 30-28.

The Rams started the game off hot, taking an early 8-0 lead with all points being scored by sophomore guard Kim Mestdagh, but Denver was quick to answer as they swiftly tied the game at 10. From there it has been a close affair and the Pioneers finished the half on a 6-0 run.

Mestdagh leads all scorers with 12 points. She sat the final 10 minutes of the first half with two fouls. Brittany Rice leads Denver with 8 points.

Turnovers:

CSU – 10
DU – 11

Rebounds:

CSU – 14
DU – 14

Foul trouble?

Van Grinsven, Mestdagh (CSU) 2. Smith (DU) 2.

Northern Colorado wins the Rainbow Classic

During the third game of the 24 Hours of Hoops marathon on ESPN, the Northern Colorado Bears captured a big win on national television.

In the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic championship game early Tuesday morning, UNC defeated the host Hawaii Warriors 81-75, thanks in large part to the guard play of Will Figures and Yahosh Bonner who combined for 29 points.

“We’ve played some pretty good basketball during our stay out here,” Bears head coach Tad Boyle told UNCBears.com after the game. “Now we hope we can carry this momentum through to the rest of our season.”

The Bears are currently 3-0 for the first time since 2000 and the win was the program’s 1,000th of all-time.

Northern Colorado also defeated McNeese State and Southern Utah during the tournament in Honolulu. The Bears resume action on Friday against Texas Southern at the Reggie Minton Air Force classic in USAFA, Colo.