Whatever promise the Denver women's basketball team showed against Duke on Sunday was reversed on Friday thanks to an inexplicable
65-56 loss to the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs. Denver's Nenna Akotaobi played an impressive game by scoring a career-high 24 points, but she received virtually no help as the Pioneers played with little of the intensity they displayed in their
57-37 loss to the Blue Devils. Air Force's Raimee Beck burned the Pioneers for five three-pointers, including two during an 8-0 run late in the game that sealed the game.
The Pioneers failed to take advantage of absence Falcons star forward Alecia Steele, who left the game with an apparent ankle injury mid-way through the second half. At one point late in the game, the Falcons scored on an uncontested fast-break layup even though the Air Force player who brought the ball down the lane was escorted by three Denver players, none of whom could find any extra energy to put some defensive pressure on their opponent. We watched the game with DU superfan
Roger B. Rowland, who agreed that DU was sorely lacking in hustle on this night.
It is possible that the Pioneers were suffering from a bit of a hangover from the
Duke game, which was played at home in Magness Arena in front of 6,635 fans and a regional TV audience. After a big game like that, sometimes it is difficult to achieve that same level of excitement for your next game. An recent example from the NFL might be the
23-21 loss the Indianapolis Colts suffered to the struggling San Diego Chargers one week after meeting the New England Patriots in possibly the
most-hyped regular season game in NFL history.
Whatever promise the Denver women's basketball team showed against Duke on Sunday was reversed on Friday thanks to an inexplicable 65-56 loss to the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs. Denver's Nenna Akotaobi played an impressive game by scoring a career-high 24 points, but she received virtually no help as the Pioneers played with little of the intensity they displayed in their 57-37 loss to the Blue Devils. Air Force's Raimee Beck burned the Pioneers for five three-pointers, including two during an 8-0 run late in the game that sealed the game.
The Pioneers failed to take advantage of absence Falcons star forward Alecia Steele, who left the game with an apparent ankle injury mid-way through the second half. At one point late in the game, the Falcons scored on an uncontested fast-break layup even though the Air Force player who brought the ball down the lane was escorted by three Denver players, none of whom could find any extra energy to put some defensive pressure on their opponent. We watched the game with DU superfan Roger B. Rowland, who agreed that DU was sorely lacking in hustle on this night.
It is possible that the Pioneers were suffering from a bit of a hangover from the Duke game, which was played at home in Magness Arena in front of 6,635 fans and a regional TV audience. After a big game like that, sometimes it is difficult to achieve that same level of excitement for your next game. An recent example from the NFL might be the 23-21 loss the Indianapolis Colts suffered to the struggling San Diego Chargers one week after meeting the New England Patriots in possibly the most-hyped regular season game in NFL history.
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