As the No. 2 seed in the West Division, the Pioneers open tournament play Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the Florida International–New Orleans matchup. With the close of the conference season, the Pioneers enter the SBC Tournament with a record of 15-12 overall, 8-7 in the conference. All the action can be heard on AM 1600 and at www.DenverPioneers.com.

Last weekend, Denver secured its runner-up position with a 2-0 showing on the road, which included a thrilling 74-71 triple overtime victory at South Alabama, followed by a 63-50 win at Troy. A trio of players lead the Pioneer offensive attack with an average of 10 points per game. Tyesha Lowery (Arlington, Texas), Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas) and Venice Adams (Luling, La.) each average 10.3, 10.1 and 10.0 points per contest, respectively, and all notched big weekends to help Denver record its first season over .500 since 2000-01. Against USA, Lowery led the ncaa Pioneers with 20 points, scoring 11 in overtime periods, while Benham and Adams both added double-doubles against the Jaguars. Adams followed up with a team-leading 21 points at Troy, tying her career-high.

This year marks the best regular season finish for Denver  since receiving a No. 2 seed in 2002. The Pioneers enter tournament play on a four-game win streak, which is also the best since the 2002 squad rode into the conference tournament on a five-game high.

Yemi Nicholson’s putback with 0.8 seconds left was the difference, as the Denver Pioneers clipped the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 58-57, in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament from the Murphy Center.

Nicholson finished with a game-high 27 points and nine rebounds for Denver (15-14), which will take on South Alabama in the semifinal round on Monday. DaShawn Walker also got into the mix the Pioneers, the West Division’s third seed, as he posted 21 points and five rebounds in the winning cause.

Marcus Morrison led the way for Middle Tennessee (16-11), the East Division’s second seed, with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. Adam Vogelsberg added 11 points and five rebounds, while Fats Cuyler had 10 points in the losing effort.

Denver odds shot 42.9 percent from the floor in the first half to open a 29-24 lead at the break.

Middle Tennessee led 57-54 late in the second half, but a jumper by Denver’s Antonio Porch and Nicholson’s putback propelled the Pioneers to the thrilling one-point victory.

Denver made 41.9 odd percent of its shots from the field in the game and also connected on 6-of-16 three pointers and 16-of-19 free throws.

The University of Denver women’s basketball program continued its trend of setting the bar of academic excellence within the Sun Belt Conference, earning the SBC academic team award for the 2004-05 season. In addition, three Pioneers were named to the 2004-05 Sun Belt academic honor roll, while Tyesha Lowery (Arlington, Texas) and Brooke Meyer (Denver, Colo.) earned Commissioner’s List accolades.

Sara Benham (Muleshoe, Texas), Ali Butler (Longmont, Colo.) and Lauren Reini (Portland, Ore.) represented DU on the conference honor roll. Lowery and Meyer earned the Commissioner’s List distinction for the second straight year.

The Pioneers followed up last season’s success in the classroom with excellence on the court, finishing this season with a record of 15-13 overall, 8-7 within the conference. It was the first time since the 2001-02 season that Denver has finished the season over .500 and the second place west division finish earned DU its highest tournament seeding (No. 2) since that season.