Box Score Box Score

BOURBANNAIS, Ill. – Davenport suffered their first loss of the season tonight after Olivet Nazarene converted two free throws with three seconds left in regulation to hand DU the 92-91 defeat. Senior Karlee Despres turned in a career night as she was 18-27 from the field with 43 points and 14 rebounds.

Behind Despres' career night was Karli Harris and Abby Neff who both finished in double digits with 14 and 13 points respectively. Neff also pulled down seven rebounds along with Julie Janish and Carrie Grubius.

Olivet Nazarene, who is ranked #12 in NAIA D1, led the Panthers 45-55 at halftime after hitting 12 shots from behind the arc and forcing 20 DU turnovers. Of Davenport's 45 points heading into halftime, Despres accounted for 28 of those (her previous game high was 23).

In the opening minutes of the second half Olivet Nazarene extended their lead to 13, but the Panthers slowly chipped away at the lead putting together a nine point run to tie the game at the 12:28 mark. Davenport found their first lead of the half at the 7:43 mark off a Despres layup in which DU held on to that lead until three minutes left in the game.

Both teams exchanged baskets  in the final minutes with Abby Neff hitting a layup with 13 seconds on the clock to give DU the 91-90 advantage. Olivet Nazarene took the next possession and forced a DU foul to send them to the line with three seconds left. The host team hit both shots and handed DU the 91-92 road loss.

The Lady Panthers will be back in action next Friday and Saturday when they travel to Florida to take on Florida Memorial and St. Thomas University. Both games can be heard live on “The DAN”.

Post-Game Quotes - Senior Karlee Despres and Head coach Mike Williams

Despres talks about her career high night on the court: “Tonight's loss was tough but we never gave up and I think this will only help us become a better team. For myself personally, I give all the credit to my teammates and to God. It's exciting to see the numbers on paper but more importantly than that are the situations my teammates created to put me in the position to score tonight. It's definitely an exciting moment for me but all in all I would have preferred a win.”

Williams on adjustments made at halftime: “We applied more full-court pressure in the 2nd half which forced them to turn the ball over and we also changed our offensive press break to allow us better shots underneath the basket.”

Post-Game Notes

Karlee Despres set the program record for points in a game with 43 which used to be held by Jeanette Woodberry and Jen Rausch at 40 points…Despres' 18 field goals is also a new single game record at DU…Tonight's loss is their first regular season defeat since January 27, 2010 (Cornerstone) and first non-conference loss since November 6, 2009 (Hastings)…The Lady Panthers were just 1-14 from behind the arc which breaks their record of 140 straight games with three made field goals from behind the arc

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