Smith puts up 18 as Denver beats Omaha 72-61
DENVER (AP) — Tevin Smith scored 18 points as Denver beat Omaha 72-61 on Saturday night.
Smith also added seven rebounds for the Pioneers (15-16, 6-12 Summit League). Tommy Bruner scored 13 points and added seven rebounds and four steals. Touko Tainamo shot 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 11 points, while adding 11 rebounds.
The Mavericks (8-22, 4-14) were led in scoring by Marquel Sutton, who finished with 13 points and two steals. Omaha also got 11 points from Jaeden Marshall. Frankie Fidler also recorded nine points and four steals.
No. 21 Colorado women thump Cal, end two-game skid
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Aaronette Vonleh scored 25 points shooting 11 for 14 and No. 21 Colorado closed the Pac-12 regular season by beating Cal 95-69 on Saturday to end a two-game losing streak.
Frida Formann scored 19 points, Jaylyn Sherrod 16 and Quay Miller grabbed 11 rebounds for Colorado, which won both games against the Bears this season.
Jayda Curry scored 23 points for Cal and made all 11 of her foul shots. The sophomore made her first and only 3-pointer of the game with 57 seconds left to keep her streak of games with a 3-point make alive at 51. She finished 1 for 4.
Vonleh jumpstarted Colorado (22-7, 13-5), making her first three shot attempts for a 6-2 lead and the Buffaloes never trailed. Colorado used the third quarter to pull away, outscoring the Bears 25-13 after leading 43-37 at intermission. Jada Wynn's 3-pointer to start the fourth gave Colorado its first 20-point lead of the game.
Cal (13-16, 4-14) heads to the conference tournament in Las Vegas as the No. 10 seed and will play its first-round contest against the seventh seed Wednesday night. Cal ended the regular season losing four of five with all five opponents ranked.
Colorado heads to the conference tournament as the third seed and will play in a quarterfinal Thursday night against the winner of the No. 6 and No. 11-seed matchup who face each other Wednesday night.
Cone leads Northern Arizona over Northern Colorado 85-82
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Jalen Cole scored 26 points, including two free throws with two seconds left for the final margin, and Northern Arizona took an 85-82 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday.
Cone was 7 of 11 shooting, including 5 for 6 from distance, and went 7 for 10 from the line for the Lumberjacks (9-21, 5-12 Big Sky Conference). Xavier Fuller scored 21 points while going 9 of 13 and 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Nik Mains shot 7 for 12, including 4 for 8 from beyond the arc to finish with 20 points.
Dalton Knecht led the Bears (10-19, 5-12) in scoring, finishing with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Northern Colorado also got 13 points and four assists from Matt Johnson. Riley Abercrombie also had 12 points and nine rebounds.