Connected defense, 3-point shooting and hand sanitizer: How the Denver Pioneers are becoming competitive again

You see, for Woods, reaching for one of the little bottles of hand sanitizer that her assistants place at the scorer’s table is like squeezing a stress ball, a response that Woods uses to defuse the tension while she paces the sideline, works the officials and coaches up her players.

On Friday Dec. 13, Woods only needed 18 squirts of sanitizer, as the Pioneers scored their best win of the season, a 64-53 handling of an in-state rival, the University of Northern Colorado Bears. The triumph over UNC was notable, as the Bears are a potent team. On Nov. 23, UNC went on the road and beat the BYU Cougars in overtime, 79-70. At 7-3, the Bears also have wins over Utah State and North Dakota.

But everything came together on Friday night for a DU squad that has been steadily improving after an 0-3 start to the season. Facing a much larger opponent, DU played 40 minutes of connected defense, largely containing UNC’s imposing center, Aniyah Hall, who managed only three field goals on eight attempts.

The Pioneers also used quick hands and strong communication on defense to force turnovers, 21 of them in all, which they converted into 19 points, compared to only 10 points on turnovers for the Bears. Turning takeaways into points has been a key ingredient in DU’s turnaround this season.

Most importantly, DU shot the ball well against UNC, especially Laia Monclova, a lanky, 6’1 sophomore transfer from Lafayette. Monclova, who hadn’t shot the ball particularly well earlier in the season, found her range on Friday night, draining 3-of-6 from deep and scoring a career-high 15 points.  

“I’m really proud. I thought this is one of our better games of us executing the game plan,” Woods stated in her postgame TV interview. “They had a couple of shooters, and we made their life difficult tonight. So once we got a little momentum from that, I thought we did a great job knowing the scout and then forcing them to do something different. … [We] gave up a few too many offensive rebounds, but I’m really proud of our efforts tonight, especially on the defensive side.”

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Giving up too many offensive rebounds has been a problem all year for the undersized Pioneers.

Less than 48 hours after beating UNC, the Pios suffered an agonizing loss on Sunday afternoon to the Texas State Bobcats at Hamilton Gymnasium on the DU campus.

Despite jumping out to an early, 15-6 lead, Denver couldn’t control the defensive boards, or their fouling, against a small, but athletic Bobcats squad that dominated in the paint. It didn’t help the Pioneers’ cause that Monclova, who had been hot from the field only 48 hours earlier, was hobbled on crutches and unavailable to play for DU. Texas State ended up stealing a road win from Denver, 63-60.

Despite the loss that dropped the Pioneers to 5-6 on the season, Woods saw continued improvement in her team’s play, especially on defense.

“We knew that they’d do well on the offensive rebounds,” Woods told The Next. “We wanted to guard the paint better than what we did. I think we gave up 36 points in the paint, 24 in the first half. So we have to be better about that. I still like our defense. We were holding people in the 60s the last couple of games.”

Finding the right mix of talent

Like so many teams in the current college basketball landscape, DU has faced the challenge of building cohesiveness with a largely turned over roster that includes eight new players.

At the same time, the Pioneers were fortunate to bring back a core group of experienced, impactful players this season, starting with the team’s star guard, Jordan Jones.

A junior from Cheyenne, Wyo., Jones is probably Woods’ greatest recruiting success during her five-year tenure at the helm in Denver. Jones was named to the Preseason All-Summit League first team in October, and she’s lived up to expectations so far, leading the Pioneers in scoring, rebounding and blocks. Her scoring average of 19.7 points per game currently ranks 30th in the nation.

Standing 6′ tall with a muscular frame, Jones is a hybrid guard/forward who combines physicality with shooting touch. She can score from anywhere on the court but has an uncanny ability to finish at the rim. A multi-tool player and personality, Jones can shoot, distribute, defend, rebound and force the action when necessary. Perhaps most importantly, she’s a born leader on and off the court.

“As I said going into the season, we can play her one through five and in those spots, and she’s really done a phenomenal job keeping her composure,” Woods stated in her postgame TV interview on Dec. 13. “I know she scored 22 points, but she’ll tell you, what we’re most proud of is there’s six assists to two turnovers. People don’t realize she’s really a playmaker out there, and she wants the best, not only [for] herself, but for her teammates as well. So [I] can’t say enough things about her. I’m so glad she’s on our team, but really glad that she’s put the work in. So these results that she’s having, again, I’m not surprised, because this started last spring when our season ended.”

Jones is drawing intense attention from every opponent she faces because there aren’t many other players on the DU roster who can pick up the slack if Jones is off the floor or neutralized as a scorer.

Given the constant double and triple-teaming she faces, how does she still manage to score in double digits every game?

“It took some learning,” Jones told The Next. “I think the Idaho State game was like a wake-up game for me. They threw the kitchen sink at me, and they were long and strong. So it took some learning in that game. It also comes with trusting my teammates, playing off two feet, being able to make that pass, being aware of, like I know they’re coming, I know the double’s coming, I know the dig is coming, and I trust my teammates to knock down that shot. We work on that every single day in practice, and I won’t hesitate to throw it.”

Complimenting Jones in the backcourt is Emma Smith, a 5’7 junior from Vestavia Hills, Ala. A stalwart player who’s been averaging about 36 minutes a game the past two seasons, Smith serves as Woods’ floor general on both sides of the court. She leads the team in assists, dishing 3.8 helpers per game. She’s also DU’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 11 points and 7.6 boards per game.

“She’s gonna fill up a stat sheet,” Woods told The Next. “I mean, she is a 5’7 guard with a high motor. [She] definitely can fill up [a stat sheet with] … steals, assists, points, rebounds. … And if [Jordan]’s the anchor then she’s the chain. We need both of them to play well. And again, she’s still getting adjusted. I think sometimes she wants to be Brett Favre in transition and see things that people aren’t necessarily ready for. So we’ll try to reel that back in a little bit … but her motor really is going to help us throughout the year.”

Together, Jones and Smith tend to dominate the action for DU on offense, causing tremendous imbalances at times for the team. For example, on Sunday afternoon against Texas State, Smith and Jones accounted for 24 of DU’s 26 first-half points. Only one other player on the DU roster contributed points, freshman local product Coryn Watts, who tallied a single bucket before the intermission.

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The Pioneers have some other intriguing players, though most of them have yet to break through this season. Emily Counsel, a fifth-year grad student from Perth, Australia, has been with Woods throughout her five-year tenure at DU, but so far the 6’3 swing player hasn’t found her scoring touch this season.

“She’s a 6’3 guard and has a lot of versatility for us,” Woods told The Next. “And I think once she gets her confidence back and some of her focus, we need her to make shots. There’s no other way around that. We need her to make shots, make open shots.”

One of DU’s biggest challenges this year is dealing with an undersized roster. Although Counsel is listed at 6’3, she plays an off-the-ball guard position for DU and is not much of a rebounder, averaging only 1.6 per game this season. No one else getting significant playing time stands taller than 6’1, a factor that significantly contributes to DU’s negative rebounding margins.

Against Division I opponents, the Pioneers have been beaten on the boards by an average of 6.3 rebounds per game, including some lop-sided affairs. For example, in a 78-61 loss at Colorado, the Buffaloes out-muscled the Pios 45-25 on the boards and outscored DU 48-12 in the paint.

But for an undersized team, the 3-point basket can be an equalizer. Woods certainly understands that, which is one reason her Pioneers rely heavily on the 3 ball. The problem is, not enough of the Pioneers’ long range shots have been going in this season. Despite ranking 28th in the nation in 3-point attempts with over 26 launches per game, the Pios are making only 7.4 3-point baskets per game, which ranks them among the worst 3-point shooting teams in the nation at only 27.5 percent.

“Everyone knows we like to shoot the 3, but we’re really emphasizing shot selection,” Woods told The Next in November after starting the season 0-3. “So if there’s some things that we can clean up, I think we’ve worked on that this week with our staff, in terms of being confident [of] making open shots, [and making sure] we’re getting the looks that we want. And I think that’s a frustrating part. It’s one thing, if … we’re not able to even get a shot off, [when] we are getting an open look. So we’ve tried to tweak practice a little bit to work on our shooting, try to build our confidence that way.”

The emphasis on building confidence has paid off. In DU’s last five games, the Pios have canned 33.3% of their 3s, up from 25% in the team’s opening six games.

Finding consistency

Although the Pioneers seem to be building momentum, Woods knows she has a steep hill to climb in order to build the Pioneers into a title contending program.

Since DU began competing in Division I 26 years ago, the program has only been invited to play in the postseason three times, including an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2001 and two appearances in the WNIT in 2011 and 2019. As a program, the Pioneers have yet to notch a Division I victory in the postseason.

Woods was hired five years ago to turn things around at Denver, but so far the best result she’s managed to achieve is a tie for fifth place in the nine-team Summit League during the 2022-23 season. Last season, the Pioneers won only eight games, their fewest wins in a full season since the 2016-17 campaign.

Overall, Woods has compiled a record of 42-82 (.339) in her five-year tenure at DU, including a conference record of 23-43 (.348). But while she’d certainly like to win more games, she also has a wider perspective about what’s important in life based on her having grown up in challenging circumstances.

“So I think the humility comes from, I love this game, but it I’ve been through harder things in life, right?” she said. “It’s frustrating to lose … but when you grew up like I did, this is the easiest thing I’ve done in my life, when you are born to a single mom with addiction. So, for me, I have to think that way. So that’s probably why some people are like, ‘Oh, you don’t get too high. Don’t get too low,’ … but I can’t let the game define me, and I did that at moments in the previous years. Lost sight of that.

“It’s a fun game. It saved my life, but … I have three degrees for a reason. So when we sign up for this profession, you want to win. You want things to work out. But truthfully, every day I show up is a win. So, it’s literally every day I show up to work hard as a thank you to those who believe in me, and whatever happens as a result at the end of day is going to happen, but it wasn’t because I didn’t work hard.”

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Part of the recipe for building renewed success at DU is Woods’ commitment to a unique form of inclusive leadership. Earlier in her tenure at Denver, Woods was struggling at times to communicate with her players, especially Jones. So she decided to create a leadership team with her veterans, similar to something you might see in a corporate or government setting.

The current leadership teams includes Jones, Smith, Counsel and junior guard Angelina Robles. They meet twice a week to discuss any issue that may be affecting the team’s performance. Woods believes the openness of the conversations is an important part of the process of building trust with her team.

“I think for me this year, how I’m handling it is honestly to be proactive on some mistakes I know I made last year. So us meeting [bi]-weekly, talking more often … I’m constantly, really trying to hear and apply their feedback, because again, I can have some great ideas, but if it’s not delivered the way it needs to be delivered, if it doesn’t land the way it needs to be landed, then I need to make those adjustments.”

Woods’ new approach of listening and adjusting has made an impact, especially on Jones.

“I feel like she really trusts and believes in me,” Jones told The Next. “I had a really tough freshman year getting adjusted to the college game, just college in general, a whole new life kind of thing. So she was really patient with me, and she pushed me to be better. And so I really respect her for that, and I know she believes in me and we can be honest with each other, so I think that it’s just kind of propelled our relationship forward, and I’m really grateful for it.”

Establishing open communications and trust may be a step in the right direction, but more will be needed to make the Denver Pioneers a winning program that can contend for a Summit League title. For one, the Pioneers will need to learn how to win close games.

Last season, DU lost four games by a single possession. This season, of their six losses, four have been by a margin of seven points or fewer. Against Texas State on Sunday afternoon, Denver had possession in the Bobcats’ defensive zone with 3.5 seconds to play in a game they trailed by three, yet the Pioneers failed to get a shot off before time expired.

Woods is well aware of the problem and is emphasizing to her team the need to focus on closing out games.

“I think we have been a program that during my time here, for the most part, we’ve been competitive in a lot of games. We are searching to put together a complete four quarters. I think the first two games, we came out scorching the first quarter and then forgot that there were three left. … So for us, all week, we’ve talked about putting together a complete four quarters on both sides of the ball.”

The Pioneers have two more games remaining on the 2024 schedule against Western Colorado and North Alabama. Both games are at home and both are winnable. Should the Pios prevail in both contests, they will have achieved the first winning record in the non-conference season during the Woods era at DU.

Can a DU squad buoyed by a winning record contend for a Summit League title this season? Jones thinks so.

“I definitely think we can contend,” Jones told The Next. “I know last year was tough, but I think this year we have a lot more pieces, and we’re willing to use our bench a little more. So that’s really nice having a deeper bench, more people we can rely on, and it just comes with getting those people reps in game at the pace, at the speed, at the intensity of this game.

“And I really do think we can contend. We have a lot of great players, and when we share the ball and we’re knocking down shots I feel like we’re really scary. And also our defense has really amped up this year. It’s been more of an emphasis, and I feel like that is really propelling our offense. So hopefully we can keep this ball rolling.”

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