GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 21, 2023) – The Denison University women’s basketball team put together a balanced offensive attack and defeated Wilmington College 76-55 in its first home game of the 2023-24 season on Tuesday evening inside Livingston Gymnasium.
Despite outshot Wilmington in all four quarters, Denison trailed 20-13 after committing six turnovers in the opening period, but then the Big Red outscored the Quakers 22-10 in the second quarter to take a five-point lead (35-30) at halftime.
That second quarter was highlighted by an 11-0 Denison run lasting 3:34 of game time and ending with two free throws by Ada Taute to give the Big Red their first five-point lead (33-28) of the game in the final two minutes of the period.
After ending the second quarter with a putback layup by Morgan Kress in the final 10 seconds, Denison opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets by Kress assisted by Abby Cooch, and then after a free throw for Wilmington, Brooke Toigo would connect on a 3-pointer from the corner and Kress added another layup.
In all, it was a 10-1 start to the second half for the Big Red after a free throw by Ava Warcaba made it a 45-31 Denison lead with 5:20 left in the third quarter.
Taute drained a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the third quarter to keep Denison up by double digits (53-43) heading into the fourth quarter, which started with a 3-pointer by Abigail Westmeyer and a jumper by Kress to get the Big Red lead back to 15 points (58-43).
The Big Red led by 20 points (65-45) after a layup by Maddie Goodman on an out-of-bounds assist from the baseline by Cooch with under five minutes remaining, and then Denison was able to clear the bench with 2:35 left in the game after Violet Mitchell connected on her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it 68-48.
12 Big Red players entered the scoring column in this one as Kress scored 14 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Taute scored 13 points and tied for the game-high with eight rebounds, Mitchell had 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from three, and Cooch had nine points.
Lastly, Goodman added six points and six rebounds while Toigo had five points and five boards.
Denison also finished with 18 assists on 29 made field goals as five players had three or more helpers, led by Cooch with four.
The Big Red shot over 44 percent from the field in all four quarters while limiting the Quakers to under 27 percent shooting in both the second and third quarters. Denison was also 7-for-13 from three during the second half while Wilmington was just 1-for-6 from long range during the final 20 minutes.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since an 81-75 win for the Big Red on the road on November 16, 2019, to win the Damon’s/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament Championship.
Denison will now have over a week off for Thanksgiving Break before hosting Capital University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 29.