Senior Haley Dahlgard's (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) three-pointer in the final 20 seconds helped the Denison women's basketball team secure a 72-69 victory over Case Western Reserve University on Saturday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Big Red scored the first six points of the game en route to opening up a 14-5 lead just over five minutes into the opening half.  Case Western Reserve rebounded from their slow start with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the ball game with 11:04 on the clock.  Tied at 18-all, DU went on a 19-7 burst spanning six minutes to open up a 12-point lead before entering the locker room up 39-30.  Five players scored during Denison's late charge, including senior Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) who finished off the run with an old-fashioned three-point play.

The Spartans' Evy Iacono scored on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to four in the opening minute of the second half.  Following a layup by sophomore point guard Serafina Nuzzo (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick), Erin Hollinger responded with a pair of buckets in two-straight trips down the court to shrink the gap to 41-39. Coming out of a timeout, Case engineered a 17-6 run to take a nine-point lead (56-47).

With just under 10 minutes left in the half, a steal by sophomore Nicole Coggins (Mesa, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) resulted in a short-range jumper by Nuzzo.  After another miss by the home team, junior Jessica Grzybowski (Parma, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) found Kaiser for a clutch three to trim the deficit to 56-52 with 9:09 remaining in the period.  With just under seven and a half to play, Nuzzo buried a jump to make it a two-point game, but the Spartans scored the next five tallies to regain a seven-point edge.

Sophomore Kyli Parker (Batavia, Ohio/Summit Country Day) broke up the Case run with a triple off a pass from Coggins.  Following a Gryzbowski steal, Nuzzo knocked down a pair of free throws after drawing a foul.  The sophomore point guard converted another layup to tie the game at 61-61.

After the two teams traded made buckets, Case Western regained a slight edge with a Hollinger fast break layup.  With less than three minutes to play, Kaiser came up with a big steal and drew a foul.  The senior knocked down both free throw attempts to tie the game at 65-all.

Following an offensive rebound and putback by the home team, Nuzzo drove the lane, faked a kick-out pass, and hit a jumper in the low post to tie the game once again.  The Spartans went back up by two (69-67) thanks to a jumper by Emily Mueller with 44 seconds left in regulation.

On their next possession, the Big Red worked the ball around the perimeter and found a wide open Dahlgard in the left corner.  The senior drained a three-pointer to give DU a 70-69 edge with 18 seconds on the clock.

After a Spartan miss on the ensuing possession, Coggins knocked down a pair of foul shots to extend the DU lead to three with four seconds left in the game.  Case was unable to get off the potential game-tying shot as they turned the ball over in the final second of play.

Denison shot 46 percent (26-of-57) from the field, while Spartans converted 51 percent (29-of-57) from the floor.  DU outrebounded Case Western Reserve 37-24.

Nuzzo paced the Big Red with 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Kaiser posted 15 points, 10 boards and seven assists.  Coggins and Grzybowski chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Iacono led the Spartans with a game-high 22 points, while Hollinger added 21 tallies.

Denison improves to 7-0 on the year, while Case falls to 3-3.  DU returns to the court on Wednesday (Dec. 8) when they travel to Thiel College.  Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m.