The third-seeded Denison Big Red avenged a pair of regular season losses to Ohio Wesleyan with an 86-57 victory over the second-seeded Battling Bishops in the semifinals of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday evening in Springfield, Ohio.
Denison entered Pam Evans Smith Arena on Friday night with a huge monkey on their back. Having lost the last three meetings with the Battling Bishops and all seven NCAC tournament games against OWU, including a semifinal clash a year ago, history was not on the Big Red's side.
The opening seven minutes of action were tightly contested between the two conference rivals. Ohio Wesleyan took their only lead of the contest (8-7) at the 13:57 mark on a jumper by Kayla Gordon. The Big Red answered with a 14-3 run that spanned the next six minutes of action to regain a 21-11 advantage. The run was fueled by five points from sophomore post player Christina Myers (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) and four tallies from rookie point guard Serafina Nuzzo (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick). Denison ballooned their lead to 15 (34-19) before entering the half with a 39-26 lead.
The Bishops struggled on the offensive end in the opening 20 minutes as their fives starters combined for a 2-for-18 performance from the floor. OWU was just 9-of-30 in the first half and committed eight turnovers, while Denison shot 41 percent from the field and turned the ball over just three times.
The Big Red seemed to take over the early stages of the second half. Ahead 51-35, DU blew the game open with an impressive 16-0 run which resulted in a 32-point advantage. Denison led by as many as 35 (79-44) with 4:51 on the clock before taking home the 29-point victory.
Myers led all scorers with 21 points, while junior Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) posted her fourth double-double of the season with 20 tallies and a career-high 12 rebounds. Nuzzo finished the night with 15 points, six assists and three steals.
Kaiser's scoring performance marked her sixth 20-plus point outing of the season, and puts her 22 tallies shy of 1,000 for her career.
OWU was paced by Shannon Delaney's 10 points, while Pam Quigney chipped in eight tallies and eight boards.
Denison shot 49 percent from the field and recorded 22 assists off 34 made shots, while the Bishops struggled all night, shooting just 33 percent from the floor. The Big Red held a 47-36 advantage on the glass, and committed just nine turnovers. Densison scored 22 points off Ohio Wesleyan's 17 turnovers, and logged 40 of their 86 points in the paint.
DU improves to 20-7 overall, while the Bishops finish the season with a 20-7 record. The win sends Denison to their seventh NCAC Championship game, and fifth in the last six seasons. The Big Red will take on top-seeded and tournament host Wittenberg on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the championship game of the NCAC Tournament.
