Friday night the third-seeded Denison Big Red avenged two of their conference losses with a win over Ohio Wesleyan.  Just 24 hours later, they repeated the feat with a 70-67 win over top-seeded Wittenberg to capture the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

The Big Red scored 14 of the game's first 17 points to jump out to an early 11-point lead.  DU was 5-of-9 from the field in the early stages, while the Tigers converted just 1-of-6 attempts as they struggled to find their range.

Down 26-18, Wittenberg rattled off five-straight points to trim the deficit to three with 5:37 remaining in the opening period, but a 14-2 Denison run to close out the half gave the visiting team a 40-25 lead at the intermission.

Junior Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) and first-year point guard Serafina Nuzzo (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) combined for 23 tallies on 9-of-15 from the field in the first frame.

Denison was able to expand their lead to 18 (47-29) in the opening 3:10 of the second half, but the Tigers responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:40 to shrink the margin to nine.

After falling back into a 16-point hole, Wittenberg rallied once again to trim the gap to 64-58 with 3:58 left in regulation.  After three-consecutive trip down the floor produced no points, Big Red head coach Sara Lee called a full timeout with 3:25 on the clock to settle her squad down.

The Tigers broke a two-minute scoring drought with a Carrie Dyer layup, cutting the deficit to 64-60 with just 79 seconds left in regulation.

The home squad looked to make it a one possession game on their ensuing possession, but a solid defense effort by Kaiser forced Dyer into an awkward shot that resulted in a defensive rebound for the junior.

Following clutch free throws by first-years Kristen Meyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) and Kyli Parker (Batavia, Ohio/Summit Country Day), Denison held a 68-64 edge with 27 ticks on the clock.  On the Tigers' next possession, Sarah Watson nailed a huge three with 16 seconds left to make it a one point affair.

After drawing another foul, Parker knocked down two more free throws to put Denison back up by three points.  With only nine seconds left in the contest, the Big Red defense played a tight man-to-man around the perimeter and forced Katherine Hueter to heave a desperation three that clanked off the back iron.  As the two teams scrambled for the loose ball, the clock struck zero securing Denison's sixth tournament title and fifth in the last six years.

Denison's Kaiser was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds for the tournament.

Kaiser led scorers with 19 points and had 10 rebounds en route to her fifth double-double of the year.  She is only three points shy of 1,000 for her career.  Nuzzo finished with 14 points and seven boards, while Haley Dahlgard (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) also pulled down 10 rebounds.  Nuzzo joined Kaiser as a member of the all-tournament team.

The Tigers were paced by Stephanie Boardman's 17 points, while Hueter logged 14 tallies and 10 rebounds.  Dyer added 13 points and seven boards, while Sarah Watson chipped in 10 points and six boards.

With the win the Big Red earned their fifth berth to NCAA Division III Tournament in the last six seasons.  Denison will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 21-7 record, while Wittenberg ends the season with a 19-8 mark.

The pairings for this year's Division III Tournament will be announced on Monday (March 1).