After a sluggish first half, the 9th ranked Big Red shot 59 percent in the second half while outscoring The College of Wooster by 31 points, resulting in a 75-40 victory over the Fighting Scots in the quarterfinals of the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

The victory improves Denison's record to 26-0 which ties the NCAC's record for most victories in a women's basketball season.  It also assures that Livingston Gymnasium will serve as the venue for this weekend's NCAC Tournament semifinals and final.  Friday's semifinals will take place at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.  The Big Red will play in the 8 p.m. contest against No. 4 seed, Kenyon.  In the 6 p.m. contest, No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan will take on No. 3 Allegheny.  The winners of Friday's semifinals will return to Granville on Saturday for the championship game at 7 p.m.

In order to advance to the semifinals the Big Red offense needed an Extreme Makeover: Tournament Edition at the intermission.  In the first half the crisp passing that had become Denison's calling card over the course of the season had all but disappeared.  Instead DU settled for quick shots from long range and limped out to a 9-for-37 first half.  Despite the cold shooting, the Big Red were doing an excellent job on the offensive glass and that allowed them to take a 28-22 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Big Red's ball movement improved drastically and a Haley Dahlgard (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) 3-pointer with 8:49 to play put Denison up 20 points.  That triple by Dahlgard would spark a 14-0 run over the next five minutes that would put the game out of reach.

In the first half DU recorded assists on just three of their nine field goals.  In the second half the Big Red fans have come accustomed to watching came through with 15 assists on 19 field goals.  Over the final 20 minutes Denison connected on 59.4 percent (19-for-32) of their shots from the field and they outrebounded the Fighting Scots by eight.  For the game, the Big Red controlled the boards, 48-35.

During that second half run Dahlgard scored 10 of her game-high 16 points by going 4-for-4 from the field. 

After Dahlgard's 16 point effort, Serafina Nuzzo (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) would check in with 12 points, six assists and four steals in just 25 minutes.  Another starter who always seems to fly under the radar with solid games was Jessica Grzybowski (Parma, Ohio/Padua) who scored six points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds in only 17 minutes of action.

Wooster (3-22) was led by Karley Walker and Kristen Schwartz who scored 10 points apiece.  Samantha Sulzer added nine points and six rebounds.

Live video of the semifinals and finals of the NCAC Tournament will be provided free of charge by the Denison Sports Network.

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