The 11th-ranked Denison women's basketball team hit four key free throws down the stretch en route to a 74-67 victory over North Coast Athletic Conference rival Kenyon College on Wednesday night from Gambier, Ohio.  With the win, DU maintained their three-game lead in the NCAC.

After Kenyon scored eight of the game's first nine points, DU knocked down their first field goal of the night at the 15:55 mark of the opening period.  The layup by Lucy Follansbee (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall School) sparked a 12-2 run that gave the Big Red a 13-10 edge.

The Ladies retook the lead at 21-20 when Andrea Pohly drained a 3-pointer with 7:45 on the clock.  However, senior Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) knocked down a triple, and rookie Jane Windler (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) hit a short-range jumper to extend the DU lead back to four points.

With just over two minutes left in the half, Kaiser tipped a Kenyon entry pass to teammate Kyli Parker (Batavia, Ohio/Summit Country Day), who went coast-to-coast for an easy layup to give Denison their first double-digit lead of the night at 36-25.

Ahead by 10, junior Jessica Grzybowski (Parma, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) blocked a Morgan Korinek shot, grabbed the defensive board and sent an outlet pass to Kaiser, who converted the layup and drew the foul.  Denison went up 41-28 after the senior knocked down the free throw.  Kenyon answered with a pair of Maureen Hirt free throws and a Pohly triple at the buzzer.  DU entered the break with a nine-point lead following the flurry.

Kenyon used the momentum from the half-ending 3-pointer in the early stages of the second half.  Trailing 46-35, the Ladies rattled off 10-unanswered points to trim the deficit to one.

Coming out of a 30 second DU timeout, Windler hit a layup to stop the Kenyon run.  On the ensuing possession, Kaiser came up with a steal and knocked down two foul shots to extended the lead.  On the Ladies' next trip down the floor, Kaiser intercepted another pass and took it the other way for an easy lay-in.

Ahead 54-47, sophomore point guard Serafina Nuzzo (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) drilled a three off an assist from Kaiser to extend the Big Red lead back to 10 at 57-47.  Over the next 3:44, the Ladies engineered a 10-1 run to shrink the deficit to one with 8:03 left in regulation.  At 7:22, Kaiser rejected a Hirt 3-pointer, scooped up the loose ball and converted a wide open layup.

Hirt and Kayla Ernst hit back-to-back buckets to give the Ladies their first lead since 7:45 of the first half, 61-60.  Parker regained the lead for DU with a triple on the next possession off an assist from Grzybowski.  On Kenyon's next trip down the court, Korinek hit a jumper to tie the game at 63-63 with 5:47 to play.  Roughly a minute and a half later, Korinek scored off a Hirt assist to retake the lead.

Following a full timeout by Denison, Nuzzo found a cutting Kaiser for a wide open bucket to knot the game at 65-65.  On DU's next possession, Nuzzo scored to give the Big Red a two-point edge with 3:07 on the clock.  Ernst answered out of a Kenyon timeout to tie the game once again, however a triple by Nuzzo put Denison back up for good.  Over the final 34 seconds, DU went 4-for-6 from the line to secure the seven-point victory.

Kaiser led all scorers with 21 points, while Nuzzo and Parker each added 11 points.  Grzybowski paced DU on the boards with a game-high eight rebounds, while Nuzzo dished out five assists.

Ernst led Kenyon with 17 points, while Pohly, Korinek and Kat Powers added 15, 12 and 10, respectively.  Korinek and Hirt each grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

The Big Red shot an impressive 56 percent from the floor, while the Ladies converted 41 percent.  DU also held a 35-28 edge on the glass.

Denison (22-0, 11-0 NCAC) returns to action on Saturday (Feb. 12) when they take on Allegheny College.  Tip-off from Meadville, Pa. is slated for 1 p.m.