The Big Red women's basketball team captured the second McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament title following a 78-62 victory over Albion on Monday at the Sommer Center in Bluffton, Ohio.

The opening 20 minutes had seven lead changes and saw the score tied on six different occasions. With under two minutes to play in the first half, junior Kellie Arter broke a 25-25 tie with a three-pointer off an assist from sophomore Emily Krumpe. After forcing an Oreyana Curry turnover with 1:25 on the clock, Akilah Fletcher converted a fast break layup to extend Denison's lead to five.

Following a one-and-done for the Brittons, Arter took a pass from Gabrielle Nottage and buried a three with 59 seconds to go. Ahead by six inside the final half minute, Nottage once again found Arter for her third triple in a span of 82 seconds. The junior's third trey of the half gave DU a nine-point lead heading into the locker room.

The Big Red carried the last first-half momentum into the second stanza where they opened up a 47-32 lead in the first 4+ minutes. Despite the early struggles, Albion rattled off seven-straight points to pull within eight points. Catie Neary led the Britton charge with five of the seven tallies, while Mikaela Bromley chipped in the other two.

Leading by 10 at the midway point of the second half, the Big Red orchestrated a 16-3 run that gave DU its largest lead of the game at 75-52. Arter sparked the run with eight-straight points for Denison, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers. Krumpe followed with a layup, while sophomore Niyah Gonzalez knocked down a pair of jumpers. Nottage capped off the burst with a jumper at 3:57. The Big Red run spanned 4:46. Albion tried to chip away at the deficit, but Denison walked off the Sommer Center court with a 16-point win.

Arter finished with 21 points, marking her fourth 20+ point performance of the season. The junior went 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. She also dished out three assists and had three rebounds in 34 minutes. Nottage added a career-high 18 points thanks in large part to a 4-for-6 outing from 3-point range. She also logged a career-best seven assists to go along with four boards. Sophomore post Jordan Holmes notched her eighth double-double of the season after scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Senior Mary Margaret Habel added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Gonzalez provided 10 tallies and six boards off the bench. The Big Red shot an even 50 percent (30-for-60) from the field and a season-high 53 percent (9-for-17) from 3-point range. DU also went a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line and won the battle on the boards (46-29). Denison made of the most of their 12 offensive rebounds, scoring 20 second-chance points.

Bromley led the Brittons (7-4) with 16 points, while Curry and Darian Payne added 15 and 10, respectively. Olivia Savage grabbed a team-best six rebounds. As a team, Albion went 21-for-59 (36 percent) from the field and 18-for-26 (69 percent) at the charity stripe.

Following the championship game, Arter and Habel were named to the All-Tournament team with Arter garnering tournament MVP honors. Over the course of two games, the junior averaged 17 points and converted 63 percent (12-for-19) from the field and 54 percent (7-for-13) from beyond the arc. Habel averaged 13.5 points and six rebounds per contest while shooting almost 69 percent (11-for-16) from the floor.

Denison (6-6) returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 3) when they host Wooster in a North Coast Athletic Conference contest. Tip-off from Livingston Gymnasium is slated for 1 p.m.