Thanks to a 22-point performance from Candise Love and a double-double by Jordan Holmes, the Big Red secured a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals following a 60-56 victory over Allegheny on Tuesday night in Granville.

With the win, third-seeded Denison will travel to Greencastle, Ind. to take on the No. 2 seed Ohio Wesleyan on Friday night at 6 p.m.  In addition to locking up a spot in the NCAC Final Four, the win also guaranteed DU its seventh 20-win season in the last 10 years.

Clinging to a 47-45 lead at the midway point of the second half, Love took a pass from senior Paige Williams and buried a clutch three to rebuild a five-point lead.  On the ensuing Allegheny possession, Holmes showed her dominance down low by first blocking an Emma Pellicano shot attempt before eventually generating a turnover, keeping the Gators off the board.

With Denison now ahead 55-50 with just under three to play, Marina Scarantino knocked down a jumper to make it a one-possession game. After a one-and-done by the Big Red, Pellicano earned a trip to the free throw line after drawing a foul.  The Allegheny sophomore split the pair to shrink the gap to two.

After unsuccessful trips by both teams, DU finally cashed in after Holmes grabbed an offensive board and converted the putback.  With 38 seconds to play, junior Mary Margaret Habel extended the lead with a pair of free throws.  The Gators came up empty on three attempts before a Scarantino triple found its mark with 8.1 seconds left.  Senior Mikaela Freundlich connected on 1-of-2 attempts at the foul line to secure the four-point victory.

Denison engineered a 19-6 half-ending run that turned a 19-14 deficit into a six-point advantage at the intermission.  In the second half, DU methodically built a nine-point lead early in the period.  However, Allegheny rattled off 10 of the next 13 points to close the margin back to 47-45 with 9:57 to play.  That run kept the Gators within two scores for the rest of the contest and set up the closely-contested finish.

The Big Red converted 40-percent from the field (22-for-55), while Allegheny went 23-for-65 (35.4 percent).  The biggest difference came from three-point range where DU knocked down 45.5 percent (5-for-11) compared to a 15-percent conversion rate by the Gators (3-for-20).  The Big Red also held a 45-36 edge on the glass.

Love's 22 points came on a 7-for-17 performance from the field, highlighted by a 3-for-4 night from 3-point range.  The junior also went 5-for-6 at the foul line.  Holmes finished the night with 13 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks.  Gretchen Staubach pulled down nine boards, while Williams dished out four assists.

Rachel Vigliotti led the Gators with 13 points and four steals, while Scarantino chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and three steals.  Pellicano finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Kaitly Fromknecht pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.

The winner of Friday's game between Denison (20-6) and OWU will take on the winner of the other semifinal game between top-seeded DePauw and fourth-seeded Kenyon at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in the finals of the NCAC Tournament.