The Denison women's basketball team led nearly wire-to-wire in Saturday's 65-57 victory over North Coast Athletic Conference rival Ohio Wesleyan at Livingston Gymnasium in Granville. With the win, the five-way log jam for second place in the NCAC becomes a two-team tie between the Big Red and Oberlin, who won at Allegheny on Saturday.

The Bishops grabbed their only lead of the contest when an Emily Julius layup put the visiting team ahead 6-5. However, that lead only lasted for 44 seconds thanks to a Kellie Arter bucket three possessions later than put Denison back in front by one. Arter's layup sparked 16-4 DU run that extended the home team's advantage to 11 with 10:24 on the clock. Five different players scored during the run led by sophomore Jordan Holmes' six points.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with a three and a short range jumper to shrink the gap to six, but seven unanswered points provided by Gabrielle Nottage, Alyx Ingram and Alyssa Wagner gave Denison its largest lead of the half at 28-15. The Battling Bishops engineered a 10-2 burst over the next four minutes to get within five, but Nottage drilled a key triple to make it a three-possession game once again. OWU's Taylor Dickson and DU's Taylor Lindquist traded off buckets in the final minute which gave the Big Red a 35-27 lead at the break.

The game remained close for the opening eight-plus minutes of the second period. After the Bishops pulled within three, the Big Red erupted for a 12-3 burst that blew the game wide open with 7:20 to play. DU's two young post players played a key role in the run as Holmes and freshman Akilah Fletcher combined for 10 of the 12 points. Fletcher led the charge with six, while Holmes and Nottage chipped in the final four and two, respectively. The Big Red went on to build up its largest lead of the game at 65-51 when Ingram knocked down a jumper with 3:20 to play. OWU tried to make a late run, but could only muster six points over the final two minutes of play.

The Big Red shot 41 percent (26-for-63) from the field and went 10-for-11 (91 percent) at the foul line. DU also won the battle on the boards, 47-38. Ohio Wesleyan finished 19-for-59 (32 percent) from the field and converted just 55 percent (16-for-29) at the charity stripe.

Holmes paced the Big Red with 14 points to go along with nine rebounds. The sophomore's nine boards moved her into fourth on Denison's career rebounds list, passing former All-American Shaina Kaiser (648).  Fletcher finished with a career-high 12 boards, eight points, three assists and two blocks. Nottage recorded nine points and three assists, while Arter finished with four helpers and two steals.

Kyle Croxton led the Bishops with 15 points, while Kristin Henning added 13. Sarah McQuade scored six of her 10 points at the free throw line to go along with five assists and seven steals.

DU moves to 10-8 overall and 6-3 in the NCAC, while the Bishops fall to 9-9 and 5-4 in conference play. The Big Red returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to Greencastle, Ind. for a clash with nationally-ranked DePauw. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.