Box Score GREENCASTLE, Ind. – Denison women's basketball outscored the Tigers 13-7 in the fourth quarter, but DU's comeback was cut short in the final seconds as the Big Red suffered a 49-47 loss at No. 5 DePauw University on Wednesday evening at the Neal Fieldhouse.
Despite the Big Red opening the game with a commanding 10-2 lead behind four points from Shonta Lockett, the nationally-ranked Tigers outscored Denison 23-11 for the remainder of the first half, including a 13-3 scoring run to end the second quarter. Sydney Kopp and Claire Keefe combined for 13 points in the second frame as DePauw entered the break with a 25-21 advantage.
After the Tigers outscored DU 17-13 in the third, a three-pointer from Kopp extended the DePauw lead to 11, 47-36, with 6:27 to play in the game. Less than a minute later, Lauren Longbrake denied a shot from Hayley Cange and gave the ball back to the Big Red. On the ensuing possession, Addie Buzas finished a layup to bring the Denison deficit back to single digits, 47-38, with 5:09 remaining.
With 2:33 to play, Lockett received a pass from Aliyah Hunter and connected at the rim with a layup, sending Denison into a 30-second timeout trailing 47-40. Out of the timeout, Kopp missed a jumper to extend the Tiger lead, giving Hunter the rebound and the ball back to Denison.
On the next possession, a missed three from Lily Morris was gathered and finished with a layup from Lauren Hofer as the Big Red deficit dwindled to five, 47-42, with less than two minutes to play.
In the final minute of the game, Morris kept Denison's hopes alive with a timely jumper off the glass, making it a three-point game, 47-44, with 35 seconds to play in the fourth. While a pair of timeouts followed for the Tigers, DePauw iced the game with five seconds to go when a missed shot from Kopp was put back by Cange, giving the Tigers a five-point lead in the final seconds.
Morris buried a three for the Big Red with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers held off Denison for their 11th-straight win and improved to 15-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play. The Big Red fell to 11-5 on the season and 5-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Lockett led Denison with 10 points on 5-of-7 from the floor with three rebounds. Alison Schafer followed with seven points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Hofer finished with a game-high 12 rebounds and chipped in four points and two steals.
Kopp finished with a double-double for DePauw on 18 points and 10 rebounds. Keefe added 11 points and Mya Shannon contributed 12 points off the bench.
The Big Red will return to Livingston Gymnasium on Saturday, January 18 when they host Allegheny College for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
