LEXINGTON, Ky. (November 27, 2022) – The Denison University women's basketball team fell 73-56 to No. 2 nationally-ranked Transylvania University in the Championship game of the Pat Deacon Classic held on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky.

Ava Warcaba led Denison (4-3 overall) in scoring with 13 points while Maddie Goodman contributed 12 points and was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 9.5 points across Denison's two games in the tournament.

In addition to the scoring, Brooke Toigo had a team-high seven rebounds and Hannah Wynn added a game-high six assists.

The Big Red were right with the second-ranked team in the country with 49 seconds left in the first quarter, trailing by only two (16-14) after a layup by Abigail Westmeyer and a free throw by Gabby Elliott.

However, Transylvania (4-0) ended the opening quarter with an and-one followed by a buzzer-beating 3-ponter to take an eight-point lead (22-14), and then the Pioneers opened up the second quarter with two more 3-pointers on their first two possessions of the period to make it a 12-0 run and double up the Big Red at 28-14 just over a minute and a half into the quarter.

Over the next minute-plus of action, back-to-back two-point jumpers by Toigo sparked an 8-2 Denison run to get the deficit back down to single digits at 30-22 with five minutes left until halftime.
 
Unfortunately, just like they did in the first quarter, Transylvania closed strong in the second quarter and answered Denison's run with a 13-2 run to take a 43-24 lead going into halftime.

In all, the Pioneers shot over 53 percent (7-for-13) with four 3-pointers in the second quarter to take command of the game.

The second half was much more even as Denison outscored Transylvania 32-30 over the final 20 minutes and held the Pioneers to only 1-for-15 (6.67 percent) shooting in the fourth quarter.

The Big Red will return to play at home for the first time since their season opener to face off against John Carroll University on Wednesday, November 30, at 6 p.m.