HIRAM, Ohio (January 14, 2023) – The Denison University women's basketball team outscored Hiram College 21-8 in the fourth quarter to come away with a 10-point victory, 55-45, over the Terriers and secure its first North Coast Athletic Conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon at Price Gymnasium.

Trailing Hiram 37-34 entering the fourth quarter, Denison scored three of the first four baskets of the period and took a one-point lead (40-39) after a long two-point jumper by Maddie Goodman assisted by Hannah Wynn with seven and a half minutes remaining.

A beautiful turnaround jumper by Abigail Westmeyer with six minutes left made it 43-40 Big Red, and then less than a minute later, a layup by Mikaila Carpenter assisted by Brooke Toigo made it 45-40.

The Big Red proceeded to extend their lead to 10 (51-41) with just under three minutes remaining after three straight layups by Carpenter, Goodman and Westmeyer, the latter two of which came after a pair of steals on the defensive end by Gabby Elliott.

Then after a pair of missed shots from the Terriers, Wynn added a free throw to make it 52-41 with only a minute and a half left, and then 3-for-4 free throw shooting by Elliott in the final 18 seconds put the finishing touches on the scoring for the Big Red.

Carpenter finished with a team-high 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting for the Big Red while adding nine rebounds as well. Goodman was next with 12 points while Westmeyer had eight and both Elliott and Ava Warcaba had six.

In addition to limiting Terriers to only eight shot attempts in the fourth quarter, the Denison defense took advantage of eight Hiram turnovers, leading to nine points off turnovers for the Big Red.

It was not a game for the 3-point fanatic as after a make from long range by Goodman less than a minute into the contest, the two teams combined to go 0-for-23 from three the rest of the way while Hiram finished 0-for-9 despite shooting 40 percent from the field overall.

Denison led the game 14-12 after shooting 50 percent (5-for-10) from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line in the first quarter, and then a pair of free throws by Toigo followed by a layup by Westmeyer made it 18-12 Big Red early in the second quarter.

However, Denison proceeded to go scoreless over the next five and a half minutes while Hiram went on a 9-0 run to take a 21-18 advantage.

Denison started only 1-for-10 (10 percent) from the field through the first nine minutes of second quarter while Hiram was 5-for-6 (83.3 percent), but a layup by Goodman just before the clock ran out in the first half kept it at a one-score deficit (25-22) for the Big Red going into halftime.

With its first win in NCAC action under its belt, Denison improves to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the league while Hiram drops to 6-8 and 0-3.

Next up, Denison will return home to host Ohio Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, looking to make it two wins in a row.