GRANVILLE, Ohio (January 7, 2023) – Despite 20 points and 10 rebounds from senior Mikaila Carpenter, the Denison University women's basketball team suffered a 69-55 loss at home against Oberlin College on Saturday afternoon.

It was the first game for new Denison head coach Maureen Hirt against her previous school, Oberlin, and the Big Red came out of the gates with a layup by Hannah Wynn followed by seven straight points by Carpenter to take a three-point lead (9-6) four and a half minutes in before a 3-pointer from the corner by Gabby Elliott made it 12-6 halfway through the first quarter.

Then after an 8-0 run by the Yeowomen to take the lead, the fourth basket of the first quarter by Carpenter tied it at 14-14 after the opening 10 minutes.

However, in the second quarter, Denison had only two made field goals, and after an and-one by Brooke Toigo made it 22-20 Big Red with 5:41 left in the second quarter, Oberlin closed out the first half on a 10-1 run to take a 30-23 lead into the break.

The biggest difference in the first half was 15 Denison turnovers, which led to a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers for the Yeowomen.

In all, there were eight ties and six lead changes in the first half, but the second half was all Oberlin, which shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) from the field and 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the third quarter before expanding its lead to 14 points (59-45) two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Behind Carpenter in the scoring column was Elliott with 12 points while she and Maddie Goodman both dished out five assists. Wynn finished with six points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

For Carpenter, it was her second 20-point scoring effort in the last three games for the Big Red.

Denison falls to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while Oberlin, which was coming off a 49-point win (83-34) at the College of Wooster on Wednesday, improves to 9-4 overall, 2-0 in the conference and 6-1 on the road.

Next up, Denison will remain at home to host another tough NCAC opponent in DePauw University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11.