PITTSBURGH, Pa. (December 2, 2023) – The Denison University women's basketball team opened up the month of December with a strong 80-73 victory at Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon.
It was the first matchup between Denison (5-2 overall) and Carnegie Mellon (5-2) since November 26, 2017. It was also the first home loss (3-1) for the Tartans this year and was the end of their four-game winning streak.
Denison led 45-39 at halftime after outscoring CMU 28-18 in the second quarter and shooting 68.75 percent (11-16) from the field and 4-for-5 (80 percent) from three in the period. In all, the Big Red shot 54.5 percent (18-33) from the field in the first half.
Then leading 56-53 heading into the fourth quarter, Denison got a 3-pointer by
Ada Taute assisted by
Abby Cooch just over 30 seconds in, and then Taute assisted on a layup by
Brooke Toigo just over a minute in to make it 61-53 Big Red.
Toigo then assisted on a layup by
Morgan Kress before back-to-back layups by Kress and
Violet Mitchell made it an 11-1 start to the fourth quarter for Denison and a 13-point lead (67-54) with 6:11 left to play.
In all, Denison made six of its first seven field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, and then up 72-67 in the final two minutes, an and-one for
Maddie Goodman assisted by Cooch with 1:22 left made it an eight-point game (75-67).
Toigo and Taute both went 2-for-2 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to help preserve the win.
Denison was 8-for-12 (66.67 percent) from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. In addition, Denison outrebounded CMU 45-33 overall and 14-8 on the offensive glass, and led 44-26 on points in the paint.
Taute finished with a career-high 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Cooch had 15 points and six assists and Toigo added 10 points.
Bryana Woodard scored nine points and added five rebounds in her Big Red debut while Kress finished with eight points and six boards and
Abigail Westmeyer added seven points and five boards.
Last but certainly not least, Goodman finished with six points and four rebounds and was the third Big Red player with at least five assists in the game.
Denison will try to keep the wins coming next week as the Big Red host Case Western Reserve University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 9.
