WESTERVILLE, Ohio (December 29, 2023) – In its first game of the Smokey Ballenger Classic hosted by Otterbein University, the Denison University women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with a Washington and Jefferson College team that was receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, and in the end, the Big Red came out on top of the Presidents by a final score of 63-60.
Down by one point (60-59) in the final minute of the game, a baseline out-of-bounds play by the Big Red went to
Abigail Westmeyer, who got free and drove to the hoop for the go-ahead layup with 40 seconds left.
On the ensuing Washington and Jefferson possession, the Big Red defense forced the drive by the Presidents inside for the block, and then a pair of free throws by
Maddie Goodman with 13 seconds on the clock made it a three-point game.
Needing a 3-pointer to tie it, the Presidents' first attempt missed everything, but an offensive rebound led to a second chance that looked good but just rimmed out, allowing the Big Red to take the victory.
With the win, Denison improved to 8-2 overall with its fourth straight win while W&J fell to 9-2 and saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.
In what was most likely its toughest nonconference matchup of the season, Denison was up to the challenge and led 34-33 at halftime after shooting 53.8 percent (14-26) from the field and 5-for-10 from three in the first half.
The Big Red opened up the third quarter with back-to-back layups by
Brooke Toigo and Goodman followed by a pair of free throws by
Ada Taute to take a 40-33 lead.
W&J then began to press the Big Red defensively and went on a 10-0 scoring run to take the lead while limiting Denison to 0-for-6 shooting with three turnovers during the run.
Denison, however, was able to withstand the run and would not go away as the two teams went into the fourth quarter tied 47-47.
After hitting a 3-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter,
Abby Cooch began to feel it and connected on 3-pointers on each of Denison's first two possessions of the fourth quarter to give the Big Red a 53-47 advantage.
A layup by
Bryana Woodard two minutes into the fourth quarter gave Denison its largest lead of the game (55-47), but then W&J turned back to the press in the final five minutes of the game and got to within one point (57-56) of the Big Red in the final three minutes.
Cooch was able to put Denison back up by three (59-56) with a floater in the final two minutes, but W&J ultimately took the lead with one minute remaining. In all, there were 13 lead changes in the game.
Taute led the Big Red with 16 points on 60 percent (6-10) shooting while Toigo scored 14 points and Cooch had 13.
Interestingly, the Big Red dominated 17-2 in fast break points.
Denison will be back in action tomorrow on Saturday, December 30, in the championship game against the hosts from Otterbein starting at 4 p.m.
