WESTERVILLE, Ohio (December 30, 2023) – In the championship game of the Smokey Ballenger Classic, the Denison University women's basketball team was victorious 66-57 over the hosts from Otterbein University. In addition to earning its fifth win in a row and improving to 9-2 overall on the season, Denison also claimed its fourth Smokey Ballenger Classic title and its first since the 2015-16 season.

After scoring all 13 of her points in the final 11 minutes of Friday's win over Washington and Jefferson College, Abby Cooch came out firing with three 3-pointers in the first five minutes against Otterbein on Saturday.

That helped stake Denison to an early 11-7 lead, but five offensive rebounds in the first quarter for Otterbein led to a 5-0 advantage in second chance points that resulted in the Cardinals taking a five-point lead (19-14) lead after the opening 10 minutes.

Otterbein led until back-to-back layups by Bryana Woodard three minutes into the third quarter put the Big Red back in front 32-31.

Then in the final five minutes of the third quarter, it was Ada Taute's turn to get hot from long range as she connected on a trio of 3-pointers, the last of which gave Denison a 43-42 lead in the final 30 seconds of the period.

Up 44-43 heading into the final period after a free throw by Woodard to end the third quarter, a fourth 3-pointer by Taute gave Denison its largest lead of the game to that point (47-43).

After a jumper by Morgan Kress made it a 6-0 start to the fourth quarter for the Big Red, Denison's lead ultimately expanded to nine points (54-45) after a pair of free throws by Kress with six and a half minutes left to play and then to 10 points (58-48) on a layup by Maddie Goodman with 4:35 on the clock.

In all, Denison outscored Otterbein 43-28 in the second half and limited the Cardinals to under 14 points and under 30 percent shooting in each of the final three quarters.

Cooch and Taute both finished with a career-high 18 points and were named to the all-tournament team while Cooch was named the Most Valuable Player. Cooch added six rebounds, six assists and four steals while shooting 7-for-8 from the free throw line in addition to her three 3-pointers, and Taute was 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from three.

Abigail Westmeyer scored 12 points on 50 percent shooting (5-10) while also finishing just one rebound shy of her second double-double in her last three games.

In addition to sinking eight 3-pointers and dominating in fast break points (16-3) for the second game in a row, the Big Red also tied a season-high with nine blocks, led by Kress with four blocks and Woodard with two.

Denison will return to the court after the New Year for the start of North Coast Athletic Conference action. The Big Red will host Wittenberg University starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3.