CLEVELAND, Ohio (Dec. 7) – A balanced scoring effort guided the Denison University women's basketball team to a 69-60 win over host Case Western Reserve University in non-conference action Saturday afternoon in Cleveland. 
 
Violet Mitchell led Denison with 15 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting effort. Mitchell made both of her three-point attempts and went 5-of-6 at the free throw line. Maddie Goodman (12 points), Bryana Woodard (12 points) and Abby Cooch (11 points) joined Mitchell in double figures. 
 
The Big Red was forced to overcome a slow start as the host Spartans pushed out to an early 10-2 advantage less than three minutes into the game. A three-pointer by Adelyn Moore cut the deficit to 14-10 midway through the first quarter. The Spartans were able to push their lead to seven when Jordyn Call knocked down a triple to make it 19-12 at the 3:23 mark. 
 
Denison countered with seven-straight points, including five-consecutive points by Abigail Westmeyer, to even the score at 19 at the 1:30 mark. The two teams traded scores for the remainder of the opening quarter with Maddie Goodman sinking a jumper to even the score at 23 after 10 minutes of play. 
 
Consecutive layups by Goodman and Cooch helped Denison regain the lead late in the half at 29-28 with 1:46 remaining. Mitchell tacked on a driving layup with 18 seconds left to extend the Denison lead to 31-28 at halftime. 
 
Four-straight points to open the third quarter stretched the advantage to 35-28 following a Goodman layup. A few minutes later, CWRU cut the deficit to a single point before Cooch knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead to 40-36 at the 6:20 mark. Later in the quarter, Brooke Toigo extended the lead to eight points (48-40) with 3:08 remaining. The Spartans were able to close the quarter with a bit of a run to trim the Denison lead to 51-47. 
 
Denison was threatened throughout the fourth quarter but never lost its lead over the final 10 minutes. A three-point field goal by Moore at the 5:06 mark helped the Big Red keep the Spartans at bay. Denison was able to make five free throws in the final 48 seconds. 
 
Cooch was also the team leader with seven rebounds and five assists. Toigo tallied two blocks. 
 
Evie Miller led CWRU with 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks in the loss.

The win improves the Big Red to 6-3 overall while the Spartans drop to 3-4. 

Up Next: Denison is off until Dec. 19 when they host Olivet for a non-conference game. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip at Livingston Gymnasium.