GREENCASTLE, Ind. (February 23, 2024) – A career-high 30 points from freshman Ada Taute was not enough as the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament run for the fourth-seeded Denison University women's basketball team came to an end in the semifinals with a 76-69 loss to the top-seeded team in the tournament, DePauw University, on Friday night inside Neal Fieldhouse.

Taute scored her 30 points on 11-for-20 shooting from the field while also adding four steals and finishing just two rebounds shy of a double-double.

Fellow-freshman Abby Cooch did record a double-double after scoring 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting and adding 10 assists. It was the second time in the last three games Cooch dished out double-digit assists.

The third and final player in double-figure scoring for the Big Red was sophomore Brooke Toigo, who finished with 12 points on three 3-pointers. It was her fifth game this season sinking three or more 3-pointers.

Both teams held a double-digit lead at one point in the first three quarters, and it was a just one-point DePauw lead (53-52) going into the fourth quarter until the Tigers' Lily Huntzinger opened up the final period with a 3-pointer.

In all, DePauw hit each of its first three shots of the fourth quarter, including a pair of tough midrange jumpers by Diana Burgher. Then two and a half minutes into the period, a 3-pointer by Burgher, which was the seventh made three of the game for DePauw, made it a 63-56 Tigers' lead.

A pair of free throws by Burgher four minutes into the quarter made it an eight-point lead (65-57). Denison, meanwhile, was able to get to the free throw line four times in the first four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, but made just one shot during each trip to leave valuable points off of the scoreboard.

Denison finally made both free throw shots when Cooch went to the line to make it a 65-60 deficit halfway through the final period, but DePauw went coast-to-coast for a layup on its ensuing possession.

The Tigers took a nine-point lead (71-62) after a layup by Oliva Hart in the final three minutes, and then Hart blocked Taute's layup attempt on the next Big Red possession. It was one of 10 blocks in the game for DePauw, which entered the contest leading the NCAC at 5.15 blocked shots per game.

In the end, Denison made just two of its first 10 field goals in the fourth quarter while DePauw put up its highest-scoring quarter with 23 points and shot 50 percent (7-14) from the field.

Despite the strong start to the game for Denison on the boards, the Tigers outrebounded the Big Red 47-39 overall and 19-14 on offense. In addition to rebounding being one of the keys to victory, DePauw entered the game ranked second in the NCAC in opponent's 3-point field goal percentage (26.5 percent) and kept the Big Red at 26.3 percent in this one.

Another stat in favor of the Tigers was free throw shooting as DePauw made 23-of-30 free throws while the Big Red connected on just 12-of-24.

Denison did outscore DePauw 40-20 on points in the paint and finished the contest at 41.3 percent shooting overall compared to 36.5 percent shooting for the Tigers.

At the start of the game, DePauw led it 8-2 after making each of its first three shots, including a pair of 3-pointers by Ava Hassel on its first two possessions, but Denison was not deterred and tied it at 12-12 after the second 3-pointer of the first four minutes by Toigo.

Denison took its first lead of the game on an and-one by Taute with 4:37 left in the first quarter, and that was followed by a two-point jumper by Cooch to make it five-point Big Red lead (19-14) with four minutes left in the opening period.

Denison continued to expand upon its lead as after a layup by Bryana Woodard, Cooch got the ensuing defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast, using Woodard as a shield before finishing with the lay-in to made it 26-18 Big Red.

In the final 20 seconds of the first quarter, a layup by Taute on the fifth assist of the opening period by Cooch made it a 10-point game (28-18) in favor of the Big Red, who finished the first quarter shooting 57.1 percent (12-21) from the field while limiting DePauw to just 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) shooting. Both teams were 2-for-5 (40 percent) from three in the opening period. In addition, the Big Red held a 14-8 advantage on the boards in the first quarter, including a 6-3 advantage on the offensive glass, and led 18-6 on points in the paint and 8-3 on second chance points.

In the second quarter, however, Denison was outscored 19-5 after shooting just 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from the field while DePauw was 2-for-5 from three for the second quarter in a row.

The Big Red then trailed by as many as 11 points (44-33) in the opening two minutes of the second half, but got back to within three (44-41) following an 8-0 run ending with the third 3-pointer by Toigo less than three minutes later.

Denison's season comes to an end with an overall record of 20-7. This was the Big Red's most wins in a single season since 2015-16, was their best finish in the conference standings since 2019-20, and was their first appearance in the NCAC semifinals since 2019-20 as well. DePauw (20-7), meanwhile, advances to play third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University (22-5) in Saturday's championship game at 4 p.m.