GREENCASTLE, Ind. (February 7, 2024) – The Denison University women's basketball team fell by 15 points, 68-53, on the road at first-place DePauw University on Wednesday night at the Neal Fieldhouse.

DePauw struggled shooting against Denison's zone defense in the first quarter as the Tigers were just 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) from the field in the opening 10 minutes while the Big Red were 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) with a pair of 3-pointers by Brooke Toigo.

The biggest difference in the first quarter, however, was seven turnovers by Denison and six steals for DePauw, which took a 16-14 lead after the opened period.

The Tigers started the second quarter on a 9-1 run and took a 10-point lead (25-15) a little bit over three minutes in while the Big Red missed their first five shots of the period.

Denison then held DePauw scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes as the Tigers missed eight shots in a row, including three 3-pointers. Meanwhile, a layup by Abigail Westmeyer cut the Big Red deficit to four points (25-21) with under three minutes remaining until halftime before the Tigers ultimately took a 29-21 lead into the locker room after a layup of their own in the final seconds of the first half.

In the third quarter, DePauw hit four of its first six shots and doubled its lead from eight points to 16 points (41-25) a little bit over four minutes in after a 12-4 start to the period.

Despite both teams shooting better than 50 percent from the field in the third quarter, DePauw finished with 25 points in the period after sinking four 3-pointers and hitting a trey just before the buzzer at the end of the period to take a 17-point lead (53-36) lead into the final quarter.

In the end, the Tigers outscored the Big Red 37-22 over the middle two quarters and avenge their January 17 loss at Denison.

Accounting for four of DePauw's seven 3-pointers in the game was Ava Hassel, who finished with a game-high 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three.

For Denison, Westmeyer and Abby Cooch both scored 12 points while Cooch also added five rebounds and five assists, a team-high in both categories.

The Big Red fall to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while the Tigers improve to 17-6 and maintain a half-game lead in the conference standings with a 10-2 league mark.

Denison will wrap up the week with its Alumni Day and Play4Kay game against Kenyon College starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 10