SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (April 6, 2024) – The Denison University women's lacrosse team began North Coast Athletic Conference action with a 12-goal road win, 18-6, at Wittenberg University.

Denison trailed 2-1 halfway through the first quarter after back-to-back goals by Wittenberg's Jessica Flick, but a free position goal by Mary Martinson with five minutes left in the period made it 2-2.

That was the start of a 3-0 Denison run as Ana Ortiz DeRosa scored on a free position shot with 41 seconds left in the first quarter and Bridget Sheehy scored less than a minute into the second quarter to make it 4-2 Big Red.

Then after Flick's third goal made it 4-3 just over a minute and a half into the second quarter, Denison again rattled off three straight goals, this time all by Anna DeVuono, making it 7-3 Big Red with 4:24 left before halftime.

In the final minute of the first half, Flick's fourth goal made it 7-4 at halftime before a pair of goals within the first minute and a half of the third quarter by Martinson and Sheehy made it a 9-4 Denison lead.

In all, the Big Red outscored Wittenberg 5-2 in the first nine minutes of the third quarter to double up the Tigers at 12-6, and then DeVuono scored her fourth goal of the game to make it 13-6 in the final 14 seconds of the third quarter.

DeVuono scored one more time in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, matching her season total of five goals coming into the game, while Denison scored a total of four goals in the first six and a half minutes of the final period to salt the game away.

Finishing with three points offensively was Martinson (3 goals), Sheehy (2 goals; 1 assist) and Maddie Morrell (1 goal; 2 assists). Martinson was also 2-for-2 on free position shots.

In addition to firing a season-high in both total shot attempts (47) and shots on goal (42), Denison recorded a season-high 30 groundballs, won 20-of-28 draw controls in the contest, finished with 26 caused turnovers, and held Wittenberg to no more than five shot attempts in any quarter. It was the team's most groundballs in the last two seasons, was their most shots on goal since March 20, 2021, vs. the College of Wooster, and was their most caused turnovers in a game in the 11 seasons under the direction of Head Coach Amanda Daniels.

Grayson O'Marra led the way with four caused turnovers and three groundballs while Mary Daniel and Morrell both had three of each and Daniel led all players with eight draw controls.

After both teams entered the day with a record of 6-4, it was Denison who improved to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in the NCAC with its sixth straight win while Wittenberg dropped to 6-5 and 0-1.

Next up, Denison will host the College of Wooster at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. Wooster sports a current record of 8-1 overall and will be opening up its conference slate against the Big Red.