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Denison University

Calendar
Team Celebrates Win After OWU
Lydia Roberts
54
Trine Trine 23-6,15-1 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
63
Winner Denison Den 26-2,13-1 NCAC
Trine Trine
23-6,15-1 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
54
Final
63
Denison Den
26-2,13-1 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Trine Trine 6 9 21 18 54
Denison Den 13 10 23 17 63

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

How Sweet It Is! Denison Advances to the Round of 16 for the First Time in Program History

Granville, Ohio - On the cusp of Big Red history, the Denison women's basketball team punched their ticket into the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after defeating No. 24 Trine University, 63-54. Abby Cooch led the Big Red with 24 points off seven three's, and reached 1,000 points in her already illustrious career. The Big Red never trailed, and add another ranked victory to the resume.Denison improves to 26-2, while Trine ends their season 23-6.

First Quarter: Denison came out hot, scoring five-straight points thanks to an Ada Taute layup and an Abby Cooch three, which would be her 1,000th point bucket. Violet Mitchell then stayed hot from her Round of 64 game, knocking down back-to-back triples to extend the lead to eight. Trine then answered back with one of their own, but Anelly Mad-toingué tossed in a two to go up 13-6 to end the first. Mad-toingué finished the quarter with five rebounds, two being offensive.

Second Quarter: With buckets becoming hard to find, the Big Red relied on their defense, as they recorded three blocks and four steals to continue momentum. Cooch would hit her second three of the game to go up double-digits, but Trine matched that just a couple possessions later. In reversed roles, Mad-toingué stole the ball and headed down the floor on a fast break, but flicked it back out to Cooch on the wing for another three, swinging the momentum into an already packed Livingston Gymnasium. After a couple free throws from Brooke Toigo, Denison went into the half up 25-13.

Third Quarter: What would be opposite from the first half, a scoring barrage broke out to start the second half, with Mitchell burying yet another three to extend the lead to 11. Mitchell was not done, as a couple possessions later she drained another, now leading 31-17 with eight minutes to go in the third. Trine would go on a 8-0 run to cut the deficit to two possessions, keeping the game tight, but another Cooch triple went through the bottom of the net to bring the lead back up to nine. The Big Red would hover around that lead throughout the quarter, and would head into the fourth up 46-36. Denison matched their point total in the first half in just the third quarter alone.

Fourth Quarter: In the final quarter of play, Denison needed to play complimentary basketball to seal the deal, and did just that. Hannah Grudzien kicked things off with a layup from a beautiful feed from Mitchell. Both teams would trade buckets, with Taute and Cooch delivering clutch free throws to keep it a three-possession game. The Thunder would start to come back, however, as a three and pull-up jumper would cut the Big Red lead to three with 4:28 remaining in the game. In what would be the most crucial run of the game, Denison rattled off seven-straight points, with Taute knocking down a pair of free throws, Molly Dorighi stealing the inbounds pass for a fast break layup, and Cooch draining her program-reocrd seventh three of the game off the backboard in what would send the gym into a frenzy. The Big Red would go up 60-50 with three minutes to go, and with free throws from Taute and Dorighi, the Big Red entered the history books for the first time in program history, advancing to the Sweet 16 with a 63-54 win.

Team Highlights
  • Denison shot 42.3% (11-26) from behind the arc with seven coming from Abby Cooch, four from Violet Mitchell.
  • Anelly Mad-toingué finished her night with seven blocks and eight rebounds to lead the defensive end.
  • Molly Dorighi had a game-high four steals. She also added six rebounds to her night.
  • Denison had 12 blocks in comparison to Trine's three, and went 12-15 (80%) from the free throw line.
  • Junior Abby Cooch reached her 1,000th point in her Big Red career. She is the 14th Denison player to eclipse the mark.
  • Cooch also broke the program record for three-pointers made in a game with seven.
Up Next for the Big Red

Denison will take on NCAC rival John Carroll University for the third time this season in a site and time to be determined at a later date.
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