Big Red Defeats Wooster 77-45 Behind Huge First Half

In the second meeting between North Coast Athletic Conferences foes Denison University and the College of Wooster in the last 12 days, the Big Red utilized a big first half scoring output Wednesday night, and cruised to 77-45 victory over the visiting Fighting Scots.

Tied at 7-7 with 17:10 left in the first half, Denison (7-6, 5-0 NCAC) rattled off runs of 9-0 and 16-2 over the next 11 minutes, and continued to pad its advantage. With 13 turnovers and an 8-of-22 shooting performance (36.4 percent) coming during that opening stanza, Wooster couldn't find a rhythm on the offensive end of the floor.

The Big Red shot 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) and 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from beyond the three-point line in the opening 20 minutes, while holding a 22-11 rebounding margin. Those stats, coupled with Denison's defense, which caused problems for the Scots (4-9, 2-3 NCAC) all evening, lifted Denison to a big halftime advantage (45-17).

Nearly midway through the second half, the Scots cut that lead down to 20 (55-35) on a three-point field goal from Kym Wenz, however, the Big Red responded with a quick 7-0 run over the following three minutes and went ahead 62-35 and were never threatened again.

Wooster was paced by the play of Wenz, who had team-highs of 13 points and five steals. Kaitlin Krister scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds, while Samantha Justice contributed six points and four boards. Additionally, Taylor Keegan came off the bench for Wooster and notched five points, and tied her career high with seven rebounds.

Denison's Carolyn Simpson led all players with 14 rebounds and three blocks to go along with 10 points for a double-double. Sarah Perrine came off the bench and recorded a game-high 15 points, while Haley Dahlgard added 12 points.

The Scots return home to Timken Gymnasium on Saturday when they play host to Hiram College (3-10, 2-3 NCAC) with tip-off set for 2 p.m.