Wooster Gives Nationally Ranked Denison a Scare

Trailing by double-digits early, The College of Wooster women's basketball team almost completed a comeback bid when they pulled within 50-46 midway through the second, but Denison University closed the door and notched a 73-61 victory Saturday afternoon at Granville, Ohio.

Denison (16-0, 5-0 NCAC), who is ranked among the top-25 in Div. III in the most recent USA Today/ESPN (17th) and D3hopps.com (21st) polls, wasn't able to run through Wooster (2-13, 0-5 NCAC) the way it had most opponents this season. With their average winning margin hovering around 22 points per game heading into the day, the Big Red watched as Wooster stayed within striking distance for the majority of the game.

Both squads traded buckets in the early goings, with Taylor Keegan hitting a milestone 3-pointer that drew the Scots within 12-7. It was Keegan's 100^th career 3-ball, making her one of just five players in program history to reach that mark.

Wooster fell behind by 10 (19-9), but a Keshia Butler jumper and two makes by Maura Hall at the charity stripe made it 19-13. The Scots went into the break again down by 10 (37-27), but they later strung together a 9-2 scoring run, which included another Keegan 3-ball, that got them as close as 50-46 before Denison eventually took the reigns.

Most noteworthy on the Scots' stat sheet was their season-low 14 turnovers, followed by a solid 44.4 percent (20-for-45) shooting clip from the field. Playing without their leading rebounder Kristen Schwartz, the Scots lost the battle on the glass 40 to 25.

Samantha Sulzer, who started in place of Schwartz, led Wooster with 14 points and six rebounds. Also chipping in offensively was Butler, who scored 12 points and dished out five assists.

Nicole Coggins paced Denison with her game-high 23 tallies, and Shaina Kaiser poured in another 14.

Next up, Wooster heads to Allegheny College (8-6, 2-2 NCAC) Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m