GRANVILLE, Ohio (Nov. 17) – A strong second half helped the Denison University women's basketball team run away with the championship at the inaugural Sara Lee Classic with an 85-53 win over Ferrum College at Livingston Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. 
 
With a pair of wins this weekend, the Big Red improve to 3-1 overall. The Panthers suffer their first loss of the season and fall to 2-1. 
 
Ferrum pushed out to an early 9-4 advantage less than four minutes into the contest. Denison used a three-pointer by Violet Mitchell and a layup from Bryana Woodard to take a 14-13 lead with 3:25. Woodard knocked down a pair of free throws to push Denison in front by an 18-17 score after the first quarter. 
 
Brooke Toigo converted a layup and drained a three-pointer to extend the Denison lead to 24-20 at the 8:15 mark of the second quarter. Mitchell accounted for four-straight Big Red points to make it 26-22 with 5:58 to play before halftime. The lead reached double figures when Adelyn Moore knocked down a three-point field goal to swell the lead to 35-24 at the 1:30 mark. Denison was able to maintain its double-digit lead into halftime at 38-28. 
 
Denison ran away with things in the second half. The lead reached 15 when Abby Cooch made a jumper at the 6:14 mark to make it 47-32. A few minutes later, Cooch converted a three-point play to push the lead to 52-34 with 3:54 to play. The Big Red continued to remain in complete control when Moore made it a 20-point lead that made it 57-37 with 2:27 to play in the third. 
 
Izzy Arguelles entered and knocked down a pair of three-point field goals in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. The second Arguelles make made it 69-42 at the 6:43 mark. 
 
Jess Zittel, Elliana Baker, Gillian Magner and Molly Fisher all found the scoring columns in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Magner gave Denison its largest lead at 83-50 with 2:32 left. 
 
Abigail Westmeyer led Denison with 17 points and eight rebounds. Cooch filled the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Mitchell joined them in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field goal. 
 
Woodard finished with eight points and five rebounds while Maddie Goodman added six points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. 
 
Denison shot 46.4 percent from the field which included converting at a 36.7 percent clip from behind the three-point line with 11 makes. 
 
Denison put together lopsided margins in bench points (29-10) and points in the paint (42-26). 

Up Next: Denison travels to Wilmington College for a non-conference game on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.