Ellen O'Brien scored 9 points and had 7 assists but it wasn't enough as OWU defeated the Big Red 80-66 in the NCAC Semifinals.

Last year the Denison Big Red entered the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and knocked off No. 1 seed Kenyon 43-41 on their home court after the Ladies ran the table in the regular season with a 16-0 record.

This year it was the Big Red who rolled through the conference regular season schedule to put their school record 16-game winning streak on the line versus the visiting Battling Bishops.  From the opening tip it was evident that Ohio Wesleyan had upset on their mind and after surviving a late push by the Big Red, OWU came away with a 80-66 win to advance to tomorrow's championship game versus Allegheny College.

Denison's biggest lead was five with 13:14 to play in the first half but Ohio Wesleyan would respond with an 11-0 run to take a six-point lead midway through the first half.  DU would fight back and a Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) 3-pointer with 4:55 to play lifted the Big Red back into the lead at 29-28.  With 2:28 to play in the opening half Rachel Seibel's layup put OWU up four and after two Pam Quigney free throws and a trey by Tyler Cordell OWU took a 8-point lead into the locker room.

Quigney led Ohio Wesleyan with 12 points in the first half.

In the second half Ohio Wesleyan's lead grew to as much as 15 with 8:39 to play. Denison countered with a 9-0 run thanks to a pair of Carolyn Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) jumpers and another Kaiser 3-pointer.  Now trailing by six with six minutes to play each possession became more and more pressure-packed.  Denison kept fighting but they were going to need a break from OWU at the free throw line and that would not happen.  Over the final 4:44 the Bishops sank 16 consecutive free throws to take away any chance of a DU comeback.

For the game Ohio Wesleyan was 22-of-28 from the charity stripe (79%) and they set a new school, single-game low with just six turnovers.

Denison shot 39 percent from the field but were just 4-of-11 from the free throw line.  Denison was led by Simpson's 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.  Kaiser scored 13 points and had eight rebounds.  Seniors Caitlin Graessle  (Galloway, Ohio/Bishop Ready) and Ellen O'Brien (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) both ended the night with nine points each.  O'Brien also finished with seven assists.

The Big Red held a 44-43 edge on the boards and did knock down eight 3-pointers while committing only 11 turnovers.  Quigney scored 21 points and Cordell ended with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes.  Katie Hamilton was also a major factor inside, finishing with 16 points and nine boards while sinking 12 of her 17 free throws.

Denison's season comes to a close with a 19-7 record.  The senior class consisting of O'Brien, Simpson, Graessle, Sarah Perrine (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), Katie St. Clair (Granger, Ind./St. Joseph's) and Amber Clites (Oakmont, Pa./River View) leave DU with 84 victories, two NCAC regular season championships and three NCAC Tournament titles.

In the first semifinal game of the night Allegheny got 14 points and a late field goal by Emilie Simone with seven seconds left to top No. 2 seed Kenyon, 47-45.  The championship game will take place at Denison on Saturday (Feb. 28) starting at 7 p.m.