Ellen O'Brien dished off a career-high tying 12 assists in the Big Red's 23-point win over Wittenberg. The 12 helpers improved her nationally ranked assist turnover ratio to 3.43.

The Denison women's basketball team improved to a perfect 9-0 North Coast Athletic Conference record with a 74-51 victory over the Tigers of Wittenberg University. The win was DU's eighth in a row and gives the Big Red a three-game lead in the conference standings.

After falling into an early 2-0 hole, Denison ripped off a 16-3 run to capture an 11 point advantage with 14:16 remaining in the opening frame. Sophomore Shaina Kaiser (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) sparked the run with seven of the 16 tallies. Wittenberg responded over the next 10 plus minutes and was able to trim the margin to one (24-23) on a layup by Stephanie Boardman. After a Haley Dahlgard (Walnut Creek, Calif/Northgate) free throw made it a 25-23 contest, the Tigers' Katherine Hueter drained a jumper to knot the game at 25-all. However, seven quick points gave the Big Red a seven-point advantage with just over a minute left in the half. Denison took a 32-27 lead into the locker room following a pair of foul shots by Wittenberg's Katie Gardner.

Like they have done so many times this season, the Big Red came out of the intermission on fire knocking down five of their first seven shots from the field. The hot start helped DU engineer a 24-6 run spanning the first 10 minutes of the second half. The domination continued throughout the period as the Big Red cruised to the 23-point victory.

Denison connected on 30-of-62 (48 percent) from the field and had 14 fast break points compared to two by the Tigers. The Big Red also received assistance from their reserves as the bench dropped 25 tallies. DU also dished off a season-high 21 assists and scored 18 points off 21 Wittenberg turnovers.

Kaiser led all scorers with 21 while senior Carolyn Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) scored 14 and pulled down six boards. The senior's 14-point performance moved her into fifth place on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Robin Jones with 1,121 career points. Senior Ellen O'Brien (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) dished off 12 assists tying her career high which was set last season against Washington (Mo.). O'Brien now just needs five assists to pass Christ Clay for second on Denison's all-time assists list.

Boardman led Wittenberg with 15 points on 7-of-10 (70 percent) shooting from the floor while Hueter grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

The Big Red (11-6) return to action on Saturday when they travel to Hiram, Ohio to take on NCAC foe Hiram College. Tip-off at Price Gymnasium is scheduled for 1 p.m.