During their second-to-last game in the regular season, the women’s basketball team was 40 seconds away from kissing their undefeated streak goodbye. After a ten-point deficit with 6:21 left in the second half, the Big Red rallied to beat Wittenberg 62-60 in one of two close calls this season.
The first scare came in January, when the Kenyon Ladies led for 35 of the game’s 40 minutes of play. In the final eight minutes, however, Denison fought back from a 13-point shortage to win 72-69. “These games showcase our ability to pull through at the end,” said Head Coach Sara Lee. “When time is running out, we know how to work under pressure and make the right moves.” Lee added that in close games, the Big Red turns to its defensive players. “We try to limit the other team’s chances of scoring by playing well defensively. We try to make them act quicker than normal by playing tighter and forcing them to make quicker decisions.”
The strategy worked. A final 86-62 win over Oberlin secured the team’s record, 28-0, making them the first women’s basketball team in North Coast Athletic Conference history to complete a regular season undefeated. “I think it’s quite an accomplishment for this group of athletes to start in October and come through February without a hiccup,” Lee says. The Big Red held on to its undefeated status all the way to the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, losing to 2010 champion and 2011 runner-up Washington-St. Louis, 71-55.