GRANVILLE, Ohio – No. 3 seed Denison women's basketball team had five players in double figures, including Serafina Nuzzo tying a game-high 18 points to lead the Big Red over No. 6 Allegheny 80-58 in the North Coast Athletic (NCAC) quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

Denison (19-7) outscored the Gators (10-16) by 11 points in each half to post its third win of the season over Allegheny to advance to the NCAC Semifinals on Friday at Wittenberg. Shaina Kaiser went 6-for-11 for 13 points and Lucy Follansbee came off the bench to score 12.

Freshman Heidi Goeller netted a career-high 18 points and four steals to pace the Gators. Emilie Simone added 11 points and three blocks.

Each team shot 50 percent or better from the floor in the first stanza, keeping the contest close until the final three minutes of the half. Allegheny had an 8-5 lead at the 16:55 mark and went ahead 14-13 on a Goeller jumper. Kyli Parker drained a triple off a Gator turnover to give the Big Red the lead for good at 16-14.

Allegheny got within two points on three occasions over the next several minutes, but Kaiser, Nuzzo and Follansbee recorded four points apiece down the stretch to help Denison get an 11-point cushion at halftime.

The Big Red continued to build upon their score with a 16-4 run to begin the second half to make it 57-36. The Gators could not recover in the final 13:50 of the game.  Denison tallied its biggest lead with 3:51 left on Follansbee's two free throws at 78-48.

The Big Red knocked in seven three-pointers on the night, while Allegheny did not get one shot from behind the arc to drop. Both teams shot 83.3 percent from the free-throw line and Denison pulled down one more rebound (32-31).

The Gators conclude their season with a 10-16 overall record and a 7-9 conference mark.