Denison 59, Franciscan 47

Franciscan Starters 
Madison Doan, Lauren Arena, Ilena Gonzales, Jazzlyn Melnyk, Felicia MacGillivray  

Denison Starters 
Isa Contreras, Hannah Wynn, Maddie Goodman, Francesca Sileo, Mikaila Carpenter

How It Happened 
Franciscan would have two players earn double doubles in the road loss at Denison on Tuesday night. Madison Doan would earn her fourth double double of the season, while Felicia MacGillivray earned her first of her career.

The Lady Barons would start out strong from the field in this game, as they were able to build a 7-0 lead. Madison Doan added a pair of buckets, and Felicia MacGillivray made her first three pointer of the night to give Franciscan the early edge. The Big Red would answer with a run of their own, as an 8-0 run would give Denison there first lead of the game with six minutes to play in the first quarter. Denison was able build upon their lead, but Jazzlyn Melnyk would make her first three pointer of the night in the final minutes to send us onto the second quarter trailing by one with a score of 14-13.

Doan and MacGillivray would step up once more with early buckets to give the Lady Barons an 18-16 lead. The Big Red would get their offense going once more, as they would answer on a 9-1 run over the final six minutes to take a 25-19 lead into the half. 

The Big Red would score the first couple buckets of the second half to stretch the lead to double digits with a 29-19 edge. Melnyk would score Franciscan's first points of the quarter on a pair of free throws to cut it to an eight point margin with eight minutes left in third. After a Denison 8-0 run, Kimberly McDaniels would go off on a personal 4-0 run with a pair of layups for the Lady Barons. Madison Doan and Felicia MacGillivray would also add jumpers down the stretch to reach double digit scoring before the end of the quarter and tighten the gap. Lauren Arena added her first points of the night on a layup with 12 seconds left in the quarter to cut the lead to five. Denison would be leading 40-35 heading into the fourth quarter. 

McDaneils would score to start the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three points at 40-37. The Big Red would respond with a 12-2 run to stretch the lead back out to 52-39. A lot of their offense came in the paint, as Carpenter had a 5-0 run of her own, including a tough and one layup. Doan and MacGillivray would heat up again, as they would help the Lady Barons cut it to a nine point game with a little over a minute to play. In the process, the would both reach double digit rebounds to make this the first game of the season that Franciscan had two players with double doubles. Franciscan would be forced to foul late and hope for some missed, but Denison would be strong from the line and close this one out 59-47.

Inside the Numbers 
- Felicia MacGillivray led Franciscan with 16 points. She notched her first double double with a season high 11 rebounds.
- Madison Doan led Franciscan with 12 rebounds and extended her double double streak to three games in a row.
- Doan also had a season high three blocks.
- Jazzlyn Melnyk would have a team high four steals.
- Denison scored 25 points off turnovers.

Up Next 
Franciscan will not return to the floor for a game until three weeks from Tuesday, as they will have some time off for Christmas break. They will jump back into PAC play on January 4th at Westminster. This is the start of three games in five days, as the PAC and many other conferences like to get games in before classes begin. The Titans are 3-3 thus far, but have three more games on the schedule before they play the Lady Barons, as they are one of the more active teams over break. Franciscan is in search of their first win against Westminster, as they have lost in each of their previous two matchups. 

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