GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 4, 2022) – For the first time in over three decades, the Denison University women's basketball team will have a new head coach in charge as this year, Maureen Hirt enters her first season as the new head coach of the Big Red after spending the previous three seasons as the associate head coach at Oberlin College.

While at Oberlin, Hirt helped lead the Yeowomen to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2021-22 as the squad finished 21-4 overall and 13-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, tying the program record for both overall wins and conference wins in a season.

Hirt will look to fill the void left by previous head coach Sara Lee, who at the conclusion of last season announced that she would be stepping down from her post as Denison's head coach after 33 years leading the program. During her tenure, Coach Lee accumulated a 503-347 (.592 pct.) career record while winning four North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championships and seven NCAC Tournament titles. She was also a six-time NCAC Coach of the Year (1990-91, 1997-98, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2015-16, and 2018-19).

"This is the dream job for me," said Hirt. "Denison offers a tremendous high-academic experience and a commitment to athletic excellence that is unmatched across the NCAC and the country."

In addition to Hirt stepping into her first head coaching position, the Big Red will also welcome a new assistant coach to the bench in Griffin Tullis. Both Coach Hurt and Coach Tullis join Denison after standout playing careers at rival Kenyon College. A 2014 graduate of Kenyon College, Hirt is the all-time leading scorer in Kenyon women's basketball history. The four-time All-NCAC player and 2014 Conference Player of the Year looks to bring her experience as a student-athlete and coach in the NCAC to Denison. A 2018 Kenyon graduate, Griffin was a three-time captain and four-year starter. While she has most recently been in Columbus working at Nationwide Children's Hospital, she is making the career switch to coaching.

Tullis said, "I am extremely excited to be an assistant coach here at Denison and to have the opportunity to work at an institution that values academics and athletics. I am really looking forward to working with Coach Mo and know she will do amazing things for the players and program. Thanks to everyone in Denison athletics and Coach Mo for allowing me the opportunity to begin my coaching career."

In 2021-22, the Big Red finished the season with a 9-14 overall record and 7-8 mark in the NCAC while qualifying for the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed. This year's team is filled with veteran leadership as the Big Red return 15 letter winners and nine upperclassmen. Key returners for Denison include four starters from a year ago, including senior post player Mikaila Carpenter, who last season was Honorable Mention All-NCAC after leading the team in both points (11.2) and rebounds (7.7) per game, senior point guard Hannah Wynn (5.5 points per game, 3.9 assists per game, 2.3 steals per game), junior sharpshooter Francesca Sileo (5.6 points per game, 36.4 3PFG%) and do-it-all sophomore guard Maddie Goodman (9.6ppg).

Denison's second-leading scorer this past season was Goodman, who returns after a breakout freshman season with the Big Red a year ago. In addition, Wynn returns for her senior season after leading the team in assists and steals and coming in second in rebounding in 2021-22 while Sileo returns after leading the team in 3-point field goal percentage last season.

Other potential starters for the Big Red to tipoff the new season include senior guard Gabby Elliott and sophomore post player Abigail Westmeyer.

Guards Rosie Drevline and Jill Smith will also provide their experience as members of Denison's senior class, and junior Ava Warcaba will add to the frontcourt along with first-year Sydney Flores. Other returning guards who played meaningful minutes for the Big Red last year include junior Cara Harty and sophomore Molly Fisher while first-year guards Brooke Toigo and Jess Zittel will be in the rotation as well.

The 2022-23 Denison women's basketball team will begin its season playing at home at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 8, against Heidelberg University.

Denison's first road game will be a week later at Capital University inside the Capital Center in Bexley, Ohio, on Tuesday, November 15,

The first half of Denison's schedule this year will also feature three in-season tournaments, starting with the Hope College Tournament in Holland, Michigan, in mid-November (Nov. 18-19). The Big Red will start off against the No. 13 nationally-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Friday and could match up with the No. 1 team in the country, Hope, the next day.

Then during Thanksgiving break, Denison will travel south to Lexington, Kentucky, for the Transylvania Pat Deacon Classic (Nov. 26-27), where after battling Mayville College on Saturday, they could play the No. 2-ranked team in the country, Transylvania, on Sunday.

The Big Red will then host back-to-back home games against tough opponents in John Carroll University (Nov. 30) and Case Western Reserve University (Dec. 7) before their final in-season tournament at the Bluffton Holiday Tournament (Dec. 29-30).

"The preseason has flown by, and we are so excited to get in the gym with the team," said Hirt. "We have so many opportunities to push ourselves this season. We are headed to Hope, Transylvania, and Bluffton's tournaments during our nonconference schedule and are excited to be battle-tested early on."

Other import dates during Denison's conference schedule will be Alumni Day on Saturday, January 28 against Kenyon, and Senior Day on Saturday, February 4, against Wittenberg University.

Denison will then conclude the regular season on Saturday, February 18, at Kenyon before the NCAC Tournament tips off on Tuesday, February 21.

To follow the action all season long, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://denisonbigred.com/coverage