The undefeated Denison women’s basketball team has made more field goals than anyone else in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Except for the day its players couldn’t see the rim.
As teammates convulsed with laughter, player after player dribbled from midcourt, practice jerseys pulled over their heads, and hopelessly took aim at the hoop. Livingston Gym rained air balls.
The slapstick spectacle, which has 22,000 social media views and counting, was the brainchild of guard Katie Houpt ’26 and part of the team’s ongoing “TikTok Tuesdays” series. Those following Big Red social accounts can learn of players’ pet peeves, watch locker-room presentations after wins, and find out which teammate is best equipped to survive a zombie apocalypse.
“We have a lot of awesome personalities, and they’re all different, which is great,” Brooke Toigo ’26 said. “We’re never embarrassed to do goofy stuff in front of each other, and that’s a testament to our team culture.”
A culture developed by head coach Maureen Hirt and embraced by a roster of talented and athletic players is central to the program’s best start to a season in 15 years. The Big Red are 14-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
They lead the NCAC in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, turnover margin, and fun. Name another team that has players on the bench performing synchronized, Rockettes-style kicks during a game.
“This is the most connected group I’ve ever coached,” said Hirt, in her fourth season at Denison. “They have a great balance of competitiveness, talent, and joy.”
The Big Red are nationally ranked — they were No. 15 as of Jan. 13, 2026 — for the first time since the 2015-16 season. But players understand tougher tests await in a conference featuring three nationally ranked teams, including Ohio Wesleyan University (No. 12) and newcomer John Carroll University (No. 11).
There’s plenty of uncertainty ahead, but the one constant the Big Red players can rely on is each other.
A masterclass in selflessness
Abby Cooch ’27 sensed it immediately on her campus recruiting visit. It was Hirt’s first year at the helm and the Big Red were in the throes of a 10-16 season, but Cooch was impressed with the camaraderie of the team.
A point guard who generated interest from Division I programs agreed to be part of Hirt’s first recruiting class at Denison. The seven players who comprise the Class of ’27 represent the backbone of a team that boasts depth and tenacity.
“There were no cliques, no drama, nothing like that,” said Cooch, recalling her first meeting with Big Red players. “One thing that makes us special is we don’t look for individual recognition. We are a team, and we act like it. We hang out with each other. We’re comfortable in each other’s company.”
The Big Red spent most of their winter break on campus, playing games and practicing. Players blessed with culinary skills cooked meals for the group, while others volunteered to make Chipotle runs. They gathered in residence halls for games and movie nights.
Coach Maureen Hirt calls her team, “the most connected group I’ve ever coached They have a great balance of competitiveness, talent, and joy.”
“At Denison, it’s more than a team, it’s a family,” Anelly Mad-Toingue ’28 said. “I never felt that way with my high school or AAU teams.”
That’s a tribute to Hirt, a four-time, all-NCAC standout and 2014 conference player of the year at Kenyon College. As a student, she became a believer in mudita — the Sanskrit/Pali word that means the selfless delight in the good fortune, happiness, and success of others, without envy or comparison.
The Denison women’s basketball team isn’t the only athletic program to preach mudita. For instance, baseball coach Mike Deegan also shares the Buddhist concept with his players.
The Big Red women’s basketball team has no team captains. Every player is assigned to one of four committees — workout warriors, team spirit, team and community events, and logistics — and they serve on each committee during their time at Denison. Hirt and her assistant coaches want all players to take ownership of the team, and to, in the words of Hirt, “have a seat at the table.”
“We have a wide variety of skills in our team,” Ada Taute ’27 said. “Understanding how to utilize everyone to the best of their abilities is what we do really well.”
That extends to the coaching staff. Assistant coach Olivia Woolam tracks underlying statistics that give the Big Red an advantage in game preparation. She provides detailed reports on the team’s shot selection, crash rate (offensive rebounding), and hustle metrics such as loose ball recoveries, charges drawn, and deflections. Woolam also assists in content creation, having been a social media manager for the Chicago Sky of the WNBA.
At the end of practices, coaches gather the players at center court and ask each one to name a positive attribute that a teammate brought to the court that day.
“We’re not competing against each other here,” Toigo said. “We’re competing for each other.”
Jess Zittel, right, accepts congratulations from Jamie Elliot and Gillian Magner after receiving a weekly team award.
Inspirational leader
As the Big Red boarded a bus for their first game of the 2023-24 season, players were told Hirt would not be accompanying them on the trip to Heidelberg College. There was confusion and fear.
A day later, the players assembled for a video conference with their head coach, who was lying in a hospital bed. Hirt had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare cancer that affects the lymphatic system.
Adversity never leaves you where it finds you, and Hirt and her players embarked on an emotional journey together.
“It’s our first college experience, one of the biggest adjustments in life and when we found out Coach Mo had cancer, it put a lot of things in perspective,” Violet Mitchell ’27 said. “It taught us what really matters. It brought everyone together and made us realize we are playing for something bigger than ourselves.”
Hirt spent 18 days in the hospital but missed only five games before returning to the bench.
A year earlier, the team had adopted the slogan “Two Feet In,” coined by former team member Molly Fisher ’24, which refers to the physical and holistic aspect of committing 100% to the program. Hirt’s willingness to coach through the pain, fatigue, and battery of chemotherapy treatments galvanized her young team, especially those seven first-years.
They finished the season 20-7 and Hirt, who remains in remission, was named D3hoops.com regional coach of the year and was a finalist for the Division III Women’s Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year.
Coach Maureen Hirt led the team to a 14-0 start – the best since Sara Lee led the Big Red to a 28-0 season in 2010-11.
“Seeing her resilience and seeing her wanting to be here even though she was going through all of that was inspiring,” Cooch said. “It planted in our minds that if she can do that — if she can show up for us — then we also have to show up for her. We continue to carry that attitude.”
Fast and furious
Big Red practices are loud. Spectators can barely hear the squeaking of sneakers and bouncing of balls over the nonstop chatter of players and coaches.
The gym echoes with shouts of encouragement and instruction during the uptempo practices. Even injured players riding stationary bikes are clapping and hooting.
Even players rehabbing injuries on stationary bikes contribute to the high-energy practices.
“The practices are very fast paced and physical, but we have a good time out here,” Hirt said. “When you have that mudita, that love for your teammates, a lot of things fall into place.”
The team’s athleticism, speed, and conditioning have allowed players to become full-court-pressing demons. The relentless pressure has produced a conference-leading 324 turnovers and countless easy baskets.
The Big Red will need to rely on that suffocating defense as the stakes grow higher and they try to earn their first NCAA tournament bid in a decade.
Players are savoring their breakout season. They moved into a new locker room in the fall and retained the disco ball, which is the focal point of their pre-game dance parties, with Cooch acting as team deejay.
Cohesiveness and fun-loving social media posts can take a team only so far, but the word is out on the environment the Big Red are fostering, and each year more talented recruits are wanting to be a part of it.
“During the recruiting process, we talk to kids about what kind of culture we want to promote,” Hirt said. “And our culture has attracted the right people to come into it. These kids are each other’s best friends, and it shows up on the court.”
