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Memphis, Tenn. - DePauw improved to 25-3 overall and earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship with a 62-57 victory over third-ranked and defending NCAA champion Trinity in the title game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
DePauw opens NCAA tournament play on Wednesday, March 3, when it hosts Aurora (Ill.) University at the Neal Fieldhouse. Game time will be announced on Monday.
The Tigers, ranked eighth in the latest coaches' poll and ninth by D3hoops.com, will make their fifth trip to Division III postseason and first since they finished third in 2002. Trinity dropped to 24-3 on the season with two of the losses coming to DePauw. The SCAC championship was DePauw's fifth outright or shared title in its six years in the conference.
Suzy Doughty hit two free throws with 13.5 seconds left to push DePauw's lead to five points and seal its 15th consecutive win. Trinity led the entire first half and built as much as a 10-point advantage at 22-12. The Tigers scored the next six points and held Trinity scoreless over a six-minute stretch to close to within four. DePauw trailed 26-24 at the intermission.
Tournament MVP Sarah Zondor scored DePauw's first seven points of the second half as the Tigers took their first lead of the game. The Tigers took their biggest lead of the game at 55-49 when Tria Yoder buried a three-pointer on an inbounds play with two seconds left on the shot clock.
Trinity later closed to within two at 57-55 on Allison Wooley's layup with 1:36 left, but Zondor knocked down a three-pointer with 1:14 remaining to make it 60-55. Claire Allen's bucket with 51 seconds left after an offensive rebound cut the lead to three.
Jenna Smith then stole the ball on the inbounds, but Amy Howe's try was off the mark with 24 seconds left and Doughty grabbed the rebound and was fouled setting up the clinching free throws.
"Our players just showed their resolve in the second half," DePauw coach Kris Huffman said. "Our seniors didn't want to end their careers today."
Zondor led the Tigers with 19, while Amy Argetsinger added 13 and Doughty scored 12. Argetsinger's first of two free throws with 1:58 remaining made her the seventh player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Smith posted a double-double for Trinity with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Allison Wooley added 12 points.
"Some players really came up big for us in the second half," Huffman added. "Sarah Zondor knocked down some big shots and Tria Yoder hit a huge three-pointer late in the game."
Trinity held a 41-37 advantage on the boards and hauled down 19 offensive rebounds. Colleen Powers grabbed 11 rebounds for DePauw including five on the offensive end.
In addition to Zondor, Argetsinger was named to the all-tournament team as well as Smith and Wooley of Trinity and Bonnie Hicks of Hendrix.
