BOX SCORE

March 14, 2008, Whitewater, Wis. - Sixth-ranked DePauw advanced to the Division III quarterfinals for the third straight year after defeating 14th-ranked Amherst by a 68-63 score in tonight's first sectional semifinal contest.

The Tigers improved to 28-3 on the season, while the Lord Jeffs finished at 27-3. DePauw takes on the winner of tonight's second sectional semifinal game between Simpson and Wisconsin-Whitewater. 

After Cassie Pruzin buried a three with just under nine minutes left, DePauw took its biggest lead of the game at 52-43. However, the Tigers would not score another field goal for the next 7:39.

During the stretch Amherst ran off 10 straight points to take a 53-52 lead with 4:43 remaining. Pruzin broke the scoring drought with two free throws, but Jaclyn Daigneault's bucket gave the Lord Jeffs a 55-54 lead with 3:35 left.

The teams exchanged free throws over a two-minute stretch and DePauw still held a 60-59 advantage. DePauw's Emily Marshall rebounded a Kalei Lowes miss and Marshall's putback with 1:19 left extended the DePauw lead to three.

Marshall missed the subsequent free throw, but grabbed a key defensive rebound on the other end which led to Pruzin's layup with 35.6 seconds remaining that made it 64-59.

Shaina Pollack's drive with 19 seconds remaining closed the gap to 64-61 before Pruzin nailed two free throws with 9.5 seconds left. Pollack scored again with seven lefts remaining, but Pruzin's two charity tosses with 3.2 seconds left sealed the Tigers' 17th straight win.

"They defended us well," DePauw head coach Kris Huffman said. "Emily's rebound was key and she did it for us at the same time of the game last weekend."

Pruzin led the Tigers with 26 points andd 10 rebounds, while Haehl followed with 14 points and Jenna Fernandez added 10.

Pollack paced Amherst with a career-high 29, whie Leyman finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers shot just 33.3 percent from the floor to Amherst's 39.1 percent, but DePauw held a 40-31 edge on the boards and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.