Greencastle, Ind. - Visiting Wisconsin-Eau Claire outscored DePauw 17-2 over the final five minutes of the first half and the opening two minutes of the second and pulled away from the Tigers for a 65-51 win in the championship game of the Amy Hasbrook Memorial Tournament. DePauw dropped to 6-6, while the 15th-ranked Blugolds improved to 11-2.
The teams battled to a 19-19 tie after a first quarter that featured four ties and four lead changes. The Tigers'
Diana Burgher hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 25-25 with 5:03 left in the second period, but those were DePauw's final points of the half as the Blugolds scored the final eight to take a 33-25 halftime advantage.
Mya Shannon led off the second half with a bucket on DePauw's first trip down the floor, but Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Tyra Boettcher, Kylie Mogen and Courtney Crouch each hit three-pointers on the Blugolds' first three possessions to push the lead to 42-27. The guests extended the lead to as many as 20 points and led, 53-34, as the teams entered the fourth.
DePauw scored six-straight over the opening four minutes of the fourth period to close the gap to 53-40 and eventually were within 10 at 59-49 after Burgher's bucket with 2:44 remaining. Following a Wisconsin-Eau Claire turnover, the Tigers couldn't convert a chance to cut the deficit to single digits and Jessie Ruden responded with a three to push the lead back to 13 with less than two minutes remaining.
Burgher led DePauw with a career-high 16 points including eight in the fourth period, while Shannon added 14 and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Ainsley Boras led the Tigers with 10 rebounds.
Ruden, the tournament MVP, led all scorers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Crouch added 16 and Boettcher scored 12. Boettcher earned a spot on the all-tournament team as well.
The Blugolds shot 35.5 percent from the field to DePauw's 29.0 and held a 45-38 rebounding edge over the Tigers.
Trine defeated Marian (Wis.) in the third-place game by a 73-38 score as Sidney Wagner scored 21 for the Thunder and Makayla Ardis grabbed 11 rebounds. Paris Harris led Marian with 19 points. Ardis and Harris rounded out the all-tournament team.
DePauw returns to North Coast Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 with a 6 p.m. home game against Hiram.
