Greencastle, Ind. - After trailing by 11 in the first period, DePauw came back for a 69-61 North Coast Athletic Conference overtime win over visiting Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers improved to 17-7 overall and 12-1 in the NCAC and remained in a first-place tie with Wittenberg after collecting their 10th straight win. The Battling Bishops dropped to 14-10 overall and 9-4 in conference play.
DePauw led early, 8-7, but the Battling Bishops scored 12 straight to take a 19-8 advantage.
Ainsley Boras hit one-of-two free throws and
Mya Shannon buried a three at the buzzer to close the gap to 19-12 after the first period.
The guests pushed the lead back to double digits, but a 3-pointer from
Diana Burgher followed by
Ava Hassel's basket and
Riley Mont's three made it 22-20 with 8:33 left in the half. The Tigers tied the game at 24-24 before Ohio Wesleyan took a 31-28 advantage into the break.
DePauw garnered a four-point lead at 44-40 after Shannon nailed two free throws with 3:16 left in the third and the teams headed to the fourth with DePauw leading, 45-42.Â
The fourth quarter included four ties and two lead changes with the teams going 4:38 without a field goal until Hassel's jumper with 59 seconds left in regulation gave the Tigers a 53-51 lead. Alyssa Griner evened the score at the 0:44 mark. Shannon and Kasey Schipfer exchanged baskets before Mont's potential go-ahead jumper in the paint was off the mark and Ohio Wesleyan rebounded.
Ohio Wesleyan grabbed a 59-56 lead in overtime but Mont responded with a jumper before DePauw took advantage of a pair of Battling Bishops' turnovers with Shannon hitting two free throws and a jumper. The Battling Bishops countered with two free throws to close the DePauw lead to 62-61. Mont's layup pushed the lead back to three and, after DePauw's defense recorded a stop,
Moira McGinley pushed the advantage to 66-61 with a driving layup. An Ohio Wesleyan turnover led to a pair of free throws for McGinley and
Lydia Stullken made one charity toss with 0.2 seconds left for the game's final points.
Shannon led all scorers with 25 points, while Hassel added 12 and Mont 10. Stullken grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots with
Maura Fitzgerald dishing out three assists.
Griner paced Ohio Wesleyan with 16 points followed by Schipfer with 14 and Karlee Ross 10. Griner and Schipfer each had seven rebounds and Elizabeth Homan totaled six assists.
DePauw shot 45.5 percent for the game to Ohio Wesleyan's 40.0 and the Tigers held a 39-26 rebounding edge. DePauw committed 22 turnovers to the Battling Bishops' 13.
The win was DePauw's 53rd straight home NCAC regular season victory. The Tigers can clinch a share of the NCAC title on Saturday, Feb. 18, when they travel to Wooster for a 1 p.m. game.
