Springfield, Ohio - DePauw jumped out to a 17-2 lead in the opening six minutes and held on for a 70-60 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Wittenberg. The Tigers improved to 11-4 overall and took sole possession of first place in the NCAC with a 4-0 conference record, while Wittenberg dropped to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the league.
Riley Mont scored on the game's first possession and added two free throws before
Ava Hassel hit a three and one of two free throw to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead. Wittenberg stopped the run with Riane Burton's bucket, but DePauw scored the next nine capped by
Ainsley Boras' second-chance basket to make it 17-2 with 4:04 remaining in the opening period. DePauw took a 23-12 lead into the quarter break.
A 13-2 Wittenberg stretch in the second period knotted the score at 27-27 before
Tori Allen knocked in a trey and
Lily Huntzinger scored a layup to give DePauw a 32-27 lead at the halftime intermission.
The hosts closed to within three points on a couple of occasions early in the third before DePauw started to pull away to lead by as may as 14 in the period.Â
Wittenberg opened the final stanza with an 8-2 run to cut the DePauw lead to 54-48Â before Hassel nailed a pair of free throws and Mont hit a couple of baskets to extend the Tigers' lead to 60-48 with 4:33 left. Wittenberg got no closer than nine the rest of the way as the Tigers hit 7-of-8 free throws in the closing minute.
Mont led DePauw with 17 points, while Hassel added 16. Boras led the Tigers with six rebounds and
Diana Burgher dished out four assists,
Burton paced Wittenberg with 22 points and 17 rebounds, while Jazmyn Gaines-Burns and Madi Barnett each scored 13. Barnett and Taryn Cash each handed out four assists.
DePauw shot 35.1 percent from the floor to Wittenberg's 37.5 percent and the Tigers hit six 3-pointers while the hosts were 0-for-7 from beyond the arc. DePauw also connected on 24-of-28 from the line to Wittenberg's 12-of-17. Wittenberg outrebounded DePauw, 36-34, and had 12 turnovers to DePauw's 13.
DePauw hosts Oberlin on Saturday, Jan. 13, at 1 p.m.
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