Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw overcame a six-point lead in the third period and held off visiting Wittenberg in the fourth with an 8-2 closing run on the way to a 69-62 North Coast Athletic Conference win. The host Tigers improved to 16-5 overall and 9-1 in NCAC play, while Wittenberg dropped to 14-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
Wittenberg grabbed a 16-8 lead in the first before DePauw closed the frame with a 6-1 run to trail 17-14 at the quarter break. The Tigers gained their first lead of the game when
Ava Hassel hit a jumper with 8:41 left in the opening half to make it 20-19. The visiting Tigers, however, scored the next eight points to take a 27-20 lead and eventually stretched the margin back to eight at 30-22 midway through the second. Wittenberg led at the halftime intermission, 35-30.
DePauw trailed, 42-39, late in the third before Hassel buried a three and
Tori Allen knocked down a shot to give the Tigers a 44-42 advantage with 2:10 remaining in the period.
Taryn Cash's layup with eight seconds left in the third cut DePauw's lead to one, but Allen's buzzer-beating drive gave DePauw a 49-46 lead entering the fourth.
Ainsley Boras pushed the lead to 51-46 with a jumper in the opening minute of the fourth, but Wittenberg came back with six straight as Riane Burton made one bucket and Jazmyn Gaines-Burns added a pair of layups.
Boras countered with a basket and Hassel hit back-to-back 3-pointers that sandwiched a Wittenberg trey from Mckenna Baker and DePauw held a 59-55 lead with less than five minutes left.
Baker closed the gap to 59-57 with a fast break layup off a DePauw turnover and Hassel pushed the lead back to four with two free throws at the 2:45 mark. Gaines-Burns hit one of two free throws and Burton nailed a pair to trim the DePauw lead to 61-60 with 1:11 remaining.
DePauw missed on its next possession but
Olivia Hart was fouled after snagging an offensive rebound and hit both free throws with 53 seconds remaining to expand the lead to 63-60.
Gaines-Burns missed a jumper and the Tigers gained possession. Following a timeout and with the shot clock winding down, Allen drove the lane and gave DePauw a 65-60 lead with 20 seconds left.
Wittenberg failed to convert on its next possession and DePauw finished with 3-of-4 shooting from the line over the final 16 seconds.
Hassel led all scorers with 19 points including 17 in the second half and hit 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.
Riley Mont followed with 12 points and a team-high five assists and Boras grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
Gaines-Burns paced Wittenberg with 16 points followed by Burton with 15 and Cash 14. Jade Simpson led the guests with eight boards, while Cash had seven assists and four steals.
DePauw shot 35.6 percent from the floor to Wittenberg's 36.7 percent and the hosts hit 6-of-16 3-pointers to Wittenberg's 3-of-12. The Tigers also nailed 21-of-25 from the line, while Wittenberg hit 15-of-26.
DePauw held a 44-35 rebounding edge and committed 17 turnovers to Wittenberg's 12.
The Tigers travel to Delaware, Ohio, on Saturday, Feb. 3, for a 2 p.m. game at Ohio Wesleyan.
