St. Louis, Mo. - DePauw cut a 14-point Illinois Wesleyan lead to four in the closing minute, but the eighth-ranked Titans prevailed, 65-59, in the opening game of the Midwest Challenge. DePauw dropped to 2-3, while Illinois Wesleyan improved to 5-0. The Tigers return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST to face Rose-Hulman after the Fightin' Engineers lost to WashU, 105-54.

The Tigers led by as many as seven in the opening period and took a 23-17 advantage into the quarter break. DePauw's biggest lead of the game came after Moira McGinley's bucket with 6:45 in the second period made it 27-19. The Titans closed the half on a 13-5 run to even the count at 32-32 at the intermission.

Neither team led by more than four in the third with Illinois Wesleyan grabbing a 48-45 lead as the game moved to the fourth. The Titans opened the final period with an 13-2 stretch to extend the lead to 61-47.

The Tigers scored the next 10 capped by Riley Mont's bucket to close the gap to 71-57 with 3:14 left. The Titans eventually stopped the run as Lauren Huber scored a layup with 1:56 remaining. 

Mont's jumper with 30 seconds remaining cut the Illinois Wesleyan lead to 63-59. The Titans were unable to convert on the offensive end, but the Tigers missed a couple of shots and Kate Palmer knocked in a pair of late free throws to seal the win.

Olivia Hart matched her collegiate high with 14 points, while Mont added 10 along with three assists. Ava Hassel grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds as DePauw held a 45-28 rebounding advantage.

Ava Bardic led Illinois Wesleyan with 17 points followed by Huber with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Mallory Powers and Palmer scored 10 each.  

DePauw shot 43.3 percent from the field to Illinois Wesleyan's 41.0 percent, but the Tigers committed 19 turnovers to the Titans' nine.