Greencastle, Ind. - By virtue of its number-one seed and a Tuesday quarterfinal win over Wooster, DePauw is set to host the 2024 NCAC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal and championship rounds today and tomorrow.
This marks the 39th women's tournament since its beginning in 1985 and DePauw is serving as host for the seventh straight time and 11th time in 12 years since beginning NCAC play in 2011-12. DePauw, Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan shared the regular season title with 11-3 conference records. The head-to-head tiebreaker between the three schools placed DePauw as the top seed, Wittenberg as the second and Ohio Wesleyan as the third. Denison is the fourth seed by virtue of its fourth-place finish. DePauw's seven straight shared or outright NCAC titles is an NCAC record and this year's semifinals features the top four seeds for the fourth straight time and sixth in the last eight tournaments.
Semifinal #1 Preview
#2 Wittenberg vs. #3 Ohio Wesleyan
SERIES INFORMATION: Wittenberg leads the all-time series 63-35 after sweeping both games this season. The teams are meeting for the 16th time in NCAC Tournament play with Wittenberg holding a 9-6 edge.
Wittenberg won by a 70-66 count on Jan. 20 at Wittenberg. Kelsey Ragan led five Wittenberg double-figure scorers with 16 points, while Jade Simpson and Riane Burton each grabbed eight rebounds and Jazmyn Gaines-Burns dished out four assists. Kasey Schipfer led Ohio Wesleyan with 23 points, nine rebounds and six steals with Elizabeth Homan dishing out six assists.
Wittenberg clinched the tri-championship last Saturday with a 76-73 victory at Ohio Wesleyan. Taryn Cash led Wittenberg with 19 points and eight assists, while Burton hauled down six rebounds. Schipfer paced Ohio Wesleyan with a career-high 30 points and nine rebounds with Homan handing out eight assists.
COACHES: Stacey Ungashick Lobdell is in her 13th season at Ohio Wesleyan and her teams have posted a 162-169 record including last year's NCAC Tournament title and an NCAA postseason appearance. Ungashick Lobdell was named the NCAC Coach of the Year in 2014.
Wittenberg's Melissa Kolbe, in her second season as head coach at her alma mater, is 40-11. In two seasons she's led the Tigers to a pair of shared NCAC titles and directed the 2023 NCAC Women's Basketball Staff of the Year.
OHIO WESLEYAN: The Battling Bishops are 21-5 overall after Tuesday's 90-45 quarterfinal win over Hiram. Schipfer paced five Ohio Wesleyan double-figure scorers with 24 points with Macy Miller grabbing 11 rebounds and Homan dishing out 10 assists and becoming the Battling Bishops' career leader with 464.
Schipfer leads the NCAC and ranks 20th in Division III scoring at 20.1 points per game and leads the squad with 8.1 rebounds. She also is the conference leader with 3.2 steals per contest. Lauren Denison follows with 12.8 points and leads the conference with 67 3-pointers made. Alyssa Griner follows with 11.1 points and Miller rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.3. Homan leads the NCAC and is second in Division III with 6.9 assists each contest.
WITTENBERG: Wittenberg enters on a five-game win streak after Tuesday's 80-39 quarterfinal win over Kenyon. Gaines-Burns led the way with 12 points with Simpson totaling seven rebounds and Evie Wolshire five assists. The Tigers are 19-6 overall and finished NCAC play as tri-champions at 11-3.
Burton leads Wittenberg with 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, while Gaines-Burns chips in 12.4 points. Cash is the team leader with 5.2 assists and Ragan has knocked down a team-high 42 3-pointers.
Semifinal #2 Preview
#1 DePauw vs. #4 Denison
SERIES INFORMATION: DePauw leads the all-time series, 33-4, after the teams split this year's meetings. They are squaring off for the sixth time in the NCAC Tournament with DePauw leading, 5-0.
Denison won, 54-48, in Granville, on Jan. 17.
Ava Hassel led DePauw with 13 points, while
Olivia Hart grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Ada Taute scored 14 for the Big Red while Abby Cooch, Morgan Kress and Abigail Westmeyer each had eight rebounds and Cooch dished out five assists.
On February 7 in Greencastle, DePauw took a 68-53 win as Hassel scored 17 and dished out five assists with
Lily Huntzinger and Hart hauling down six rebounds apiece. Cooch and Westmeyer each scored 12 for Denison and Cooch added five rebounds and five assists.
COACHES: Maureen Hirt, a 2014 Kenyon graduate, is in her second season with the Big Red with a 30-22 record. She previously served as associate head coach at Oberlin for three years.
Kris Huffman is in her 31st season with the Tigers and her teams have posted a 718-147 record including Division III national championships in 2007 and 2013. A three-time national coach of the year, Huffman has earned conference coach of the year honors 14 times. Her .830 winning percentage ranks fifth among active Division III women's basketball coaches with at least 10 years of head coaching experience. In achieving 700 wins in 841 games, she ranked fourth in the history of all levels of NCAA women's basketball play for fastest to reach the milestone.
DENISON: The Big Red are 20-6 after Tuesday's 75-60 quarterfinal win over Oberlin. Westmeyer led Denison with 21 points and shared rebounding honors with Cooch as each had seven. Taute had a game-high six assists. The Big Red finished with a 10-4 record in NCAC games.
Taute leads the Big Red with 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds each game, while Cooch chips in 11.7 points and 3.4 assists. Cooch leads the squad with 43 3-pointers made and Kress blocks 2.1 shots each contest.
DEPAUW: The Tigers are 19-7 after Tuesday's 82-47 quarterfinal win over Wooster.
Diana Burgher and
Moira McGinley led DePauw with 12 points apiece with Burgher grabbing nine rebounds.
Hassel leads the Tigers with 11.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game and has hit a team-best 44 3-pointers.
Riley Mont follows with 10.4 points per contest with Burgher and
Ainsley Boras each grabbing 5.3 rebounds.
COMING UP: The semifinal winners advance to the Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game. The tournament champion earns the conference's automatic qualification into the 64-team NCAA Division III Championship. The bracket will be revealed on NCAA.com at 2:30 p.m. EST on Monday, February 26.
