Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw outscored visiting Denison, 37-22, over the middle two quarters and avenged a Jan.17 loss at Denison by topping the Big Red, 68-53. The Tigers improved to 17-6 overall and maintain a half-game lead in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with a 10-2 league mark. Denison dropped to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in NCAC play.
DePauw held a 16-14 lead after the first quarter and opened the second period with a 9-1 run to take a 25-15 advantage. The Tigers led at the break, 29-21.
Denison briefly closed the gap to single digits in the third, but a 12-4 DePauw stretch extended the Tigers' lead to 43-27. After the Big Red cut the deficit to 11,
Ava Hassel and
Lily Huntzinger closed the third with back-to-back threes to give DePauw a 53-36 lead. DePauw held off the Big Red in the fourth as the lead never dipped below 11.
Hassel paced DePauw with 17 points and five assists followed by Huntzinger and Moria McGinley with 10 apiece. Huntzinger and
Olivia Hart each grabbed six rebounds, while
Lydia Stullken had three steals and two blocks with
Ainsley Boras also blocking two shots.
Abby Cooch and Abigail Westmeyer each scored 12 for Denison with Cooch grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists.
DePawu shot 41.4 percent from the floor to Denison's 42.9 percent, but DePauw connected on 7-of-19 3-pointers to Denison's 5-of-17. The Tigers outscored the Big Red from the line, 13-6, held a 39-28 rebounding edge and committed 12 turnovers to Denison's 15.
The Tigers travel to Oberlin on Saturday, Feb.10, for a 2 p.m. NCAC game.
