Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw held an 11-point lead over ninth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan with 5:30 left before the Battling Bishops closed to within two in the closing minute, but the host Tigers held on for a 60-56 North Coast Athletic Conference victory. DePauw improved to 15-9 overall and 8-5 in the NCAC with its fourth straight win, while Ohio Wesleyan dropped to 20-3 overall and 11-2 in league play.
The Tigers built as much as a seven-point lead in the opening period before Ohio Wesleyan scored the final four to cut the deficit to 17-14 at the quarter break. DePauw's lead reached as much as eight in the second at 24-16 before the Battling Bishops went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to two. The Tigers held the Battling Bishops without a field goal over the final three minutes of the half and finished with four straight on a free throw by
Olivia Hart and a
Hannah Meyers 3-pointer in the closing seconds which pushed the halftime lead to 30-24.
Ohio Wesleyan tied the contest at 37-37 with just over three minutes left in the third but the Tigers took an 45-41 advantage into the final stanza.
Riley Mont hit a pair of buckets and Meyers knocked down a three to give the Tigers a 52-41 edge with 8:05 left. The team were scoreless for over two minutes before exchanging baskets with the Tigers holding a 54-43 lead with 5:38 remaining.
Mia Guscoff nailed threes on back-to-back possessions to quickly trim DePauw's lead to 54-49 at the 4:55 mark. Alyssa Griner's basket after a DePauw shot clock violation made it 54-51 with 3:51 left.
The teams then exchanged baskets again before Kendall Dieringer's trey closed the DePauw lead to 58-56 with 1:22 left. The Tigers were called for an offensive foul, but Griner's three was off the mark. DePauw turned the ball over with 17 seconds left, but the Battling Bishops gave it right back five seconds later. Ohio Wesleyan, which hadn't yet been whistled for a foul in the fourth quarter, was forced to foul five times before sending Hart to the line with 2.9 seconds left. She sank both free throws to seal the victory.
Hart scored a career-high 22 for the second straight game and added 11 rebounds in the win. Mont followed with 19 points and two steals, while
Bren Hill matched a career high with four assists.
Griner, Miller and Maddie Ebbert each scored 12 for the Battling Bishops with Miller grabbing six rebounds. Ebbert, Guscoff, Katie Neuhart and Dieringer each had three assists.
DePauw shot 40 percent from the floor and hit 16-of-18 free throws, while Ohio Wesleyan connected on 38.7 percent from the field. DePauw held a 40-22 rebounding edge, but had 19 turnovers to the Battling Bishops' nine.
The Tigers travel to Wooster on Saturday for a 1 p.m. NCAC game which is the conference regular season finale.
