No. 1 Tigers find legs in Hasbrook semi

Saturday, December 29, 2012
DePauw junior Alex Gasaway drives in for a layup over Rose-Hulman freshman Addie Johnson and junior Kelsey Ploof (50).

The DePauw University women's basketball team defeated Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 79-36 on Saturday in the second game of the 2012 Amy Hasbrook Memorial Tournament.

The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III and showed why with a convincing victory over the Engineers.

It was the Tigers first game in 10 days. The team is coming off a tournament win in Puerto Rico and a break due to the holidays.

DPU head coach Kris Huffman was concerned about her team's condition with the long layoff and, with a cancelled practice on Wednesday, she implemented a new strategy.

The Tigers platooned full five-player units every four minutes.

The starting five of senior Kate Walker, junior Ali Ross, sophomore Savannah Trees, junior Alex Gasaway and senior Ellie Pearson got the team off to a hot 6-for-11 start and a 14-5 lead before sitting down.

"It is fun, but I would say (coach Huffman) probably won't do that again," Ross said. "I liked it, but I also like getting to intermix with the other players."

After allowing six unanswered points by Rose-Hulman, the second unit of sophomores Emma Ondik and Lauren Abendroth, juniors Alison Stephens and Erin McGinnis and senior Kathleen Molloy started to get in sync.

Stephens (12) and Molloy (10) both finished the game in double-digit scoring.

"Coach did it to make sure that we had fresh legs constantly," Walker said. "I usually play with that set of five a lot, so it's not something that I wasn't used to."

The starters returned and expanded the lead to 34-11 with 5:59 left in the half, continuing a 20-0 run.

"We haven't done that this year," Huffman said. "We have some depth, but we usually don't platoon it ... It wasn't totally planned, but it's how it worked out."

The fresh legs allowed the hosts to keep Rose-Hullman off balance, and DePauw exploited it inside.

Gasaway scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the first half.

DPU continued the platoon strategy in second half and the players got into an even better rhythm.

The Tigers had extra focus for their opponent, Walker said, because they're playing in memory of former DPU star Amy Hasbrook.

"We always learn a lot about Hasie," Walker said. "Coach has always held her up on a pedestal, saying how great she is and how good of a rebounder she is, so it's always a goal during the Hasie Tournament to get as many rebounds as possible and play your heart out.

"No matter what, I always feel like it's playing your heart out for her."

DPU out-rebounded Rose-Hulman by a convincing 40-27 margin.

"Amy was a special player for us," Huffman said. "We may sometimes talk about certain teams of a given year, but (for individual players) Hasie probably stands out. She was a special player ... and to know that we don't have her with us anymore probably brings it to light.

"She's a great example for us to keep her name and her memory alive."

Hasbrook graduated from DePauw in 2000 and died in a house fire in Indianapolis in 2002.

The Tigers face Rockford College (2-9) in the tournament final on Sunday at 5 p.m.



At DePauw
Rose-Hulman 21 15 -- 36
DePauw 40 39 -- 79

Individual scoring
Rose-Hulman: Johnson 4-10, 0-0, 8; Williams 2-4, 3-3, 8; Ploof 2-4, 3-4, 7; Evers 2-7, 1-1, 6; Morris 2-6, 1-2, 5; Gilliam 1-2, 0-0, 2; Cain 0-4, 0-2, 0; Ottone 0-0, 0-0, 0; Gibbs 0-1, 0-0, 0; Dalton 0-0, 0-0, 0; Fuhs 0-0, 0-0, 0; Barnes 0-0, 0-0, 0.
DePauw: Gasaway 7-11, 2-3, 16; Walker 5-11, 2-2, 12; Stephens 4-8, 2-2, 12; Molloy 4-6, 1-2, 10; Ross 4-9, 0-0, 9; Trees 2-4, 1-1, 5; Pearson 1-5, 2-3, 4; Sarkisian 2-2, 0-0, 4; Abendroth 1-5, 0-0, 3; Stoner 1-1, 0-0, 2; Hacker 1-2, 0-2, 2; Ondik 0-2, 0-0, 0; Skordos 0-1, 0-0, 0; McDonagh 0-2, 0-0, 0; Lukemeyer 0-1, 0-0, 0; McGinnis 0-0, 0-0, 0; Keller 0-1, 0-0, 0; Frost 0-0, 0-0, 0.

Team scoring (three-pointers)
RHIT 13-38 (2-14), 8-12, 36; DPU 32-71 (5-14), 10-15, 79.

Rebounds (offensive)
RHIT 27 (3); DPU 40 (18).

Turnovers
RHIT 27; DPU 8.

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