No. 1 Tigers stomp Bears, move to Elite Eight

Saturday, March 9, 2013
DePauw senior Ellie Pearson takes a post feed and tries to hop past the Washington University defense in the first half Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The DePauw University women's basketball team, undefeated and ranked No. 1 for the duration of the regular season, showed how far it's come this year with a dominant win over Washington University-St. Louis, 59-42, at DPU on Friday.

The Tigers (31-0) beat the Bears by just one point in the fourth game of the season, but after early nerves wore off the hosts were in control of every part of the action.

"Wash. U is really talented at what they do and I love coming into those games just know that and ready to go," senior guard Kate Walker said. "In tournament time you always have to play with a little more confidence and I think that's something that, thankfully, I was able to do tonight."

DPU played deliberately on both ends of the court, slowing the game down until they were ready to pounce.

"They're so hard to score against because they're so long," DPU head coach Kris Huffman said. "It's harder to score now against these teams, so you want to get a good shot attempt when you get down the floor. It takes longer to get a look and to break down the defense and it's so challenging every time down the floor."

When Washington turned up its pressure late, desperate to get back into the game, the Tigers were ready.

"We don't want the season to end," Huffman said. "You play all year for this. I think peoples question marks were, 'You haven't had any close games. Can you manage them?' Well, we tried to manage them every day at practice and every time we go out on a game day we try to manage that possession.

"We feel like we're always ready to play. ... We have so many people that can be the MVP on game day, and I think that's one of the differences in this team. Someone can step up every game."

Sophomore Savannah Trees hit the first bucket of the game for DPU, giving the squad a three-point lead that it never surrendered.

Walker led the Tigers with 13 points. Junior Alex Gasaway had 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a drawn charge in 18 minutes.

Gasaway is working her way back from a knee injury that sidelined her in the North Coast Athletic Conferene Tournament.

"It's fine sitting the bench; I love cheering for my teammates, but definitely when I get in there more and I get a flow it's more comfortable for me," Gasaway said. "Just being in the game more, you get more into the flow. It felt more usual."

DPU's deliberate attack put the packed building at a constant nervous edge. With the crowd waiting to explode, junior Ali Ross gave them a reason with 7:11 left in the first half.

Ross poked the ball away from Washington's Melissa Gilkey, then fed it ahead to senior Ellie Pearson for a layup to put DPU up eight, for a lead that held steady until halftime.

"I probably gamble a little bit more than I should," Ross said. "I just love playing defense. It gives me more energy to get a steal than to make a three, so I try to get one every game."

She had three on Friday.

DPU earned the hosting duties with its undefeated performance throughout the season, and big-momentum plays like Ross' steal gave it just what it deserved.

The Tigers carried the boost into the second half, jumping out to a 10-2 run and eliminating the Bears' remaining hopes.

Washington coach Nancy Fahey said DPU is starting to look like a team of destiny.

"You have to give hats off to how well DePauw played," Fahey said. "You can tell that DePauw is in a rhythm right now. If you try to stop someone, someone else is going to shoot it. They're firing on all cylinders."

The win put DPU one game away from the Final Four. After Montclair State lost Friday's first game to Christopher Newport, it also leaves the Tigers as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division III.

Gasaway said the players have been playing for a chance like this for not just this season, but their whole lives.

"I recall my freshman year when we played at Hope in the first round of the tournament," Gasaway said. "Playing in an atmosphere like that: that's what I imagine when I picture going back to Hope for the Final Four if the outcome goes our way. It's exciting. It's what we have worked for all of our years at DePauw.

"It's what we've worked for in high school and before that. A national championship is what you want, and it's awesome to be here at DePauw where that is the goal and that is a possible goal every year that we're here."

DPU will tip off against CNU tonight at 7 p.m. at Neal Fieldhouse.



At DePauw
NCAA Tournament
Third Round
Washington 20 22 -- 42
DePauw University 28 31 -- 59

Scoring
Washington (22-6): Gilkey 4-9 5-6 14, Rettig 6-10 1-3 13, Anda 2-7 2-4 6, Scheppers 2-10 0-0 5, Tavernier 1-3 0-0 2, Thompson 1-7 0-2 2, Johanson 0-3 0-0 0, Rosen 0-0 0-0 0, Keane 0-0 0-0 0, Biewen 0-2 0-0 0, Montgomery 0-1 0-0 0, Vukotic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 8-15 42.
DePauw (31-0): Walker 5-10 1-2 13, Gasaway 4-6 0-0 10, Trees 3-14 0-0 8, Pearson 3-8 2-3 8, Ross 3-7 0-0 7, Molloy 2-5 0-0 6, Stephens 2-5 0-0 4, Ondik 1-3 0-0 3, Abendroth 0-0 0-0 0, Lukemeyer 0-0 0-0 0, McGinnis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 3-5 59.

3-pt -- WU 2-11 (Gilkey, Scheppers), DPU 10-24 (Trees 2, Walker 2, Gasaway 2, Molloy 2, Ross, Ondik); Rebounds-offensive -- WU 34-15 (Rettig 8-3, Gilkey 6-5), DPU 38-15 (Stephens 9-3, Pearson 6-4); Fouls -- WU 14, DPU 15; Fouled out -- none; Turnovers -- WU 17, DPU 16.

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