DePauw pulls away from Yeowomen in second half, notches 15th straight win

Sunday, February 1, 2015

After battling through a tight first half against visiting Oberlin, the DePauw women's basketball team outscored the Yeowomen 16-2 over a six-minute stretch early in the second half and took a 73-52 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Neal Fieldhouse.

The Tigers, ranked 10th in the latest coaches' poll and 11th by D3hoops.com, moved to 18-1 overall and 11-0 in the NCAC with their 15th straight victory. Oberlin dropped to 11-9 overall and 7-4 in the conference. The win also was DePauw's 64th consecutive home regular season triumph and 93rd straight conference home win.

Oberlin held a 15-12 lead in the opening seven minutes after scoring five straight, but Savannah Trees hit a pair of field goals before Lauren Abendroth and Morgan Skordos each added layups to give the Tigers a 20-15 edge with 11:05 left in the half.

The Yeowomen countered with a bucket, but DePauw scored 12 straight capped by Emma Ondik's three which pushed DePauw's lead to 32-17 with 5:31 left. Oberlin closed the half with an 8-2 stretch to cut the Tigers' lead to 34-25 at the break.

Oberlin's Lindsey Bernhardt buried a three on the Yeowomen's opening possession of the second half to trim the lead to six, but the Tigers embarked on a 16-2 run that pushed the margin to 20. DePauw's lead reached as many as 28 and the Yeowomen got no closer than 18 the rest of the way.

Trees led all scorers with 22, while Hannah Douglas chipped in 12 along with five rebounds and three blocked shots. Taylor Howard grabbed a team-high six boards, while Emma Ondik dished out three assists and Claire Ryan swatted away four shots.

Bernhardt paced Oberlin with 13 points and Abby Andrews hauled down eight boards.

The Tigers shot 45.3 percent from the field and held a 37-34 edge on the boards, while the Yeowomen connected on 35.6 percent from the floor. DePauw leads Division III in fewest turnovers per game and committed just 12.

In addition to the other streaks, DePauw finished January with a 9-0 record and has now won 39 straight games in the month with the last January loss coming in 2011.

DePauw returns to action on Friday, February 6, at Allegheny.

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