DePauw women clinch NCAC share; Tiger men win again

Seventh-ranked DePauw scored 18 straight points in the first quarter and the Tigers cruised to a 75-43 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over visiting Denison on Wednesday in women’s college basketball.

The Tigers improved to 22-1 overall and 14-0 in the NCAC with their 18th straight win, while Denison dropped to 10-13 overall and 5-9 in the conference. DePauw also clinched at least a share of its sixth NCAC title in seven years in the conference.

DePauw scored the game’s first seven points as Maya Howard scored a pair of buckets and Sydney Kopp knocked in a three. Denison countered with five straight on Alison Schafer’s 3-pointer and Brittany Atkinson’s jumper.

The Tigers took control, scoring 18 straight, to take a 25-5 lead on the way to a 25-10 advantage after the first period. The Big Red briefly closed the gap to 14, but DePauw took a 41-22 halftime lead and Denison got no closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Emily Budde paced DePauw with 15 points and four steals, while Claire Keefe and Howard each had 12 and Kopp added 10. Howard also dished out six assists. Atkinson led Denison with 13 points.

DePauw outrebounded the Big Red, 43-26, as Melinda Franke, Natalie Kehrt, Hayley Cange and Kylie Morris each grabbed five. Lauren Hofer paced Denison with five boards.

The Tigers shot 53.6 percent from the field to Denison’s 27.3 percent.

DePauw travels to Kenyon on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.

• DePauw 95, Denison 87 (men) — Seniors Mason Hankins and Jack VandeMerkt combined for 46 points off the bench and led DePauw to a season sweep of Denison with a 95-87 victory on Wednesday.

Hankins put up a career-high 26 points on 7-of-8 shooting and a 6-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. His perfect percentage from range ties him for the school single game record.

Meanwhile, VandeMerkt tallied 20 points and five boards after going 8-of-11 from the floor.

VandeMerkt was also 4-of-5 from the foul line. His lone miss broke a personal streak of 23 consecutive free throws made.

DePauw also had plenty of other contributions. David Vogel scored 16 and dished out a career-high seven assists.

Nolan Ginther scored a career-high 14 in his first start. Nicke Felke added 10 points and five assists.

DePauw, who shot 65 percent in their 83-70 win at Granville on Jan. 10, shot even better Wednesday at 67 percent (32-of-48). They shot a remarkable 71 percent (10-of-14) from 3-point range and 75 percent (21-of-28) from the foul line.

Their counterparts shot 54 percent from the floor (30-of-56), 45 percent from 3-point range (13-of-29) and 88 percent (14-of-16) from the line. Matt Doyle scored 15 to lead the Big Red.

DePauw outscored Denison’s bench 49-7. They also held the advantage in the paint 38-34 and outrebounded the Big Red 25-20.

After DePauw scored the game’s first three points, Denison scored the next nine. However, with 8:40 left in the half DePauw got the game back to even at 21-21 and later went up at halftime 42-37.

The Tigers distanced themselves and led by as many as 15 at 62-47 with 11:42 remaining. The closest Denison got to taking the lead back was at 77-75 with just under four minutes remaining. However, that sparked an 8-0 run from DePauw that eventually sealed the game.

DePauw’s third straight win brings them to 10-12 overall and 6-9 in the NCAC. Denison drops to 11-11 and 7-8 in conference play.

DePauw heads to Kenyon for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.