DePauw picks up sweep; women play at home tonight

GAMBIER, Ohio — Fourth-ranked DePauw opened the second period with a 19-2 run to wipe out a 3-point deficit on the way to a 59-42 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Kenyon on Saturday.

The Tigers moved to 17-1 overall and 9-0 in the NCAC with their 13th straight win, while the Ladies dropped to 6-12 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

Kenyon led most of the opening quarter and took a 16-13 advantage into the second on the strength of 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Tigers turned things around quickly in the second by scoring on their first eight possessions while the defense collected five steals in the stretch as DePauw took a 32-18 lead with 5:44 left in the half. After Kenyon trimmed the deficit to eight, DePauw closed the half with a pair of buckets from Claire Keefe for a 38-26 lead at the intermission.

In the third, 3-pointers from Natalie Kehrt and Mya Shannon sandwiched a Maeve Summerville basket and capped an 8-0 run to give DePauw a 53-34 lead with 2:08 remaining in the period. DePauw’s lead reached as much as 21 early in the fourth.

Sydney Kopp led DePauw with 18 points, while Keefe added 12 and a career-high 13 rebounds. Grace Kinsey led the way with five assists and Kopp added four steals.

DePauw shot 37.5 percent from the floor including a 7-of-20 performance from 3-point range. Kenyon connected on 33.3 percent from the field and hit 7 of 19 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers held a 40-32 edge on the boards and outscored the Ladies from the line, 10-1.

The Tigers return to Neal Fieldhouse tonight for a 7 p.m. NCAC contest against Wittenberg. Admission is free.

Men’s game

• DePauw 58, Kenyon 54 — The DePauw University men’s basketball team tallied its sixth road and conference victory, after beating the Kenyon College Lords in a back-and- forth rematch game on Saturday.

Scoreless the first two minutes of the matchup, the Lords would find the bottom of the net first, but Kenyon’s lead quickly disappeared after the Tigers drained a three-pointer and jump shot to take its first lead of the game.

Similar to DePauw’s last matchup against the Lords, Uginius Zilinskas (Kenyon’s leading scorer) proved to be a problem for the Tigers early in the game.

Despite taking a 4-8 lead within the first eight minutes of the game, the Lords would surge back and put in nine baskets of its own to secure a 14-8 lead, with 10 minutes remaining before the half.

That deficit would quickly shrink thanks to a three-pointer from Aaron Shank, followed by an aggressive play in the key by Cayman Lutz, which was then emphasized by the Tigers third and final three of the half by Ken Decker.

Suddenly up 15-14, a seesaw battle to take and hold onto the lead commenced, with four ties and seven lead changes. DePauw would stave off its opponent by capitalizing on second-chance opportunities and getting a much-needed spark off the bench, which outscored the Lords 10-6 in the half.