No. 6 Tigers edge past Oberlin in battle of unbeatens; DePauw men beat Yeomen; Summerville gets NCAC nod

Monday, December 13, 2021

Maura Fitzgerald's two free throws with six seconds left secured DePauw's 55-50 North Coast Athletic Conference win over visiting Oberlin in a battle of two unbeaten teams. DePauw, ranked sixth in the latest coaches' poll and 10th by D3hoops.com, improved to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the NCAC, while the Yeomen dropped to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

In a game that featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes, Oberlin held its largest leads of the contest in the opening quarter at 13-9 and 15-11. The Yeowomen led, 15-13, at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second, DePauw scored eight straight with the final four coming from Isabella Ogliore to give the Tigers a 23-17 lead with 4:40 left in the half. Oberlin returned the favor by closing the second with an 8-0 run to take a 25-23 lead into the halftime intermission.

Grace Kinsey, Campbell Montgomery and Maeve Summerville each hit baskets in the opening 2:05 of the third to give DePauw a 29-25 advantage. Oberlin regained the lead at 35-33 on Gina Lombard's 3-pointer with 4:07 remaining in the third, but DePauw put together a 9-2 stretch to go back out in front, 42-37. Sammy Spanier's trey with 11 seconds left in the third trimmed the Tigers' lead to 45-42.

Oberlin briefly took the lead in the fourth on Bryana Woodard's layup in the opening minute, but Summerville came right back with a three to put the Tigers ahead by two. After the Yeowomen knotted the contest at 45-45, Summerville knocked down another three with 6:44 left before Lombard hit a trey to even the count at 48-48.

Kinsey hit two buckets which sandwiched an Oberlin shot clock violation to give DePauw a 52-48 lead with 2:45 remaining. Lombard countered with a layup with 2:27 left which would be the final field goal of the contest.

Neither team scored until 19 seconds remained as the Tigers kept a possession alive with two offensive rebounds before Mya Shannon was fouled and hit one of two free throws to make it 53-50. Lombard missed on a shot from beyond the arc with 11 seconds remaining, Shannon rebounded it and got it in the hands of Fitzgerald who was fouled and drained the two charity tosses.

Summerville scored a career-high 16 points and shared DePauw's rebounding honors with Montgomery as each grabbed seven. Kinsey added 12 points and three assists in the win. Alyson Jefferson paced Oberlin with 17 points with Lombard adding 10. Camille Zinaich grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and dished out four assists.

The Tigers shot 31.7 percent from the floor to Oberlin's 34.5 percent, but had a 46-38 rebounding edge which resulted in a 9-4 advantage in second-chance points.

DePauw returns to action on Sunday, December 19, with a 5 p.m. game against Messiah at the St. Pete Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla.

DePauw men beat Yeomen

The DePauw men's basketball team end a three-game skid after beating Oberlin College 63-52 at home.

In the first half, the Tigers and the Yeomen traded baskets, with neither team able to put distance on the scoreboard. Both DePauw and Oberlin shot 12-28 from the field in the first half; however, the Tigers six made three-pointers gave them the edge heading into halftime up 32-30.

The second half between the Yeomen and the Tigers started similarly to the first half; fortunately for DePauw, some timely back-to-back baskets in the key by Camden Brown put the Tigers up 43-37 with over 13 minutes left in regulation.

The Tigers' offense continued to push the game's pace, getting crucial baskets from Brown, Elijah Hales, and Nolan Niego to stretch DePauw's lead to as much as 11.

On the defensive end, the last five minutes of the game, the Tigers shut down the Yeomen's offense, going on an 8 to 3 run to close out the game.

Hales, Grant Niego, and Nolan Niego finished the night in double digits, with Nick Wissel leading the team in total rebounds (8).

The Tigers move to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in NCAC play. The men's basketball team travels to Daytona, Fla., to play in the Daytona Beach Shootout on Monday, December 20, where the Tigers face Augsburg at 8 pm EST.

Summerville earns NCAC athlete of the week honors

DePauw forward Maeve Summerville (Sr., Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) has been selected as the North Coast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week following her performance in the Tigers' wins over Wittenberg and Oberlin.

For the week, Summerville averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. In Wednesday's 83-57 victory over Wittenberg, she matched a career high with nine rebounds while also scoring 12. She netted a career-high 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a career-best four shots in Saturday's 55-50 victory over previously unbeaten Oberlin. Summerville connected on 4-of-5 3-point field goals in the win including two in the fourth quarter. Her four 3-pointers matched her combined total in the Tigers' first eight contests combined.

DePauw, which entered last week's games ranked sixth in the coaches' poll and 10th by D3hoops.com, is 9-0 and returns to action on Sunday, December 19, with a 5 p.m. game against Messiah in the St. Pete Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla.