DePauw stays atop NCAC women’s basketball standings, avenges away loss to Denison Big Red

After two wins against Hiram and Wittenberg with a score of 68-38 and 69-62, then a close defeat to Ohio Wesleyan away from home 74-64, DePauw women’s basketball (16-6) found themselves back to winning ways with a dominant 68-53 win against Denison in their second-to-last home game of the season.

DePauw women’s basketball head coach Kris Huffman spoke about her initial reactions after this important win.

“It’s a good win. You know, they beat us handily at their place and this was a game we needed tonight to kind of bounce back from our loss on Saturday against a really outstanding team,” Huffman said. “So I’m proud of our effort to kind of stay the course and get the win.”

DePauw only trailed twice, both times in the first quarter, taking the lead for good on Lilly Huntzinger’s layup to end the first quarter with the Tigers holding a 16-14 lead.

The lead shot out to 10 at 25-15 as Moira McGinley hit from inside and beyond the arc while Lydia Stullken and Olvia Hart got shots to fall in the paint.

Denison pulled to within four but Riley Mont and Asya Smith added late baskets to push the lead out to 29-21 at halftime.

Huntzinger kickstarted the second half with a jumper and a three-point play while Mont added a jumper and Ava Hassel hit a three to make it 39-25.

The lead would stay in double digits the rest of the way and the Tigers led 53-36 after three quarters of play as Hassel and Huntzinger hit back-to-back threes to close the period. The Big Red would not get closer than 11 points in the fourth quarter as DePauw moved to 10-2 in NCAC play.

Following the win, coach Huffman spoke about the upcoming game away from home against Oberlin and how the team is going into the last away matchup of the season.

“It’s gonna be a tough environment. It’s (Oberlin’s) senior day,” she said. “They have two outstanding seniors that will be playing, you know, with a lot of passion. And they’re a really hard team to guard. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. They’ll have a tremendous environment, so we’ll have to be very, very focused.”

Coach Huffman also highlighted junior point guard Ava Hassel, who had an exceptional game with 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds.

“She’s been a great leader on the court for us,” Huffman said. “She’s got confidence with the ball in her hand. She helps direct our offense. Kind of just a gritty player. We needed her on the floor tonight. She really provided a great lift offensively.”

Hassel also spoke about her overall performance.

“We were hitting shots from outside today, which was nice,” Hassel said. “When my shots are falling, it feels like a better game. We work together as a team to get those open shots, so it’s not just my own individual performance. When the ball’s going in the day is better than when the ball’s not going in.”

Hassel also highlighted her feelings for all the support from the DePauw community who came to tonight’s game.

“This was awesome. It’s National Women and Girls Sports Day,” she said. “All of our fellow female athletes were here, which was awesome, because a lot of them are my friends, sorority sisters, all that. And, you know, we get a lot of fans. Our parents are the best. They all come to our games whenever they can. The men’s team was here. Some other men’s teams around the campus were here. So it was a really fun environment to play in, especially with the win to top it all.”

The DePauw Tiger will look to continue this good form as they play away from home again at Oberlin on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m.

Statistics