Pruzin's 26 points lead Tigers to 68-63 win over Amherst

Saturday, March 15, 2008

WHITEWATER, Wis. -- The sixth-ranked DePauw women's basketball team advanced to the Division III quarterfinals for the third straight year after defeating 14th-ranked Amherst by a 68-63 score in tonight's first sectional semifinal contest.

Cassie Pruzin scored 26 points Friday night to lead DePauw to its third straight quarterfinals appearance. PHOTO BY ALEX TURCO

The Tigers improved to 28-3 on the season, while the Lord Jeffs finished at 27-3. DePauw takes on Wisconsin-Whitewater tonight after the home team's 96-69 dismantling of Simpson in Friday's game two.

After Cassie Pruzin buried a three with just under nine minutes left, DePauw took its biggest lead of the game at 52-43. However, the Tigers would not score another field goal for the next 7:39.

During the stretch Amherst ran off 10 straight points to take a 53-52 lead with 4:43 remaining. Pruzin broke the scoring drought with two free throws, but Jaclyn Daigneault's bucket gave the Lord Jeffs a 55-54 lead with 3:35 left.

The teams exchanged free throws over a two-minute stretch and DePauw still held a 60-59 advantage. DePauw's Emily Marshall rebounded a Kalei Lowes miss and Marshall's putback with 1:19 left extended the DePauw lead to three.

Marshall missed the subsequent free throw, but grabbed a key defensive rebound on the other end which led to Pruzin's layup with 35.6 seconds remaining that made it 64-59.

Shaina Pollack's drive with 19 seconds remaining closed the gap to 64-61 before Pruzin nailed two free throws with 9.5 seconds left. Pollack scored again with seven lefts remaining, but Pruzin's two charity tosses with 3.2 seconds left sealed the Tigers' 17th straight win.

"They defended us well," DePauw head coach Kris Huffman said. "Emily's rebound was key and she did it for us at the same time of the game last weekend."

Pruzin led the Tigers with 26 points andd 10 rebounds, while Haehl followed with 14 points and Jenna Fernandez added 10.

Pollack paced Amherst with a career-high 29, whie Leyman finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers shot just 33.3 percent from the floor to Amherst's 39.1 percent, but DePauw held a 40-31 edge on the boards and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.

At Kachel Gym in Williams Center at UW-W

NCAA Division III Round of 16

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY 68, AMHERST COLLEGE 63

AMHERST COLLEGE (27-3) -- Shaina Pollack 11-19 3-4 29; Sarah Leyman 2-6 6-6 10; Jaclyn Daigneault 2-4 3-4 7; Amanda Otieno 2-3 1-2 6; Stefanie Reiff 0-0 6-8 6; Courtney Long 1-3 0-0 3; Yasmine Harik 0-3 2-3 2; Anne-Claire Roesch 0-8 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 21-27 63.

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY (28-3) -- Cassie Pruzin 6-17 9-10 26; Gretchen Haehl 3-8 8-8 14; Jenna Fernandez 4-13 2-3 10; Andrea Travelstead 2-3 2-2 6; Emily Marshall 2-4 2-3 6; Kalei Lowes 1-6 0-0 2; Adedrea Chaney 1-1 0-1 2; Brianna Frigerio 0-1 1-2 1; Katie Mathews 0-2 1-1 1; Gwen Haehl 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 25-30 68.

Amherst College32 31 -- 63
DePauw University33 35 -- 68

3-point goals--Amherst 6-15 (Shaina Pollack 4-8; Amanda Otieno 1-2; Courtney Long 1-1; Anne-Claire Roesch 0-2; Jaclyn Daigneault 0-2), DePauw 5-11 (Cassie Pruzin 5-10; Gwen Haehl 0-1). Fouled out--Amherst-None, DePauw-None. Rebounds--Amherst 31 (Sarah Leyman 8), DePauw 40 (Cassie Pruzin 10). Assists--Amherst 8 (Stefanie Reiff 3; Sarah Leyman 3), DePauw 11 (Gretchen Haehl 5). Total fouls--Amherst 24, DePauw 21. Technical fouls--Amherst-None, DePauw-None. A-400

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