DePauw women gear up for Emmanuel

Tuesday, March 6, 2007
DePauw's Liz Bondi (No. 23) and Emily Marshall (No. 35) defend a Denison player. The Tigers face Emmanuel Friday at 7:30 p.m.

GREENCASTLE -- The DePauw University women's basketball team learned during the weekend that it would be facing Emmanuel College in the in one of four sectional sites across the country.

The Tigers will face Emmanuel Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Boston, following the first game at the site featuring Calvin (27-2) and Southern Maine (27-2).

Emmanuel is 29-1 this year and ranked 13th in the nation. DePauw is 27-3 and ranked ninth in the nation. This is the second straight round of 16 appearance for the Tigers and fifth in 10 years.

Emmanuel won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference title before defeating Salve Regina and Brandeis in home first- and second-round games last weekend. The Saints are currently riding a 20-game winning streak.

A quick glance through Emmanuel's statistics this season show the Saints have just two three-point shooters, giving one the impression the squad likes to pound the ball inside.

But DPU coach Kris Huffman said that isn't necessarily the case. Rather, she said the Saints take advantage of speed and attempt to create turnovers with their presses.

"They're looking to create off turnovers," Huffman said. "They're extremely athletic, and that's an understatement."

As a team, the Saints have forced 832 turnovers this season -- an averge of nearly 28 per game -- while giving up only 631. Huffman said by pressing all game long, the Saints can give teams fits.

"You've got to handle their presses," she said.

Huffmnan said the Tigers have faced teams in the past that play similar to Emmanuel, including Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Oglethorpe.

"Usually, it takes a team a few minutes to get used to it," she said.

As a team, Emmanuel is averaging 73.3 points per game while giving up only 55.9 per contest.

The Saints have four players averaging double figures, led by Jade Paez, who is scoring 11.9 points per game. Other scorers include Iman Davis at 11.5 points, Brittany Bushman at 11.2 points and Tommia Davis at 10.6 points.

LaTeisha Johnson also scores 9.2 points per game for the squad, which shot 44 percent from the field this season.

The Saints will play the game at home Friday. They are 19-1 at home this season.

"It's always nice to play at home," Huffman said. "But we're hopeful they'll feel the pressure of playing at home."

The Tigers are currently riding a seven-game winning streak and are 8-3 in road games this season.

Offensively, the Tigers average 78.8 points per game while only giving up 54.8.

DePauw committed just 513 turnovers this season for an average of 17.1 per game.

Liz Bondi leads the Tigers on offense with an average of 15.9 points per contest while Cassie Pruzin chips in 8.9 and Caitlin McGonigal also scores 7.7. The Tigers also get 7.4 from Gretchen Haehl and 7.2 from Suzy Doughty.

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