DPU women's basketball team records 16th win of the season

Saturday, January 29, 2011

GREENCASTLE -- Spirits were high as the DePauw women's basketball team ambled -- most of them barefoot, all of them still in game attire and smiling -- out of the locker room to greet a Girl Scouts Brownie troop that came to watch the Tigers play.

The demeanor of the players and coaches told the story of the game just played at Neal Fieldhouse, a 90-60 dismantling of visiting Colorado College (8-11).

Coach Kris Huffman, usually measured in her analysis -- particularly against an over-matched opponent -- liked much of what she saw from her team, though she stopped short of calling it a complete game.

"All wins are good wins," Huffman said. "I think, at times, we looked pretty sharp on both ends of the floor. But I think we lost a bit of our defensive intensity in the second half."

Junior Katie Aldrich was sharp all night for the Tigers inside, scoring a game-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 32 minutes of work. Senior guard Katie Mathews was similarly impressive, dropping 17 in keying the Tigers' outside scoring.

"Katie Aldrich is having a great year, so any time we can get the ball to her consistently is good for us," Huffman said. "She's been hot lately and we are playing through her quite a bit. Katie (Mathews) was aggressive with the ball in her hands tonight, and she's tough to stop with that pull-up jumper."

The Tigers got off to a slow start early, trailing 0-2 almost two minutes into the game, but a Mathews lay-up evened the score with 18:06 to go in the first half. On the next posession, after a Mathews steal, DePauw took a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the night.

The Tigers were intent on taking the ball to the low block and letting their interior presence take control of the game. Over and over again, Colorado College was unable to stop the ball from getting into DePauw's hands under the basket, where the Tigers ammassed 36 points in the paint.

Aldrich led the way there, but Ellie Pearson's 12 points and Alex Gasaway's 11, along with a game-high eight rebounds, were also a major factor. The inside game's effectiveness gave way to wide-open outside looks for DePauw's perimeter players, and the result was a 46-24 halftime advantage that continued to grow as the game wound down.

Colorado College would not relent and at one point cut the lead to 17, but the SCAC foe never seriously threatened. Still, Huffman said, the Tigers can play better and must continue to improve.

"Consistency and focus are two things we've talked about lately, and I think we can still do a better job there," the coach said. "We'll keep working on it."

DePauw (16-3) will take on Austin College Sunday at noon, a team Huffman says poses a good challenge for her squad.

At DePauw

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY 90, COLORADO COLLEGE 60

Colorado College 24 36 -- 60

DePauw University 46 44 -- 90

COLORADO COLLEGE (8-11, 5-5 SCAC) -- Becky Luetjen 8-13 2-5 19; Emily Wattman-Turner 3-3 3-3 12; Marissa Gradoz 3-4 2-2 9; Sarah Gunkel 3-5 0-0 6; Hannah Hoopingarner 2-4 0-0 5; Alyssa

Aldaz 2-5 0-1 4; Jenny Knapp 1-5 0-0 3; Kalli Kemling 0-4 2-2 2; Gracie Rennecker 0-3 0-0 0; Jordy Stephenson 0-0 0-0 0; Erin Slay 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 9-13 60.

DEPAUW UNIVERSITY (16-3, 9-1 SCAC) -- Katie Aldrich 8-12 3-4 19; Katie Mathews 6-15 5-5 17; Ellie Pearson 3-6 6-10 12; Ali Ross 4-6 0-0 11; Alex Gasaway 3-6 4-4 11; Kate Walker 3-7 2-4 8; Kathryn Denbow 1-3 4-5 6; Lauren Goff 2-5 0-0 5; Erin McGinnis 0-1 1-2 1; Anne Mullen 0-0 0-0 0; Brooke Osborne 0-1 0-0 0; Maddie Radcliff 0-1 0-0 0; Kathleen Molloy 0-1 0-0 0; Lindsay Vandivier 0-0 0-0 0; Leah Freestone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-64 25-34 90.

3-point goals -- Colorado College 7-17 (Emily Wattman-Turner 3-3; Marissa Gradoz 1-1; Hannah Hoopingarner 1-3; Becky Luetjen 1-1; Jenny Knapp 1-3; Gracie Rennecker 0-1; Erin Slay 0-1; Kalli Kemling 0-3; Alyssa Aldaz 0-1), DePauw University 5-10 (Ali Ross 3-3; Lauren Goff 1-3; Alex Gasaway 1-1; Kate Walker 0-1; Kathryn Denbow 0-1; Brooke Osborne 0-1).

Fouled out -- Colorado College-None, DePauw University-None. Rebounds -- Colorado College 28 (Becky Luetjen 7), DePauw University 36 (Alex Gasaway 8).

Assists -- Colorado College 13 (Jordy Stephenson 3; Becky Luetjen 3), DePauw University 13 (Kate Walker 3).

Total fouls -- Colorado College 25, DePauw University 15.

Technical fouls -- Colorado College-None, DePauw University-None.