Tigers domination continues into NCAC tournament, women beat Hiram 72-35

DePauw senior point guard Kate Walker toys with the Hiram defense, dishing a no-look pass to junior Ellie Pearson for an assist in the first half on Tuesday in the NCAC tournament. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The last time the Hiram College women's basketball team played at DePauw, it fell behind 29-0.

Things weren't quite as bad Tuesday, as the Tigers scored just the game's first 14 points, but the final outcome was just as expected.

Top-ranked DPU won its North Coast Athletic Conference opener over Hiram 72-35.

Junior Alex Gasaway led the effort with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in just 22 minutes.

"I think the rebounds were kind of just falling my way tonight," Gasaway said. "I wasn't really even boxing out."

Sophomore Savan-nah Trees chipped in 14 points to lead the club.

DePauw (26-0, 16-0) hasn't truly been challenged in conference play, with just two games decided by 10 or fewer points.

The dominance has allowed head coach Kris Huffman to dip into her bench early and often, it has also kept her from playing the starters for extended periods of time.

Gasaway, Trees, seniors Kate Walker (four points, four rebounds, four assists) and Ellie Pearson (nine points, five rebounds, three assists) and junior Ali Ross (10 points, four rebounds) played one of their longest stretches together of the year to start the second half against Hiram.

Huffman didn't make a sub until the 12:31 mark.

"I knew they probably would not be re-entering the game, so I did try to stretch them two more minutes; thinking about the future," Huffman said. "It's not anything we can worry about. We manage each game as we thought we needed to.

"In the national tournament they give you more timeouts, so you have to use less of your depth. And I think we're in pretty good shape. We practice pretty hard and stretch them as much as we can every day at practice, so I think we'll be ready for the stretch run here."

The postseason provides a new challenge for the undefeated Tigers.

Until this point, the wins have all been from an internal desire. As tournament play heats up, they'll need wins to keep playing.

"I try to not feel the pressure," Gasaway said. "Mentally, I try to keep it out and just play."

The Tigers, NCAC regular season champions, will continue their quest for the tournament championship on Friday at DePauw.

No. 3 seed Allegheny will face No. 2 seed Kenyon at 6 p.m., followed by DePauw taking on Wittenberg at 8 p.m.

The Tigers beat Wittenberg on the road 54-46 on Feb. 13, their closest conference game of the season.

"Hopefully we don't let them take us out of our flow as much as we did last time," Gasaway said. "It's hard to be more prepared than we are, because we feel like we prepare the same way every time, but hopefully we can come with more of our strengths."

Hiram (9-17, 4-12): Day 2-10 2-3 7, Ratliff 2-3 3-4 7, Koskinen 2-10 0-0 6, Kemper 2-6 0-0 5, Host 2-9 0-0 4, Smyers 1-3 0-0 3, Griffin 1-6 1-2 3, Kovach 0-5 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Day 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-52 6-9 35.
DePauw (26-0, 16-0): Trees 6-11 0-0 14, Gasaway 5-10 0-1 10, Ross 3-5 4-5 10, Pearson 2-3 5-6 9, Abendroth 2-5 2-2 7, Ondik 2-3 0-0 5, Walker 2-6 0-0 4, Stephens 2-9 0-0 4, Molloy 2-7 0-0 4, McGinnis 1-2 0-0 2, Keller 1-2 0-0 2, Stoner 0-1 1-2 1, Sarkisian 0-0 0-0 0, Skordos 0-1 0-0 0, McDonagh 0-1 0-0 0, Hacker 0-0 0-0 0, Lukemeyer 0-1 0-0 0, Francis 0-0 0-0 0.

3PT -- HC 5-22 (Koskinen 2, Day, Smyers, Kemper), DPU 4-16 (Trees 2, Ondik, Abendroth); Rebounds -- HC 30 (Day 6), DPU 51 (Gasaway 15); Turnovers -- HC 22, DPU 12; Fouls -- HC 10, DPU 10; Fouled out -- none.