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Top-seeded Tigers cruise past Lady Redhawks in opening round
The DePauw women's basketball team had a rough start, trailing by as many as four points early in the first half (2-6, 16:06), but the top-ranked team in the country rebounded with a 73-43 win over La Roche College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament.
Senior Ellie Pearson was dominant for the Tigers, locking down Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Year Jessica Pitts and while hauling in 19 rebounds.
"She was really fun to guard. Her speed was a good challenge and she's so quick with the ball and so athletic; it's always fun to play those players to challenge your own athletic ability," Pearson said. "Rebounding, part of it is right-place, right-time, and you're timing the ball and timing your jump really well."
The 19 boards broke a DPU tournament record (15) previously held by the school's career leader for rebounds, Emily Marshall.
Pearson now sits 59 rebounds behind Marshall on the career list.
DPU (29-0) began the game playing up-tempo, apparently trying to match the Lady Redhawks' (24-3) athleticism. As the Tigers began to settle into their own pace, the defense kicked up a notch.
Pitts, averaging 15.4 points per game coming in, was limited to five points before DPU called in backups with 10 minutes remaining. She finished with 13. La Roche's leading scorer, senior Casie Cygan, had just five.
"I think we found our tempo and our offense," DPU head coach Kris Huffman said.
The Tigers lead 31-17 at halftime, then turned up the intensity even more after the break.
DPU opened the second half on an 11-0 run, eventually building a lead as big as 33 points.
Junior Ali Ross was the Tigers' leading scorer, finishing with 13 points.
"I think it was just an aggressive mindset," Ross said. "We have so many fast players on our team, and that adds to our energy, running and transitioning. It's really nice when you can wear teams out."
The victory came without the Tigers leading scorer, junior Alex Gasaway, who warmed up but didn't enter the game because of a knee injury.
The Tigers have now won three straight with Gasaway out of the lineup.
"I'm extra motivated to rebound without Alex out there," Pearson said. "She brings down so many for us, too, so I wanted to get some for myself and get some for her."
DPU advances to Saturday's second round where it will face Maryville College.
The Scots (24-4) defeated Otterbein University (21-7) in the opening game at DePauw on Friday, 68-61.
The undefeated Tigers are hoping the momentum gained Friday's win can help propel them through the opening weekend.
"I think they're going to be a very, very difficult team to play," Huffman said. "We didn't have to play people too many minutes tonight, so hopefully they'll get some rest. I think with the big game tomorrow they'll be ready to play."
La Roche's season came to an end Friday, but coach Kam Gissendanner said playing DPU in the tournament can only help the squad moving forward. The Redhawks are hoping to add tougher teams to the non-conference schedule next season to better prepare themselves for tournament play.
"They showed exactly why they're the No. 1 team in the country today: they outrebounded us and they gave all-out effort 100 percent of the time, which is what a team like that should do," Gissendanner said. "It is a little more difficult to play a team like this because they're kind of unscoutable because they have a lot of different weapons they can use."
The Tigers were favored as second-round hosts last season before losing to Carthage.
DPU will rely on Pearson's energy and defense going forward into the tournament, but the squad also has offensive versatility to carry it through dry spells.
"I think we're a different offensive team this year than we were last year," Huffman said. "We have more firepower and it was just a matter of time (tonight).
NCAA Tournament
First Round
At DePauw
La Roche 17 26 -- 43
DePauw 31 42 -- 73
Scoring
La Roche (24-3): Pitts 5-11 3-7 13, White 5-8 1-2 11, Garland 1-8 4-4 6, Cygan 2-9 0-2 5, Gibbs 2-2 0-0 4, Brothers 1-12 0-0 2, Coleman 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 17-54 8-15 43.
DePauw (29-0): Ross 5-9 3-3 13, Abendroth 4-7 2-2 12, Trees 5-10 0-0 10, Pearson 4-8 2-4 10, Walker 3-8 2-3 8, Stephens 2-7 2-2 6, Ondik 1-5 4-5 6, Molloy 1-6 0-0 3, McGinnis 1-2 1-2 3, Lukemeyer 1-1 0-0 2, Sarkisian 0-0 0-0 0, Stoner 0-0 0-0 0, Hacker 0-0 0-0 0, Keller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 16-21 73.
3-pt -- LRC 1-9 (Cygan), DPU 3-17 (Abendroth 2, Molloy); Total rebounds-offensive -- LRC 26-8 (Pitts 6-2), DPU 48-18 (Pearson 19-8); Assists -- LRC 7 (Pitts 4), DPU 12 (Walker 3, Ondik 3); Total Fouls -- LRC 19, DPU 12; Fouled out -- LRC (White, Garland), DPU none; Turnovers -- LRC 14, DPU 11.