DePauw women win, men beaten in NCAC tournament

Seventh-ranked and top-seeded DePauw scored 23 straight points over a 10-minute stretch of the first and second quarters and cruised to a 90-48 win over eighth-seed Allegheny in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal round.

The Tigers moved to 25-1 with their 21st straight win, while the Gators finished their season at 6-19. DePauw hosts the NCAC semifinal and championship rounds this weekend and opens the semifinals on Friday with a 5 p.m. game against Wittenberg.

The visiting Gators scored the game’s first four points and held a 7-6 lead, but Claire Keefe’s three-point play started a 23-0 run. The Tigers held a 22-7 advantage after the first before starting the second with seven straight to take a 29-7 lead. Allegheny closed to within 17, but DePauw closed the half with Maya Howard’s 3-pointer and three straight treys from Sydney Kopp for a 43-16 halftime lead.

Kopp paced the Tigers with 21 points and hit 5 of 8 from 3-point range, while Howard added 15 points, a career-high nine assists and four steals. Keefe followed with 13 and Emily Budde scored 10.

Rylee Donovan led Allegheny with 16 points and four rebounds and Brooke Smith added 10.

DePauw held a commanding 48-17 edge on the boards as Sarah Cooper grabbed a career-best seven. Donovan and Shannon Relihan each hauled down four for the Gators.

The Tigers shot 55.9 percent from the field to Allegheny’s 37.9 percent and DePauw knocked in 11 of 22 from beyond the arc.

• Wooster 70, DePauw 63 (men) — At Wooster, Ohio, Wooster made clutch baskets when it mattered and defeated DePauw in the NCAC Tournament Quarterfinal on Tuesday.

DePauw led 53-52 with 6:10 remaining in the game. A couple of tough shots later including a contested 3-pointer from Danyon Hempy and a jumper in the paint from Spencer Williams gave Wooster a 61-55 lead with three minutes to go. From there, DePauw could not get any closer than five.

Williams tied DePauw’s Josh Hall with a game-high 16. Senior David Vogel added 15 points and senior Jack VandeMerkt put up a 13-point, 10-rebound double double.

Wooster got 14 points off the bench from Blake Blair and 11 from starter Hempy.

DePauw, the seventh seed in the bracket, shot 45 percent (24-of-53) from the floor, 44 percent (8-of-18) from 3-point range and 88 percent (7-of-8) from the foul line. Wooster, the second seed, shot 44 percent as well (28-of-63) from the floor, 35 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc and 53 percent (8-of-15) from the line.

Wooster outrebounded DePauw 39-28, outscored the Tigers 40-26 in the paint and outscored them off the bench 21-13.

Wooster, the defending NCAC Tournament champs, took the two prior meetings during the regular season — 83-63 on Dec. 9 and 65-57 on Jan. 27.

In December, DePauw trailed by one at the half before Wooster took control in the second half, while in January, DePauw was within range of the Fighting Scots throughout the game. Spencer Williams averaged 21 points between the two games.

Wooster has won seven of the last 11 NCAC Tournaments. DePauw returned to the tournament for the second year in a row and the sixth time in the last seven years.

The Tigers finish their season at 11-15 overall.