Big start propels DePauw women to NCAC win

The DePauw women’s basketball team jumped out to a 25-point lead in the opening eight minutes of its North Coast Athletic Conference contest against visiting Wittenberg and held off a second-half surge to take a 61-52 win Wednesday evening.

The host Tigers, ranked 23rd by d3hoops.com and 24th in the coaches’ poll, improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in NCAC play, while Wittenberg dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Wittenberg scored the game’s first bucket, but DePauw scored the next 21 points. DePauw hit 11 of its first 13 shots in building a 29-4 lead after Sydney Kopp nailed her fourth 3-pointer with 2:14 left.

Wittenberg scored the final five points of the quarter and held the hosts to just two points over the first eight minutes of the second in trimming the DePauw lead to 31-14. The hosts took a 39-16 lead into the intermission.

Wittenberg closed the third quarter with an 11-2 stretch and trailed 47-33 with one quarter remaining. DePauw’s lead was still 17 at 55-38 before Wittenberg scored eight straight to trim the deficit to single digits.

The guests got as close as eight, but layups from Maya Howard and Hayley Cange sealed the win.

Kopp scored 24 points in 20 minutes before fouling out as she netted 16 in the first quarter and hit 9 of 11 for the game including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Howard added 16 points and team highs of seven rebounds and four assists.

Riley Culver paced Wittenberg with 15 points, while McKenna Baker added 14 and Delaney Williams 12. Kristie Kalis and Korynne Berner each grabbed seven rebounds.

DePauw shot 41.5 percent from the floor, while Wittenberg connected on 31.6 percent. Each team had 37 rebounds and DePauw had 17 turnovers to Wittenberg’s 15.

DePauw returns to action on Saturday, December 8, when it hosts Oberlin at 1 p.m.

Men fall at Wittenberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After trailing by just two at halftime, the DePauw men’s basketball team couldn’t quite keep pace with the 14th-ranked team in the country Wednesday, falling to Wittenberg 77-66.

The lead was just 30-28 for the hosts at halftime, following a period in which the upset-minded visitors led on three different occasions.

DePauw drew within one at 37-36 on a Ken Decker trey with 17:13 to play.

The host Tigers were too much, though, methodically stretching the lead to double digits.

Josh Hall led DePauw with 13 points, while reserves Aaron Shank and Matthew Godfrey were just behind with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

DePauw was outrebounded 34-26 on the night, with Hall leading the visitors with eight boards.