DePauw continues dominance of Hiram with 24-point win

DePauw's Ainsley Boras puts up an early basket during Wednesday's NCAC clash against Hiram. Boras had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals in the Tigers' 69-45 win over the Terriers.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

Although DePauw had already begun conference play with a win against Kenyon Dec. 3, the bulk of NCAC women’s basketball play began in earnest Wednesday night as Hiram arrived at Neal Fieldhouse.

A tale of two quarters left the Tigers with a three-point lead at halftime but a steady second half, including a strong closing quarter, saw the hosts move to 24-0 all time against the Terriers with a 69-45 win.

“We are a work in progress,” DePauw head coach Kris Huffman said. “We’re continuing to try and build experience with a young freshman and sophomore group.

“We’ve got to start putting pieces of the puzzle together and we’re looking for more consistent play. When you have a lack of consistency with like we did in the first and second quarters, those are things we’ve been talking about and trying to work on.”

The lead never changed hands once Mya Shannon knocked down the opening shot of the game though a pair of Maddie Rakestraw threes kept things close early on as DePauw (7-6, 2-0 NCAC) led 10-6 midway through the opening quarter.

A trio of Moira McKinley layups and three from Riley Mont pushed the lead to 19-6 as the Tigers ended the period with a 23-8 advantage.

Hiram (6-6, 0-1 NCAC) eventually fired back after a three and jumper from Anastasia Lawler brought the lead back to single digits at 27-18.

The hosts’ offense became bogged down with Shannon scoring all eight points in the quarter while a late 11-4 run from the Terriers tightened the game to three-points at halftime.

Rakestraw and Lizzy Scharer hit threes while the Ava Mory hit a putback jumper Rakestraw added a final basket to trim the gap to 31-28 at the break.

“We got some good looks but a lot of them bounced out and we didn’t get any second-chance looks,” Huffman said about the offensive slow down. “Mya got herself some second looks but we didn’t get any transition baskets like we did in the first quarter.

“That was the biggest difference.”

Ava Hassel opened the second half with a three to double the lead to six with Shannon, McGinley and Lydia Stullken scoring consecutive baskets to push the lead to 10 at 40-30.

“We were able to get downhill on our drives in the third and fourth quarter which allowed us to get to the rim and get some easy looks,” Huffman said about the second half improvements. “It opened up the basket for us as, sometimes this year, the basket has closed on us and we need to keep it open.”

Four three throws from Lawler pulled the lead down from double digits for the last time as the Tigers took a 10-point lead into the final quarter at 49-39.

Shannon scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for DePauw, including a three-point play, with a Lyla Barr steal and layup giving the hosts a 58-41 advantage.

The lead grew to 22 after Mont hit a three and Diana Burgher hit a layup before Mory put in one of only two Hiram baskets in the final period.

Late threes from Shannon and Lily Huntzinger put a bow on the 24-point win to open the home slate of NCAC play for the Tigers, who travel to Wittenberg Saturday.

“We’ve got to be able to defend consistently for four quarters and run our offense for four quarters,” Huffman said about the trip to face the Tigers. “Those are things we’ve been working on and we just have to be better as we have a true test on Saturday.”

Scoring

Hiram (10-34 2FG; 5-17 3FG; 10-13 FT) — Lawler 14, Rakestraw 10, Sharer 10, Mory 8, Hickman 2, Smith 1

DePauw (23-52 2FG; 6-18 3FG; 5-9 FT) — Shannon 22, Boras 12, McGinley 11, Mont 6, Huntzinger 5, Hassel 5, Barr 4, Stullken 2, Burgher 2

Statistics