DePauw fends off late Ohio Wesleyan push to stay atop NCAC Women’s Basketball standings

The DePauw Women’s Basketball (8-4) once again walked off the court with a win in a very tight and highly contested matchup against Ohio Wesleyan (9-2) in a heated game ending 74-67.

This win for the Tigers means head coach Kris Huffman and her squad continue the season with a good run of three straight wins.

“It was a really good win for us,” Huffman said. “Ohio Wesleyan is a tremendous team, and they’re hard to guard because they have scorers in all five positions then they make you uncomfortable by pressing and changing up their defense.

“I was proud of how we handled those things we weren’t perfect by any means we made some mistakes, but we did enough things well to get the win, so it’s a great team win for us.”

Coming into the game, DePauw had dominant performances in wins against Lakeland and Franklin 87-31 and 82-52, respectively to take home the 2023 Amy Hasbrook Memorial Tournament but struggled early against the Battling Bishops.

The Tigers led 9-5 but gave up the next eight points before rallying to tie the game at 15-15.

Ohio Wesleyan scored six of the last seven points in the first quarter and stretched the lead to nine at 27-18 midway through the second period.

A 9-0 Tiger run erased the deficit and 7-of-8 free throw shooting to end the half saw the home team lead 34-31 at halftime.

Huffman spoke about what she told the players during halftime to stay focused and composed, to how the team reacted positively after having led when the half ended but let Ohio Wesleyan still control the middle of the half.

“I thought we responded when we needed to because Ohio Wesleyan was never gonna go away,” Huffman said. “We survived those moments and I’m proud of our effort of staying tough when it got tough.

“We wanted to take care of the basketball a little bit better but Ohio Wesleyan does make you uncomfortable for 40 minutes. And we wanted to be able to attack a little bit after breaking the press, so we had some moments when we attacked better and it paid off by getting to the free line or getting a score.

DePauw gradually stretched the lead in the third quarter, keeping Ohio Wesleyan from getting in front and getting late threes from Alina Prusko and Riley Mont to make it 58-49 after three quarters of play.

The Battling Bishops gradually trimmed the lead until it was a one-point game at 64-63 with four minutes remaining but the Tiger defense stiffened and connected with 11-of-16 free throws in the final quarter to secure the win.

Coach Huffman spoke about how the team is playing really well but how they must stay grounded while playing at a high level every game.

“We’re pretty demanding as a coaching staff, so we want to celebrate the things that we’re doing well, but we know that we have a lot of work that we have to do in many areas of the game,” Huffman said. “We’ve got to go shore up our rebounding, we need to take care of the basketball better and we need to get better from the free throw line, so our list of things we want to improve in is so very long.”

Coach Huffman also highlighted the game of many players like Mont and others who had an impact on the game and the overall group performance that led to the win she also hinted at what a good run can lead to.

“A good thing about this team is that we really have 19 players that are committed to trying to do what’s right for the team, and today we had Riley step up in the offensive end, which was a big time for us,” Huffman said about the sophomore, who led the team with 19 points. “I thought Alina had some great decisions on the offensive end with some great defense.

“Then you had Ainsley Boras come in and do some great rebounding and Olivia Hart come in and do some lockdown defense and get some good rebounds. In a sense, we’ll probably play a shell game this year: Which player is going to step up on this game and be able to do this and that.

“I’m still really proud of a team effort when we were down early in that game,” Huffman added. “We came back and took a small lead and then it was just a battle the rest of that 20 minutes, so I’m proud on how they stepped up and displayed a little toughness when the game was on the line”

The Tigers will look to continue this great run of form when they play away from home against Hiram (5-6) at Price Gymnasium on Saturday, January 6th at 2 p.m.

Points: DPU 74 OWU 67

Rebounds: DPU 37 OWU 40

Offensive Rebounds: DPU 9 OWU 18

Defensive Rebounds: DPU 28 OWU 22

Assists: DPU 16 OWU 11

Turnovers: DPU 17 OWU 8

Steals: DPU 3 OWU 8

Personal Fouls: DPU 15 OWU 23