DePauw's tournament run ends with Hope loss

DePauw’s Olivia Hart goes up at the rim during Saturday night’s NCAA Division III Women’s Baksetball Tournament against Hope at Neal Fieldhouse. The Tigers met the Flying Dutch for the fourth time in the postseason but couldn’t get in the win column in the tournament series, falling short in the second round 70-55.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

Four times the DePauw Tigers have run into Hope College in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament and four times they have come up short.

In a second-round meeting to start March, the Tigers fell to the Flying Dutch 70-55 at Neil Fieldhouse Saturday night.

This was a matchup featuring two of the top-five winningest active coaches in Division III. Brian Morehouse of Hope has 710 wins and Kris Huffman of DePauw with 721 wins.

The Dutch got off to a flying start, running out to an 8-1 lead quickly. The Tigers roared back behind three-pointers from Ava Hassel and Riley Mont.

Hope’s Sidney Vis scored seven down the stretch, giving the visitors a 19-13 advantage after one.

Hope started the second quarter strong as well behind Vis, who scored nine more, boosting the lead to 28-15. Vis would finish the first half with 16 points in all.

The aggressive defense from the Dutch was denying passing lanes and taking DePauw out of its comfort zone, only allowing 11 points in the quarter on the way to a 40-24 lead at half.

DePauw started to chip away at the lead in the second half. Hassle and Lily Huntzinger each had five points and helped get the lead down eight as momentum looked to be swinging the Tigers’ way.

An important stretch of the game happened at the end of the third. Olivia Hart and Lyla Barr had back-to-back scores to make it a seven-point game.

At the close of the quarter, the Tigers missed a shot and Hope’s Keagan Kaiser hit a three to close the third and put the Dutch up 10 at 53-43.

Hope put the game out of reach midway in the fourth. Olivia Bellows and Vis scored nine in a row to go up 17.

DePauw tried to answer with threes from Mont and Diana Burgher, but the lead would not get closer than 13 and Hope would move on to the Sweet Sixteen. “Congratulations to Hope. We knew they were an outstanding team. Tonight they showed why they have been dominant over the years. They make you uncomfortable on offense and they are hard to guard on offense,” said DePauw head coach Kris Huffman.

DePauw’s season ends as North Coast Athletic Conference champions and a 22-8 record on the season. This was the Tigers’ 23rd appearance in the NCAAs. Hassle led the Tiger attack with 13 points and Riley Mont also finished in double figures with 10. Olivia Hart grabbed 10 rebounds and Mont had four assists in the contest.

Hope moves to 26-3 and goes on to the final 16. Vis finished with a game-high 22 points. Bellows added 14 to lead the Dutch to victory. Raven Jemison grabbed eight boards and Jada Garner had four assists.

Team Stats

Individual Stat Leaders

Scoring - (D) Hassle 13, Mont 10, Huntzinger 9, Hart 9, Burgher 8, Stulken 4, Barr 2; (H) Vis 22, Bellows 14, Garner 9, Maynard 7, Lee 6, Karlblom 5, Kaiser 5, Jemison 2

Rebounds - (D) Hart 10, Burgher 4, Boras 4, Stulken 3, Prusko 2, Huntzinger 2, three with 1; (H) Jemison 8, Karlblom 4, Vis 3, Garner 3, Lee 3, Maynard 3, three with 2

Assists - (D) Mont 4, Hassle 2, Huntzinger 2, six with 1; (H) Garner 4, Kaiser 3, Karlblom 2, Bellows 2; thee with 1