Tigers start slow but finish fast in 80-45 win over Oglethorpe
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| Junior Sarah MacKay goes up for two of her game-high 15 points in the Tigers' 80-45 win. (photo: Marilyn Culler) | ||
GREENCASTLE, IND. - Visiting Oglethorpe built an 11-1 lead over DePauw in the first five minutes of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game at the Neal Fieldhouse, but the Tiger women used a 45-7 run over the remainder of the first half and the opening three minutes of the second to gain control on the way to an 80-45 win.
DePauw, ranked 21st in the latest USA Today/WBCA Division III poll, remained in first place in the SCAC standings at 10-2 while they improved to 15-4 overall. Oglethorpe fell to 7-12 overall and 3-9 in the SCAC.
The Stormy Petrels hit five of their first eight shots over the opening 4:29, while the Tigers missed all five of their attempts and committed five turnovers. From that point forward, however, DePauw dominated play.
The Tigers hit 14 of their final 22 shots of the first half and Oglethorpe made just one of their final 27 attempts from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers' lead reached its high point at the intermission at 40-22. DePauw opened the second half with a 22-3 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 62-21.
Tiger coach Kris Huffman was then able to clear the bench and get all 18 players into the contest. Of those, 14 reached the scorebook.
"We had a slow start as they (Oglethorpe) really took it to us early," Huffman said. "I thought we defended well tonight. They still got good looks, but maybe we made them hurry their shots."
Sarah MacKay led the Tigers with 15 followed by Lindsey Rush with 11. Faith McLemore paced Oglethorpe with 13 points, while Heather Francouer, the leading scorer in the conference, was held to just nine points, but grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Tigers outrebounded Oglethorpe 44-34 with Jill Schneider grabbing nine.
DePauw hosts Millsaps on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Majors lost at Rose-Hulman by a 70-67 count on Friday.