DePauw scored seven straight in the middle of the fourth period and pulled away from Denison for a 62-52 North Coast Athletic Conference win. The Tigers improved to 14-5 overall and 8-1 in the NCAC, while the Big Red dropped to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
DePauw scored the game’s first seven points and led by as many as nine on the way to an 11-6 lead at the quarter break. The Tigers’ advantage stayed in single digits throughout the second period with DePauw holding a 28-20 lead at the intermission.
Olivia Hart’s jumper wth 6:25 left in the third gave DePauw its largest lead at 39-24 with 6:25 left in the period. DePauw then went scoreless for nearly six minutes as the Big Red scored 11 straight. Tori Allen’s two free throws with 29 seconds left stopped the run and gave DePauw a 41-35 lead at the end of the third.
Denison closed the gap to within two on three occasions before Lily Huntzinger’s 3-pointer started a stretch of seven straight points that concluded with two free throws from Ava Hassel and Riley Mont’s steal and layup to extend the Tigers’ lead to 56-47.
Abigail Westmeyer’s trey at the 2:54 mark cut the margin to six before the teams were scoreless for the next two minutes. Hassel hit two free throws with 51 seconds left and, after Denison missed a 3-point attempt, Hart knocked in a pair at the line to make it 60-50 with 41 seconds left.
Hassel led DePauw with 15 points, while Hart followed with 12 and a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and four blocked shots. Huntzinger finished with 11 points. Westmeyer led Denison with 18 points, while Adelyn Moore hauled down eight rebounds and Abby Cooch handed out three assists.
DePauw shot 35.6 percent from the field to Denison’s 32.3 percent, while DePauw held a 40-38 rebounding edge. The Tigers committed just seven turnovers to Denison’s 12 for a 12-0 lead in points off of turnovers.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 8, with a 2 p.m. NCAC game at Oberlin.