The DePauw women’s basketball team handily defeated Wooster 85-49, on Saturday at Neal Fieldhouse behind scoring performances by all 15 active players. The win extended the team’s win streak to 16 games.
The Tigers got off to a quick start and never looked back, going up 27-9 after the first quarter and holding a 44-21 lead at halftime. From that point, DePauw continued to build on their lead, never going down by more than 24 for the remainder of the game.
The scoring for the Tigers was spread out amongst many players, and Taylor Howard led the team with 11 points. Sophomore Maya Howard had nine points and four assists, and Kylie Morris had 10 rebounds. The Tigers distributed the ball well, with 22 assists as a team. Meanwhile, Anna Gibbs led Wooster with 19 points and four assists.
Taylor Howard says the team’s winning ways are because they are doing the little things right.
“Our offense was really efficient and we took away a lot of things that they are good at with our defense,” Taylor Howard said. “ We’ve been able to keep winning by doing the simple yet important things such as rebounding, playing solid defense, and being efficient on offense.”
The Tigers shot 55 percent from the floor, including 37 percent from three, while holding Wooster to only 31 percent on field goals, and 22 percent from three. DePauw was also 10-for-16 from the free throw line.
Maya Howard commented on the efficiency of the offense after the game. “We executed our offense with more ball reversals and we used our post players more efficiently,” said Maya Howard. “ We were able to stop their transition offense and hit open shots. We have stepped up our game entirely, both offensively and defensively. We play together as a cohesive unit.”
The Tigers dominated the glass, out rebounding Wooster 49-21, and also had an edge in the paint, 42-28. DePauw forced 14 Wooster turnovers and had eight steals as a team.
With the Tigers rolling through NCAC play, Senior Lex Gaumer is focused on maintaining this success into the postseason. “I think our success comes from how competitive we are in practice. We are constantly pushing each other and there’s always a lot of energy,” she said. “I think our main goal is to finish out the regular season strong. We need to continue to play pedal to the metal.”
The Tigers improved their record to 19-1 overall and 11-0 in NCAC play. The Fighting Scots dropped to 1-18 on the year, including 0-10 in the NCAC. The Tigers will play against Hiram at home on Friday, February 3.
