The DePauw women's basketball team (4-1) avenged last season's 65-59 loss to Millikin University (3-3) Wednesday night in the Neal Fieldhouse. In a tale of two halves, the Tigers relied on a fast tempo and deep bench to outrun the Big Blue by a final score of 64-41.
Sluggish out of the gate, DePauw struggled to control the game throughout the first half. While the team found no difficulties in creating opportunities, chance after chance was thrown by the wayside, free throws weren't made, layups missed and passes thrown out of bounds.
Last week's D3Hoops.com Team of the Week member, senior forward Katie Aldrich was resigned to an early seat after being in foul trouble. Losing its leader in points per game this season, the team did not falter. Sophomore guard Ali Ross became the much-needed spark plug for the Tigers, making shots, grabbing her own rebounds and drawing fouls. Ross finished with nine points and two rebounds.
Her teammates quickly followed her example with five minutes left in the first half as shots started to fall. Encouraged by the late surge, the team took a 23-19 lead into halftime.
"[The team] focused on having more energy in the second half," Ross said. "It's always nice to get a team back."
Fans were treated to an entirely different game in the second half as the Tigers shook off an uncharacteristic 20 minutes and put on a thoroughly dominating performance. Aldrich and junior forward Ellie Pearson established their presence in the paint immediately, pulling down rebounds and finishing layups.
"We really started moving the basketball, which resulted in some transitional looks," said head coach Kris Huffman.
It was DePauw's victory in the battle of the boards that allowed them to open up the game through quick transitions. Sophomore forward Alex Gasaway's defensive pressure forced numerous turnovers and guards Kate Walker and Kathryn Denbow capitalized on the turnovers with quick fast breaks, leaving the Millikin players trailing behind.
Huffman believed the team improved in the second half because the players started to pass more effectively. Huffman added that this year's team needs to rely on each other to win each game.
"It's going to take eight people scoring and 10 people playing defense to win these games," Huffman said.
The Tigers will look to continue their momentum in Saturday's home game against Denison University (4-2) in their first North Coast Athletic Conference contest of the season.