It wasn’t the best way to start off a home opener.
Less than two minutes into play, the Tigers found themselves down 6-0 to Millikin (4-2) on Wednesday night at Neal Fieldhouse.
But thanks to sophomore guard Emily Budde, who scored DePauw’s first eight points of the game, the Tigers quickly turned it around, droppoing 33 points in the first quarter.
DePauw would never look back, defeating the Big Blue 87-60. The win moves the Tigers to 4-2 on the season.
Offensively, DePauw was led by Budde, who scored 38 points, putting her second on the list of all-time DePauw women’s basketball scorers. Budde only places behind Jenny Bauer, who scored 40 points for the 1985 Tigers.
DePauw was also helped by junior guard Claire Ryan added 15 points, four rebounds and five assists.
“We came out a little slow, but once Emily started hitting three’s we really picked up the energy,” said sophomore forward Kylie Morris. “A big part of winning was how well we worked as a team. We had 21 assists in the game and that’s huge.”
After losing a solid senior class, the team is looking to create a new group of leaders in hopes of taking the program back to the NCAA tournament.
“We have a great team chemistry and that’s going to be a huge benefit for us throughout the season,” said Morris.
The Tigers will be traveling to Ohio this weekend to take on Wooster (4-2). The game will be played on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.