Junior Morgan Skordos drives towards the hoop
during the game on Saturday.
The Tigers ultimately defeated Wooster
with a final score of 70-39.
CHRISTA SCHROEDEL / THE DEPAUW
The women’s basketball program at DePauw University is consistently held at the highest level of expectations—this season will be no different.
The Tigers have begun by excelling in grudge matches and now starting the conference season with a win. Led by Coach Huffman, who was honored for her 500th win, DePauw took care of their first conference matchup and their first home game while students were on campus this Saturday.
Playing against The College of Wooster (1-5, 0-1), the Tigers shot 50 percent from the field (33-66) and controlled the boards, outrebounding Wooster 42-22. The final score was 92-69 and the Tigers are now 5-1 on the season, 1-0 in conference play.
“We got out to a good start at the beginning of the game which help set the tempo of how we wanted to play,” sophomore forward Taylor Howard said.
The Tiger’s started attacking the paint in the beginning of the game, which is where they had the majority of their points. It also helped them jump out to a quick 19-6 lead.
Wooster stayed in the game at first with multiple three-pointers, bringing the score back within single digits just once after DePauw’s first initial big lead before falling being.
“We prepared for the game the whole week,” first-year Hannah Gardner said. “So we were able to know what they were going to do and know how we would handle it.”
The Tiger’s went into the half leading 49-26 after a couple of big three-pointers from the bench. Wooster never came closer than 20 in the second half.
“We had segments during the game where we saw the things we worked on during practice the previous week being put into action,” Howard said.
Four players scored in double figures: senior Emma Ondik led with 14, followed by senior Savannah Trees, junior Jenna Stoner and Howard all had 13. Trees also had four assists, leading the team.
After a successful first conference game, the Tigers are now looking towards the rest of the season.
“Winning that game was the first step towards the conference championship,” Gardner said.
Wooster isn’t near the top of the totem pole in the NCAC, however.
“We recognize it was a good win and a good way to start conference play but we also realize that the competition in conference is going to get tougher, so we're just trying to build and improve upon each game and learn from our mistakes,” Howard said.
Being such a successful program has marked the Tigers and the players know it.
“In our conference we have a target on our backs, so we have to prepare for each game intensely because a team that is shooting 35% from the field against other teams can come out shooting 55 percent against us,” Howard said.
“One of our goals is to go undefeated in conference,” Gardner said.
In terms of goals, senior Ondik said, “I think our main goal is to get better in practice every day so that we can reach our full potential by the end of the season.”
While the expectations from the outside are great, the expectations the team has for itself this season are even greater.
“The goals are to win the conference championship and then the national championship,” Gardner said.
In order to get there, Howard said, “One of our major focuses is winning regular season conference and the conference tournament because the conference tournament is virtually the only way to reach the National Tournament and begin the journey to the National Championship.”
The Tigers will be back in action later today, as they face Spalding University at Neal Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.