Jacob Lynn is a sophomore from
St. Petersburg, Fla. He is sports editor
of The DePauw.
CHRISTA SCHRODEL / THE DEPAUW
When the class of 2014 graduated from DePauw, I thought it would mark the end of an era for the Tigers’ women’s basketball dynasty.
DePauw was losing five seniors, three of whom had seen consistent playing time and had been a major part of the team’s success in recent years. Basically, I thought that the departure of Alex Gasaway, Ali Ross and Alison Stephens would bring the program back down to earth.
The three had been key parts of the National Championship team of 2013 and had gone to the NCAA tournament in each of their four seasons in Greencastle.
Individually, they all brought a unique playing style that gelled perfectly with that of the other players on the floor. At 5-foot-10, Stephens was one of the Tigers’ bigger players and played primarily down low, Ross had agility and was a perfect fit to run the point and Gasaway’s mixture of size and touch allowed her to do a little bit of everything.
Their senior seasons were nothing short of brilliant and were a big reason the Tigers advanced as far as they did. Gasaway was one of the team’s leading scorers with just under 13 points a night, Ross led the team in assists per game and Stephens game averaged just under 10 points and 10 rebounds.
With those three out of the picture, I was concerned that the remainder of the core, seniors Emma Ondik, Savannah Trees, Lauren Abendroth and Hannah Douglas, wouldn’t be able to carry the load.
I was wrong.
This new class of seniors have all elevated their play and have the Tigers in a familiar position as March begins to draw nearer. DePauw sits at 18-1 overall and are a perfect 10-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play with that one loss coming in the fourth game of season to Illinois Wesleyan University.
A big reason for that is the improved play of those four seniors. All of them have increased their offensive totals from a year ago. The biggest, however, has come from Lauren Abendroth. A year ago, the guard was averaging barely over five points a game and was near the bottom of Coach Huffman’s rotation. This season, Abendroth is averaging in double figures every game and is second on the team in rebounding.
Trees is still the leading scorer, with over 15 points a night and both Douglas and Ondik have increased their offensive output to make up for the loss of last year’s class.
As far as postseason experience goes, this team still has quite a bit. All are NCAC champions and each played a role in bringing the national championship home to Greencastle in 2013.
The Tigers have five regular season conference games left to play against teams that aren’t nationally ranked making another NCAC championship a real possibility. Then when it comes time for the national tournament, the Tigers have a reservoir of experience to rely upon.
At the end of last season I thought the Tigers were done being so dominant and this group of women has proved me wrong. I think they certainly have another conference championship in them and I believe that the Tigers have the talent to make another deep run into the national tournament.
These women have done it before and there’s no reason to think that they can’t do it again.