Claire Ryan (left), Jenna Stoner (middle) and Hannah Doughlas (right) get ready
to play defense as Jordan Ballard of Maryville College drives down the court.
The women's next match is against Calvin College.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
This past weekend, the Tigers proved they might be one of the teams to beat in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament. After making quick work of Hanover College and Maryville University at home, DePauw will advance to the Sweet 16 to take on Calvin College.
The Tigers took on Hanover in the first round of tournament play, easily penetrating the full-court press that the Panthers had previously used to help them get into the tournament.
“We worked all week on that,” said head coach Kris Huffman. “Our spacing was good…we didn’t see the press as much as we thought we might, but I thought we handled it well to start the game.”
After letting Hanover jump out to a quick lead with the first three-pointer of the game from senior Megan Caudill, the Tigers went on a 25-5 run and held the lead for the rest of the game. By half-time, it was 37-18.
"As a whole, we really focused on crashing the boards…we knew that…was going to be a big aspect of the game,” said senior Hannah Douglas, who led the team with seven rebounds. “Everyone just contributed as much as they could and crashed the boards hard on offense and defense...it got us a lot of second-chance points.”
DePauw outscored Hanover on second-chance points 21-8 and out-rebounded them 51-27, which resulted in an 83-57 win over the Panthers.
“I thought [DePauw] played well from start to finish [and] had very few times when they…had a lapse where we could get ahead,” said Hanover’s head coach Molly Jones. “I have to credit them, and I thought our kids fought hard.”
On top of all the excitement coming from the Tiger’s win, senior Savannah Trees tied the school’s career scoring record of 1,447 points. Regardless of the excitement, Trees still knew there was another game to win.
“Honestly, I [was] just happy to play another day,” Trees said. “I [was] more excited about the win…it’s not about the record.”
Trees would go on to break the record the following night against Maryville early in the first quarter. Although the Tigers bench erupted in excitement after Tree’s layup, no one would’ve known it was a record-breaker, as the players on the floor quickly got back on defense to guard the Maryville offense.
The Scots provided a greater challenge for DePauw throughout the first half, as the Tiger’s lead only went into double-digits once. After halftime, the offense exploded, outscoring Maryville 45-29, closing out a 76-53 victory.
“Man, is it fun to play in a day where everything [is]…clicking offensively,” said Huffman. “It was a game we prepped very quickly over [the night before].”
Maryville head coach Darrin Travillian agreed.
“Kris does an amazing job with her team, and you see why you have the tradition and level of excellence that they have here,” said Travillian. “They do a great job of not getting discombobulated…and they made winning plays…best team we’ve played all year.”
Huffman also recognized the efforts of the opposing team.
“[They’re] so well coached [and] professional in every ounce of the game,” said Huffman. “They’re so talented…and they really have some outstanding players that can really beat you off the dribble one-on-one.”
With a win against a team that had gone 26-3 up until Saturday’s game, Trees could relax a little and enjoy her new record.
“It gets people off my back,” said Trees jokingly. “But once again, I’m just happy to get another week to play.”
Although everything this weekend seemed to fall the Tiger’s way, Tree’s words could not ring truer, as getting past Calvin College will not be an easy task, to say the least. The Knights are a perfect 29-0, and will be taking on DePauw at home.
“They’re super talented [and] super athletic…they can shoot the three, they can drive it,” said Huffman. “They’re getting a lot of their offense off of their defense, so we’ll have to be…fundamentally sound.”
The game will be played this coming Friday, and can be followed with live stats on DePauw’s athletic website.