On their way to consecutive victory number 58, the DePauw Tigers routed the Kenyon College Ladies 80-47 on a Saturday afternoon filled with honors and ceremony.
The Tigers unveiled their national championship banner on Saturday in the midst of the senior days for both the men's and women's teams. The Tigers honored their five seniors, and then came out swinging in the first half and never looked back, which has been the case all season.
"I think the seniors loved the senior day ceremony, but it also reminded them of how close they are getting to the end," said junior guard Emma Ondik. "It's always fun to take a moment to remember how great the seniors on our team are and how much we really are going to miss them when they are gone."
With the victory, the Tigers advanced to a spotless 24-0 record on the season with a 15-0 conference record. The loss brought the Kenyon Ladies to a 13-9 overall record and 8-6 in the conference.
As has been the case in games past for the Tigers, DePauw came out with another extra boost of energy in the first half behind senior forward Alex Gasaway's 10 out of DePauw's first 12 points.
"We can't focus on last year when we have goals for this year," Gasaway said, "We did have a higher attendance at the game on Saturday, which I think elevated our energy level a little bit; it was a fun atmosphere.''
Despite the ceremonies surrounding such an important moment for the women's basketball program, the team needed to remain focused on the present and coach Kris Huffman kept her team on track.
"I think with that kind of thing, any coach would be worried that a team wouldn't be focused,"Gasaway said. "However, I think we knew the whole time we had a tough game ahead of us and had to keep our eye on the ball."
The perspective maintained by the team and coaching staff was evident throughout the matchup, as the lead built to 23 points at one point in the first half alone. The game proved to be smooth sailing from there, as the Tigers went into half time up 41-18.
The second half entailed much of the same dominance as the Tigers' advantage reached as much as 47 points in the second half. No team has been able to match the Tigers this season or last season in terms of sheer focus, as the Tigers have never faltered in their quest to remain undefeated.
"I think the banner raising ceremony added a little bit of excitement to the environment, which could have been part of the reason why we came out with so much energy," Ondik said. "Other than that, I don't think the ceremony contributed to how we played. After it was over, we really tried to forget about the banner and focus on the game we had to play. "
As the Tigers continue to roll along, the team is looking ahead to conference tournament play and eventually the NCAA tournament as well. DePauw is back in action at Ohio Wesleyan University to wrap up the season on Saturday. The Tigers will then play host to the NCAC tournament commencing next Tuesday.