On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the Women’s Basketball team left Neal Fieldhouse with a wire-to-wire victory over the Denison Big Red, winning 62-52. The Tigers delivered a strong performance in front of their home crowd on the night of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, following the men’s home victory over Wittenberg. At halftime, DePauw’s women’s athletic teams were recognized in a halftime celebration.
Despite struggling to get the offense going in the first half, DePauw’s defense allowing only 20 points kept them in a comfortable lead over Denison. The Tigers did exceptionally well rebounding the ball defensively with their forwards down low while the guards were staying glued to their defensive assignments to force difficult shots. This shows in the stats, as DePauw held Denison’s shooting percentage below 30% in the first half, a shockingly low number.
Coming out of the gate for the second half, the pace began to speed up, which worked in favor of Denison. Despite the Tigers attempting the most shots in this quarter, they were not able to capitalize on the volume, making only 25% of their shots. DePauw was on a hot streak coming out of the half, scoring nine points in under two minutes. Following another score, DePauw went almost six minutes without scoring. After fighting hard for a 15-point lead, the Big Red cut it down to just six by the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was an exhilarating exchange of momentous shots from both teams. Following the three-pointer of guard Ava Hassel ‘25, Denison answered with one of their own to put the lead for the Tigers at just two. Guard Lily Huntzinger ‘26 came in clutch, getting a steal and hitting some big three-pointers to give DePauw a lead they did not look back from. The Tigers put up a sound defensive performance the rest of the way and were able to make their free throws to finish the game with a ten-point victory.
The team had multiple big performers. The most notable were forward Olivia Hart ‘27, who had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Huntzinger with 11 points. Hart was a big time player because of her defensive impact. She ended the game with an impressive four blocks and two steals to lead DePauw’s dominant defense. Hart’s effort also showed in rebounding, as her work prevented extra Denison possessions. Huntzinger came off the bench to put the team on her back in the final minutes with her timely shotmaking, making three of her four three-point shot attempts. Hassel and guard Riley Mont ‘26 also had big games to help guide the Tigers to victory.
The Tigers are 14-5 and an impressive 8-1 in the NCAC conference. Their last five games are in-conference, with their next home game on Saturday, Feb. 15.