Senior guard Morgan Skordos takes the ball downcourt during a practice.
The Tigers (5-2) opened their conference season away with a 61-48 win this Wednesday against Wooster College (4-3)—which pushes their current NCAC winning streak to 17 games.
While the game was close in the first quarter, the Tigers started the second half strong and were able to pull away, winning by 13.
“We knew from the beginning that this would be a tough game for us,” said junior guard Claire Ryan.
The lead switched back and forth between teams multiple times in the first half.
“We combated the back and forth nature with our defense and kept Wooster from going on any long offensive runs,” Ryan said.
DePauw scored the last five points going into halftime, a point where Head Coach Kris Huffman was able to get her team back on track.
“At halftime we talked as a team to move past our slow start,” said senior guard/forward Morgan Skordos. “We talked about how we needed more reversals on offense and that we needed more stops on defense.”
The Tigers' defense has been strong all season, keeping every opponent to relatively low scoring.
“Our key factor was our defense in the first half that allowed us to stay in it when our offense was down,” said Skordos. “In the second half we were able to make more shots to help push us forward to win.”
Ryan tied her career high, scoring 14 points while also adding four assists to her efforts. Senior forward Abby Keller had a double-double, with 11 rebounds and 12 points.
Sophomore guard Emily Budde, who netted 38 points last week, scored 11 Wednesday night.
“We made a strive in our game against Millikin where we had fewer turnovers and that was a big part of that win. If we take better care of the ball we can be very successful in later games,” Skordos added.
The Tigers shot right around the 50 percent mark for the game, topping Wooster’s 32 percent. DePauw also dominated on the boards, getting twice as many rebounds as the Fighting Scots.
“It was good to be able to get that first win and it will be a tough road ahead but our goal is to be able to win the conference and the conference tournament to be able to move on in March,” said Ryan.
DePauw’s next game will be at Neil Fieldhouse on Dec. 9 against Anderson (3-4), starting at 7:00 p.m.