The College of Wooster's Fighting Scots basketball team never stood a chance against DePauw's women's basketball team on Saturday as the DePauw Tigers handed them a 66-point loss with a final score of 98-32 at the Neal Field House.
DePauw kicked off the scoring and never looked back with junior guard Savannah Trees leading the way. Trees led all scorers with a career high 26 points with 18 of them coming in the first half alone. The win puts the Tigers at 18-0 for the season and 9-0 in the NCAC, keeping them ranked first in both the conference and the nation.
The Fighting Scots fell to 6-11 for the season and 1-9 in the NCAC keeping them in the conference cellar, a half game behind Hiram.
The Tigers were firing at all cylinders from tipoff to buzzer as both offense and defense never let up. DePauw's defense held the Fighting Scots to a mere 16 points in each half while DePauw ended the first half up by 38 in the first half alone with a score of 54-16 at the half.
Most of the second half was played with reserves in for the Tigers, but even the players off the bench had no trouble shutting down Wooster at both ends of the court. The Tigers high-energy play translated from starters to reserves as the Tigers bench players continued the first half domination. First-year guard Alexa Gaumer commented on the contributions off the bench.
"It was really exciting; the upperclassmen were really excited for us," Gaumer said. "The team had so much energy and everyone was so excited, so we were just feeding off of it. We were able to go out and produce just as well. It was really fun and really exciting."
This victory counts as the 11th game won by 20 or more points this season for DePauw, giving a lot of opportunity for new and reserve players to build up minutes and experience.
"It was a big confidence booster. Everyone is really happy, coach is really happy. The upperclassmen always tell us to make the best of it," Gaumer said.
As the season progresses the Tigers continue to defeat teams by large margains and are setting themselves up well for another NCAA tournament run. The Tigers have maintained their top national rank status from the beginning of the year and show no signs of letting up. The team continues to grow and gel as a unit.
"We're just going to keep making strides, keep progressing and keep getting better as a team," Guamer said. "We're a fun team to watch when we have so much chemistry."