The Tigers cruised to a 90-48 win at home over Allegheny College in the first round of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournament last night.
Allegheny (6-19) led 7-6 in the first quarter before DePauw University went on a 23-0 run to get ahead for good. By halftime, the score was 43-16 with the Tigers leading.
“Tonight was one of the best games we’ve had in terms of sharing the ball,” senior forward Melinda Franke said following the win. “Playing on our home floor is something we all love.”
Sophomore guard Sydney Kopp turned in an impressive 21 points along with three rebounds and three assists to lead the team on offense.
“Right off the bat in warmups, my shot felt really good coming off and I had a lot of confidence,” Kopp said. “So mentally I went in believing that every shot was going to fall.”
DePauw also received big performances from junior guard Maya Howard and first-year forward Claire Keefe, dropping 15 and 13 points respectively.
Senior forward Sarah Cooper dominated on the boards with seven rebounds.
Despite the Gator’s struggles throughout the season, DePauw did little to hold back.
“Truly, we prepare for every team the same,” Franke said. “We have the same focuses coming into every game: to control the boards, play good defense, win the free throw game and to out-hustle the other team.”
DePauw has not lost an NCAC quarterfinal since coming to the conference in 2011. While deep-runs in the postseason have long been a given, the Tigers are hungry for a NCAC tournament championship after winning the regular-season conference title.
“This is my last go-around, so I definitely want to take home both conference titles,” Franke said, who joins Cooper, guard Emily Budde, and forward Kylie Morris to round out a talented senior class.
DePauw will face a stronger conference opponent on Friday in Wittenberg University, a program the Tigers already beat twice during the regular season. The team will watch film today to get a better feel for Wittenberg’s flex offense, which they’ll later rep in practice.
“We will approach them like any other game, [with] Friday being the most important game of the season,” Kopp said. “We are just taking it one opponent at a time and not undermining anyone, especially this time of year.”
Tipoff is set for Friday at 5 p.m. at Neal Fieldhouse.
