Following a 100-59 blowout win over conference rival, Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio), the DePauw's women's basketball team pushed its remarkable streak to 48 straight victories.
The women have followed up their undefeated title season of last year, with 14 straight wins to open up the 2013-2014 campaign. The improbable winning streak began when the Tigers defeated
Wisconsin Stout (Menomonie, Wis.) 88-48 in the season opener last year.
Since then, the Tigers are not only winning the games, they are defeating most of their opponents with ease.
During the streak, DePauw averaged over 79 points per game and has an average margin of victory of just over 25. Of the 48 wins, only three came by fewer than 10 points.
For senior Alison Stephens, the magnitude of the streak set in on Jan. 9 of last year, when the Tigers took on Kenyon in a game they would eventually win by a score of 57-47.
"I was talking to one of our trainers, and he said, 'If we win this game, we could potentially not lose,'" Stephens said.
The trainer proved to be correct as the Tigers would go on to ï¬nish season with a 34-0 mark and brought a National Championship home to Greencastle.
During the off season, the team used the title and its undefeated season as incentives to improve during the summer.
"It was a motivator for us," Stephens said. "It's hard to win a national championship, but it's even harder to win it twice in a row."
When the team returned for practices this year, Coach Kris Huffman implemented a policy of keeping the players focused on one game at a time.
"Every team that we play can beat us and has the tools to beat us," senior Ann Sarkisian said. "So we have to counteract that every time we take the ï¬oor."
When the players get away from the coaching staff, they don't discuss the streak all that often.
"I wouldn't say that it's taboo, but it's not something that we talk about very much," said Stephens. "We don't want to come o" as arrogant or overly conï¬dent."
Huffman has her own way of dealing with the pressure that comes from the winning streak.
"I don't talk about it very much, I just deal with preparation for the next game," Huffman said. "I don't look at any polls, read any newspaper articles, or watch any coverage."
In order to have had such a large amount of continued success, the team has a very special mindset every time it takes the ï¬oor.
"We get on the court knowing that the next 40 minutes are the most important that we'll have all season," Sarkisian said. "To look too far and coast will cause you to lose out on the 40 minutes you have ahead of you"