Tonight’s semifinal round of the women’s basketball NCAA Division III Tournament will be played without the DePauw Tigers for the first time since 2012.
And yet, in the eyes of head coach Kris Huffman, the program “achieved and overachieved” this season.
“We could’ve been a lot of things this year, we could’ve had a lot of different records,” said Huffman of her Tigers, who held an impressive 22-7 record this season.
The veteran coach’s words can be traced all the way back to Neal Fieldhouse in October, where the Tigers began the season with only one returning starter from the 2014-15 campaign in senior forward Abby Keller.
“I think there was a lot of newness, when I look at it,” said Huffman. “For the first time, [non-starters] had the ball in their hands to make every decision.”
Despite their impressive track record of success, the Tigers struggled early on.
In January, they encountered their first two-game losing streak in seven years with back-to-back losses to conference opponents Denison University and Kenyon College.
But that didn’t daunt a Tigers team that put together a 9-1 run the rest of the way leading up to Conference.
“We had a lot of improvements to make at the beginning of the year,” said sophomore guard Emily Budde. “We worked really hard to get where we were at the end of the season.”
Highlighted by Budde’s dramatic buzzer beater against Kenyon in game two of the NCAC Tournament, the Tigers won the Conference Championship for the fifth straight year.
“We started the season not knowing where we would end up,” said first-year Maya Howard, who emerged as one of DePauw’s biggest offensive threats, averaging over 10 points per game.
“Winning [conference] shows just how much we have grown as a team.”
And while the Tigers may have had an early exit in the NCAA Division III Tournament in a 50-65 loss to Wisconsin-Steven’s Point, Huffman had to give their opponent a lot of credit.
“Steven’s Point was pretty good that night,” said Huffman. “[They] shot the ball really well. I thought we had a good game plan… but they played extremely well.”
Looking toward next season, the Tigers will be losing five seniors to graduation in guards Jenna Stoner, Morgan Skordos and Colleen Connors and forwards Angela Hacker and Keller.
But for right now, the Tigers can celebrate a year that was filled with challenges, yet turned out to be one of DePauw’s strongest yet.
“This year was an especially fun year. We had a lot of obstacles to work through, and I think that helped us to bond into a tight group,” Budde said. “Getting better and watching yourselves improve and be successful also makes for a special season.”