Jacksonville, Ill. - DePauw battled back from as much as a 17-point first-half deficit to lead in the final three minutes, but Illinois Wesleyan outscored the Tigers 7-2 in the final 2:05 to take a 79-75 win in the opening game of the Midwest Classic.
The Tigers, ranked sixth in the latest coaches' poll and ninth by D3hoops.com, dropped to 3-1 and play in tomorrow's 2 p.m. CST third-place game against host Illinois College after the Lady Blues dropped a 79-52 decision to eighth-ranked Washington-St. Louis.
After DePauw held an early 5-4 lead, Illinois Wesleyan outscored the Tigers 22-4 over a seven-minute stretch to take a 26-9 lead.
DePauw responded with a 21-7 run of its own to close the gap to 33-30, but the Titans scored the final eight of the half to take a 41-30 lead into the intermission.
The Tigers' Lauren Abendroth opened the second half with a three, a layup, another trey and a bucket to trim the lead to 41-40.
Illinois Wesleyan stretched the margin back to double digits at 50-40 with nine straight points and still held a 59-51 advantage after Rebekah Ehresman's jumper with 9:46 remaining. DePauw came right back with a 7-0 run capped by Emma Ondik's three with 7:54 remaining to cut the margin to one at 59-58.
DePauw eventually tied the score at 63-63 when Abby Keller scored with 5:17 left and took a 66-63 lead on Hannah Douglas' three-pointer at the 4:49 mark.
The lead exchanged hands before DePauw's Savannah Trees converted a three-point play to give the Tigers a 73-72 advantage with 2:05 left. The Titans' Alina Lehocky answered with a put back that gave Illinois Wesleyan the lead for good.
Ehresman hit the first of two free throws with 32 seconds left to make it 75-73, but the Titans were able to rebound the miss of the second toss and Ehresman made both free throws after being fouled.
Abendroth missed a three on the Tigers' next possession and Lehocky hit two more free throws to push the lead to 79-73. Douglas scored with four seconds left for the game's final points.
Trees led the Tigers with 20 followed by Ondik with 18, Douglas with 15 and Abendroth with 14. Douglas and Keller each grabbed seven rebounds with Ondik and Trees each dishing out four assists. Douglas led with four steals.
Ehresman poured in a game-high 25 with Shelby Gray added 11 and Kasey Reaber 10. Lehocky hauled down nine rebounds as the Titans held a 43-27 advantage on the boards that it turned into a 24-11 edge in second-chance points. Ehresman and Gabby Weber each had four assists.
DePauw shot 46 percent from the floor including 54.5 percent in the second half, while Illinois Wesleyan connected on 47.5 percent.