Bloomington, Ill. - DePauw trailed just once against Illinois College and moved to 4-1 on the season following a 72-55 win over the Lady Blues in the third-place game of Illinois Wesleyan's Midwest Challenge. Illinois College dropped to 2-2 on the season.

The Lady Blues scored the game's first two points, but Maya Howard and Claire Ryan countered with threes and Sydney Kopp followed with a layup to give DePauw the lead for good at 8-2.

DePauw grabbed a 21-9 lead after the first period and held as much as a 19-point advantage on the way to a 41-25 halftime lead.

Illinois College was within 12 at 46-34 with 3:27 left in the third, but the Tigers scored five straight to push the margin to 17. DePauw held a 55-37 lead after three quarters and the Lady Blues were no closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Maya Howard and Ryan each notched season-high point totals with 20 and 16 points, respectively, while Taylor Howard and Melinda Franke each grabbed nine rebounds with Kopp handing out four assists.

Brielle Greenleaf led Illinois College with 18 points and Alyssa Garde followed with 12. Carly Cameron paced the Lady Blues with eight rebounds.

DePauw shot 45.1 percent from the floor to Illinois College's 30.4 percent and the Tigers held a 45-31 rebounding advantage. 

The Tigers open North Coast Athletic Conference play on Friday, December 2, with a 6 p.m. game at Hiram.