#10 DePauw Tops Denison for Fifth NCAC Title in Six Seasons

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Greencastle, Ind. - Tenth-ranked DePauw never trailed on the way to a 60-46 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over Denison which gave the Tigers the outright NCAC regular season title. DePauw improved to 22-1 overall and 14-0 in the NCAC with its 19th straight win, while the Big Red dropped to 11-12 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

The Tigers scored eight straight in a first-quarter stretch that lifted them to a 14-9 lead at the quarter break. Denison was within two at 22-20 with 3:41 left in the second, but Blair Carlin nailed a three with 1:40 remaining and Maya Howard scored a layup on the next possession to give DePauw a 27-20 advantage at the intermission.

They carried that momentum into the third as Claire Ryan and Howard each scored layups before Sydney Kopp nailed a three to make it 34-20 just 2:04 into the quarter. DePauw extended the margin to as much as 19 at 41-22 on Howard's layup with 3:47 remaining in the period and the Tigers took a 44-29 lead into the final stanza.

Denison trimmed the lead to 50-44 after Jordan Holmes' layup with 3:21 left, but Howard's three-point play and jumper on consecutive possessions pushed it back to 55-44 with 1:56 remaining. 

Howard led all scorers with a season-high 23 which was just one shy of her career high, while Sydney Kopp followed with 17. Melinda Franke hauled down seven rebounds as DePauw held a 33-28 edge on the boards.

Holmes paced Denison with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, while Alison Schafer followed with 10.

DePauw shot 42.6 percent from the field to Denison's 34.7 percent.

The Tigers travel to Kenyon on Saturday, February 11, for a 1 p.m. contest.