Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw's NCAA tournament run came to an end in Neal Fieldhouse at the hands of Loras and its press as the Duhawks advanced to the round of 16 with a 71-60 second-round win over the Tigers. The Tigers finished their season at 28-2 as their streaks of 24 straight wins and 20 consecutive home victories came to an end. Loras takes a 25-4 record into next Friday's meeting with Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
The pace was quick at the start as the Tigers took a 5-0 lead on Sydney Kopp's bucket and Natalie Kehrt's 3-pointer. Loras countered with the same before Grace Kinsey knocked in a trey and Mya Shannon hit two free throws to give the Tigers a 10-5 lead. The Duhawks scored the next nine after scoring on four straight possessions as the Tigers came up empty with two turnovers and a missed field goal. DePauw tied the contest again at 14, but Loras' Marissa Schroeder scored near the end of the quarter to give the Duhawks what would be the lead for the rest of the contest.
Loras took its biggest lead of the half at 40-27 after Riley Eckhart's 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the second capped a 14-4 run. Emma LeMasters hit two free throws and Kopp a bucket to close the Loras halftime lead to 40-31. The guests knocked in five 3-pointers in the quarter on the way to a 24-point showing.
DePauw closed the gap to seven four minutes into the third, but the Tigers went scoreless over a four-minute stretch and Loras scored four to lead, 46-35. Campbell Montgomery's put-back cut the margin back to single digits before Macenzie Kraemer drained a three 10 seconds later to make it 49-37. Hayley Cange came back with a layup and Shannon knocked in a three to trim the Loras lead to seven. The Duhawks hit two free throws in the closing seconds to take a 51-42 lead into the final stanza.
The Tigers went the first six minutes of the final quarter with just two free throws, while Loras tallied nine points to push the lead to 60-44, its largest of the game. DePauw got no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Claire Keefe paced DePauw with 12 points, while Shannon added 11 followed by 10 apiece from Cange and Kopp. Kopp added 11 rebounds for a double-double and Kinsey dished out five assists. Schroeder led Loras with 19 points followed by Kraemer with 16. Kari Fitzpatrick scored 13 and Courtney Schnoor 10. Schroeder grabbed nine rebounds and Fitzpatrick handed out four assists.
DePauw shot 42.3 percent for the game to Loras' 37.7 percent. The Duhawks outscored DePauw from the line, 24-10, including 16-4 in the final quarter. The Tigers outrebounded Loras, 35-34, and committed 18 turnovers to Loras' nine.
NOTES: Sydney Kopp finished her career as DePauw's career leader with 1,733 points, 240 3-pointers and 14.7 points per game. Kopp's 658 points and 21.9 points per game this season are a school record ... Kopp and fellow senior Natlalie Kehrt finished their careers with a four-year record of 105-13 ... The Tigers are 34-19 in NCAA postseason games including 21-5 at home ... this marked the sixth DePauw season of 28 or more wins.