Tigers Hang Tough With Ranked DePauw But Fall On Road

GREENCASTLE, Ind. — After digging themselves another double-digit first-half hole, the Wittenberg women's basketball team fell on the road at fourth-ranked DePauw, 62-45.

The final margin was much more palatable to Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz than the 90-53 home loss the Tigers suffered last month. In that game, DePauw dominated from the opening tip, but in the re-match Wittenberg never let the host Tigers pull away until the closing moments.

The loss dropped Wittenberg to 12-11 overall and 8-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with one game left in the regular season. DePauw won its 71st consecutive home conference game (including 15 in the NCAC and 56 in the SCAC) and 21st straight game overall in the 2011-12 season. The host Tigers improved to 22-1 overall and 15-0 in the NCAC, having already secured home court advantage and the No. 1 seed for next week's NCAC Tournament.

Much like the previous meeting between DePauw and Wittenberg, the women in Red & White fell behind immediately, giving up the first four points of the game and trailing by as many as 17 points late in the first half. But this time, Wittenberg came out of the halftime strong, trimming the DePauw lead to nine points on a three-point play by senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) at the 17:02 mark.

DePauw responded with six straight points and within minutes the lead had stretched to 21 points.

Freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls) and Watson each finished with 15 points in the game to lead the visiting Tigers. Wittenberg was held to just 24 percent shooting from the field and was outrebounded by a whopping 54-32 margin.