MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Top-ranked DePauw shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half in building as much as a 28-point lead and the Tigers held on for a 73-56 North Coast Athletic Conference win at Allegheny.
DePauw improved to 11-0 overall and 2-0 in the NCAC, while the Gators dropped to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
The Tigers trailed early, but used a 16-2 run during a 3:27 stretch to take an 18-6 advantage. A 17-2 rally later in the half pushed DePauw's lead to 46-18 and the Tigers headed to the locker room leading 46-23 after shooting 56.3 percent (18 of 32) from the field and knocking down 4 of 8 three-pointers.
Allegheny chipped away at the Tigers' lead and got as close as 11 in the final two minutes, but DePauw scored the game's final six points.
No. 4 Whitman 76, Willamette 45
SALEM, Ore. -- After a 32-point victory against Warner Pacific last Monday which kept her fourth-ranked Missionaries undefeated, the restless perfectionism of Whitman head coach Michelle Ferenz was on display.
She was "pleased," but wanted better half-court execution by her offense in anticipation of the looming conference grind, when cheap buckets are an endangered species.
Whitman obliged its head coach at Willamette's expense Friday, dissecting its hosts with an array of methodical sets and crisp cuts en route to a 76-45 victory in the Northwest Conference opener for both schools.
The Missionaries improved to 10-0 while surrendering their second-lowest point total of the season. They scored just one fast-break basket in building a hearty, 36-17 halftime lead which Willamette never threatened to capsize.
