Depauw Beats Trinity Women in the SCAC Basketball Semifinals

Jackson, Miss. -- The defending champion and 10th-ranked DePauw Tigers beat the Trinity Tigers women 73-53 Saturday in the semifinals of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship Tournament in The Hangar Dome at Millsaps College.
 
Trinity (14-13), No. 2 in the West Division, had defeated DePauw (24-3), No. 1 in the East, 68-59 on Jan. 21 in San Antonio. The DePauw Tigers will play the Hendrix Warriors for the SCAC Championship at noon Sunday.
 
The Trinity Tigers held an early 11-2 lead, with 15:28 left in the first half. Trinity led 23-14 at the 9:26 mark, until DePauw tied the score at 23-23 (5:30). DePauw went on to lead 34-30 at halftime.
 
In the second half, DePauw shot 52 percent to Trinity's 20 percent. A key part of the half was when the Tigers from Indiana did not allow a Trinity field goal from the 15-minute mark  (leading 45-36) until 6:08 left in the game (63-43). Trinity came no closer than 17 points after that benchmark.
 
Trinity senior forward Danielle Hubenak (San Antonio/Churchill) led the Texas Tigers with 18 points, shooting 6-17 from the field, and 3-9 in 3-point range. Hubenak also grabbed four rebounds and had two assists.
 
Junior forward Abby Dietert (Cibolo, Texas/Steele) contributed eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. First-year guard Nicolette Halbleib (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) also scored eight points, and made three steals.
 
First-year forward Libby Kruse (Minnetrista, N.M./Orona) scored only one point, but was the Tigers top rebounder with eight boards.
 
Kate Walker led DePauw with 19 points, and Katie Aldrich had a double-double, with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Trinity shot 33.3 percent (17-51) for the game, and DePauw hit 46.7 percent (28-60). DePauw held a 43-33 advantage in total rebounds.