No. 7 Messiah limited No. 6 DePauw to 27% shooting from the floor and rode a 26-point performance from Nikki Lobach en route to a 61-47 win in Cancun, Mexico.
Lobach, who reached the 1,000-point milestone in the victory, was 10-for-13 from the floor. "She's been great for us since the day she stepped on campus," said coach Mike Miller. "But what we were really pleased with today was our overall defensive effort and our abilities to handle DePauw's runs.
&&b-boxr&&"I thought this was the best that we maintained our composure this season when (DePauw) would take the lead or make a run. It was a great learning experience and we got the win as well."
Messiah took a 29-25 halftime lead behind 10-for-14 free-throw shooting, making up for an 8-for-22 performance from the floor. A jumper from Lobach opened the second half, and back-to-back jumpers from Lobach gave Messiah a 41-33 lead with 14:56 remaining. DePauw hit a basket to cut the lead to six but got no closer.
On an otherwise quiet night, the William Paterson men won their eighth in a row, beating Lehman 67-61 and Rowan dealt Immaculata its first loss 85-79.