Though the University of La Verne women's basketball team held a 10-point first half lead over #10 De Pauw University, he Tigers rallied to overtake the Leopards in a 76-61 triumph Friday in the CLU Thanksgiving Classic in Thousand Oaks.

La Verne (0-2) raced out to an early lead on the Tigers, and held a 10-point advantage on two occasions in the first stanza.  The Leos held a 33-23 lead with 3:33 left en route to a 35-28 cushion at the break.

De Pauw (2-1) went on a 10-3 run to open the second half to knot the game at 38-38 with 15:56 remaining.  A Stephanie Shepard jumper with 15:33 left gave the Leopards their last lead of the game at 40-38.

The Tigers took a 10-point advantage on a layup by Katie Mathews to stake the Tigers to a 62-52 cushion over La Verne.  The Leopards however would pull to within three points on a Shepard layup to cut the deficit to three points at 62-59 with 4:17 remaining.  De Pauw would finish the game on a 14-2 run to end the game with a 15-point win.

De Pauw dominated the boards, outrebounding La Verne by a 52 to 25 margin.

Mathews led all scorers with 25 points while Ellie Pearson totaled 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Tigers.  Shepard finished with 12 points for the Leos while Amanda Copas added 11 points.

La Verne concludes action at the CLU Thanksgiving Classic against Elmhurst at 12:00.