Women's Basketball Defeats Chicago Challengers, 77-68
11/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The DePaul women's basketball team opened the exhibition portion of the 2000-01 schedule with a 77-68 win over the Chicago Challengers at the DePaul Athletic Center. Candis Blankson was one of three players in double figures and led the Blue Demons with 21 points and six rebounds.
DePaul trailed for most of the first half before taking their first lead of the game on a basket by Blankson with 3:13 left. Blankson's bucket gave the Blue Demons a 25-24 lead after they trailed, 21-13 with just under eight minutes to play. To close the half, DePaul outscored the Challengers, 17-9, and led by two points at 32-30.
"We started out a little tenative," said DePaul head coach Doug Bruno. "We played like it was the first game of the year. Late in the first half and into the second half we were able to get a good balance with our running game and half-court offense."
In the second half, DePaul broke a 52-52 tie with 7:38 remaining on a lay up by Latasha White. From that point, the Blue Demons didn't look back as they built a 10-point lead with eight straight free throws by Molly Watson, Laura Sobieszczyk and Blankson. The Blue Demons were 13-for-14 from the line in the game.
Blankson led all scorers with 21 while Watson added 13 and Lenae Williams scored 11 points. Sylvia Blakeslee led the Blue Demons with seven rebounds and added eight points. Former DePaul standout Mfon Udoka was the leading scorer for the Challengers with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The second and final exhibition game for the Blue Demons will be Wednesday evening at the DePaul Athletic Center. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. with the DePaul men's team to follow at 8 p.m. DePaul's season opener will be November 18 at Tennessee at a time to be determined.