Blue Demons Top Illinois At the United Center, 65-63
12/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - Molly Watson's three-pointer with four seconds remaining propelled DePaul to a 65-63 win over in-state rival Illinois on Saturday afternoon at the United Center. With their fourth straight win, the Blue Demons are now 5-3 while Illinois dropped to 3-6.
The first half saw the score tied three times and the lead change hands 10 times with Illinois taking a 41-39 lead into the intermission. DePaul took an early 3-2 lead on a three-pointer by Lenae Williams, but trailed through most of the first half. Illinois lead by as many as seven with 15:13 left in the period.
Laura Sobieszczyk keyed an 11-1 run to give DePaul a 26-21 lead with 7:42 remaining. The sophomore came off the bench and drained three three-pointers and assisted a jumper by Jamie Lewis during the run. Sobieszczyk finished the game with a season-high 10 points while Lewis recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards.
The Blue Demons connected on 7-of-15 three-point attempts in the first half while shooting .429 from the field overall. Illinois matched DePaul with by going 15-for-30 from the field and 11-of-20 from the free throw line.
DePaul opened the second stanza with a 7-0 run to take a 46-41 advantage. An Illinois lay up by Anne O'Neil cut the DePaul lead to three and neither team would lead by more than that for the rest of the game. In the second half the lead changed hands eight times.
With just over a minute left to play, Illinois was able to control the ball until O'Neil turned it over by dribbling the ball out of bounds with :15.4 left in the game. Watson brought the ball down with the Blue Demons trailing, 63-62. She took two dribbles to the right side off a Sylvia Blakeslee screen and dropped in the 22-footer for the 65-63 victory.
Illinois' final effort was picked off by Sobieszczyk at midcourt and she ran out the clock for the Blue Demons.
In addition to Lewis and Watson in double-figures, Williams finished with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. She needs just three three-point field goals to set the DePaul career record and 20 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
With the win, the Blue Demons have won all four games against schools from the state as they previously defeated Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Northwestern. DePaul will play the last of three straight games against Big Ten schools on Thursday at Purdue. Tipoff at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette is set for 7 p.m. EST.