Women's Basketball Faces Eighth-Ranked Purdue December 21
12/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Looking at the Blue Demons DePaul enters tonight's game at 5-3 after winning four straight games. Two of the Blue Demons' three losses have come to opponents ranked in the top five in the country. Second-ranked Tennessee defeated DePaul to open the season and the Blue Demons fell to fifth-ranked Iowa State on Dec. 2.
Preseason All-Conference USA selection Lenae Williams leads DePaul with 19.1 points per game followed by Candis Blankson (10.9 ppg) and Jamie Lewis (8.0 ppg).
Lewis and Briana Fitzgerald lead DePaul with 44 rebounds each while Molly Watson has dished out a team-high 26 assists this season.
As a team, the Blue Demons are averaging 75.1 points per game while allowing 67.4 points. They are averaging 17.5 assists per game and just under 10 steals per contest.
On the winning side, DePaul is averaging 82.8 points and winning by an average margin of 24.6 points per game. In the three defeats, the Blue Demons are scoring 62.3 points and the margin of defeat is 20.3 points per game.
The Blue Demons need just five wins for the 450th victory in the program's history. With one more DePaul victory, head coach Doug Bruno will reach the 250-win plateau.
Locals Only The current portion of the schedule has DePaul playing five schools from the state of Illinois. The Blue Demons have won the first four games against Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Illinois. The Boilermakers mark the only non-Illinois matchup before DePaul wraps up the state schedule at Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 23. The Blue Demons will host Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 16.
Against the Big Ten In the midst of three consecutive games against Big Ten opponents, the Blue Demons are 23-43 all-time against the conference schools. DePaul's most common Big Ten opponent is Northwestern followed by Illinois. Under Doug Bruno, DePaul has lost 19 of 26 games against Big Ten schools.
With the win on Saturday against Illinois, the Blue Demons took a 6-5 lead in the all-time series. The only other winning record for DePaul against a Big Ten school is a 5-3 mark against Purdue.
DePaul vs. Big Ten Opponents
School Record Last Meeting Illinois 6-5 12/16/00 Indiana 1-2 11/28/81 Iowa 0-5 3/17/96 Michigan 2-2 12/4/82 Michigan State 0-2 1/8/82 Minnesota 0-1 11/26/82 Northwestern 5-13 12/12/00 Ohio State 2-3 12/21/96 Penn State 0-4 12/30/92 Purdue 5-3 12/17/94 Wisconsin 2-3 3/19/00 Totals 23-43 (.348)
Looking at Purdue
The Boilermakers enter tonight's game at 9-3 after playing three games in the last seven days. Purdue lost to 12th-ranked Louisiana State, 62-55, on Saturday and defeated 14th-ranked Stanford, 90-60.
All-American Katie Douglas leads the offensive attack with 15.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. Camille Cooper is averaging 13.2 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.
Head coach Kristy Curry is in her second season at Purdue after leading the Boliermakers to a 23-8 record last year. Prior to moving to West Lafayette, Curry was an assistant at Louisiana Tech, Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin and Tulane.
The Series
Thursday marks the ninth all-time matchup between the Blue Demons and Boilermakers. DePaul leads the series 5-3, but the two teams have not met since 1994. The Blue Demons won the first five matchups before Purdue was victorious in the last three.
The last DePaul win was in the 1987-88 WNIT Championship game in Amarillo, Texas. The Blue Demons won the game, 83-55, and claimed the school's only WNIT Championship.
Series Facts
First Meeting -- Feb. 26, 1979
In Chicago -- Series tied at 1-1
In West Lafayette -- DePaul leads 3-0
At A Neutral Site -- Purdue leads 2-1
Last DePaul win Mar. 26, 1988
83-55 in Amarillo, Texas
Last Purdue win Dec. 17, 1994
88-77 in Indianapolis
Biggest Margin DePaul, 83-55
Mar. 26, 1988 in Amarillo, Texas
Closest Game Purdue, 75-66
Dec. 22, 1993 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Noting the Blue Demons
Eyeing the Recordbook
DePaul junior Lenae Williams is rapidly approaching a pair of career milestones. With three more three-point field goals, she will set the DePaul record with 185 career treys. Williams also needs just 18 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She also has her sights set on the career league mark of 212 by Jolinda Lewis, who played at Cincinnati from 1996-98.
Preseason Picks
In the annual Conference USA preseason coach's poll, the Blue Demons were picked as the favorite of the American Division ahead of Marquette. DePaul junior Lenae Williams was one of five players selected to the league's preseason all-conference team.
C-USA Preseason Coach's Poll
American Division National Division 1. DePaul 1. Tulane 2. Marquette 2. UAB 3. Cincinnati 3. Memphis 4. Charlotte 4. Southern Miss 5. Louisville 5. Houston 6. Saint Louis 6. South Florida
Preseason All-Conference Team
Deanna Jackson - UAB (Player of the Year)
Janell Burse - Tulane
Lenae Williams - DePaul
Tiffany Adkins - Memphis
Tonya Phifer - Charlotte
In The Classroom
The Blue Demons were honored by Conference USA prior to the season for having the highest team GPA during the 1999-2000 school year. DePaul topped the league with a team GPA of 3.17 and was one of five DePaul teams to receive league academic honors.
Individually, Stacy Krumrei, Jamie Smith and Molly Watson received the Conference USA Academic Medal of Honor for having a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or better. Those three were joined on the league's Academic Honor Roll by Sylvia Blakeslee, Candis Blankson, Yolanda Lewis, Jeanene Novick and Laura Sobieszczyk.
New Places, New Faces
The DePaul basketball program, as well as the athletic department, moved across the street into the DePaul Athletic Center last spring. The state-of-the-art facility houses everything the basketball program needs from training facilities to coach's offices.
During the summer, Andre Wakefield and Maggie Dixon joined the DePaul coaching staff. Wakefield, a former Loyola-Chicago and NBA player, returns to collegiate basketball for the first time since coaching at his alma mater from 1980-89. Maggie Dixon, the director of basketball operations, comes to Chicago after playing at the University of San Diego from 1995-99.
Tough Slate
Since 1988-89, DePaul has annually played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and this season will be no different. Eleven of DePaul's 2000-01 games (among nine opponents) will be played against teams that played in the postseason last year.
DePaul started the season in Knoxville and played Iowa State last Saturday. The Blue Demons travel to Purdue and made their first appearance at the United Center in Chicago when they played Illinois.
Three Conference USA opponents are receiving votes in either the AP or ESPN/USA Today poll.
2000-01 Opponents in the Polls
Opponent AP ESPN/USA Today Tennessee 2 2 Iowa State 5 6 Purdue 8 8 AP Votes: Cincinnati, Illinois, UAB ESPN/USA Today Votes: Illinois, Cincinnati, UAB, Memphis
Returning To The Dance
The Blue Demons are looking to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1996-97 season. From 1989-97, DePaul made seven trips to the "Big Dance" in eight seasons.
DePaul leads Conference USA programs with 12 postseason tournament appearances (7 NCAA and 5 WNIT). Since Doug Bruno's return to DePaul in 1988-89, the Blue Demons have played extra basketball nine times.