Bruno Wins 250th Game In DePaul's Win Over UIC
12/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Three milestones were achieved Saturday afternoon in DePaul's 72-58 win over Illinois-Chicago at the UIC Pavilion. DePaul head coach Doug Bruno won his 250th career game while junior Lenae Williams broke the school record for career three-pointers and surpassed the 1,000-point mark. Bruno is the winningest coach in DePaul history and also owns the most victories among Conference USA coaches.
After being held to just five points at Purdue on Thursday, Williams came out of the blocks quickly with 15 points in the first half on her way to a game-high 25. Needing just one trey to tie Kris Booker at 184 career three's, Williams knocked down a three to open the scoring and finished the game with five three-point field goals to move her career total to 188. She also finished the opening stanza by reaching the 1,000-point mark with her fourth free throw of the first half. On the season, she is shooting .968 (30-31) from the free throw line.
In a sloppy first half that saw a combined 13-55 shooting from the field and 27 fouls called, the Blue Demons led 32-23 at the break. After the Flames closed the lead to 38-31 with 16:57 remaining, DePaul went on a 29-6 run to build a 30-point lead with 5:35 left in the game. The run saw Williams knock down a pair of three's while Candis Blankson, Laura Sobieszczyk, Sarah Kustok and Molly Watson added a three-pointer each.
Illinois-Chicago outscored DePaul 21-5 over the final five minutes to close the gap to 14 points at the buzzer.
Williams' 25 points led all scorers while Blankson chipped in 10 points and Kustok and Latasha White added eight points for DePaul. Kimberly Henry led the Flames with 23 points and Melea Clark added 16.
The Blue Demons improved their record to 6-4 while UIC dropped to 1-8. DePaul opens Conference USA play on Dec. 30 when they host Marquette at the DePaul Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.