DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Go On The Road To Play Southern Illinois
12/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Looking at the Blue Demons
DePaul enters tonight's game at 1-3 after losing to Iowa State, 81-65, in Cedar Rapids last Saturday. Two of the Blue Demons' three losses have come to oppoents ranked in the top 10. Second-ranked Tennessee defeated DePaul to open the season.
Lenae Williams leads four players averaging in double figures. The junior is averaging 18.8 points per game followed by Yolanda Lewis (15.0 ppg), Briana Fitzgerald (10.8 ppg) and Candis Blankson (10.5 ppg).
Fitzgerald leads DePaul with 27 rebounds in the first four games while Sylvia Blakseslee has pulled down 17 boards.
As a team, the Blue Demons are averaging 72.5 points per game while allowing 73.8 points. They are averaging 16 assists per game and just under 11 steals per contest.
Looking at Southern Illinois
The Salukis enter the DePaul game at 2-3 after winning one of two games at the SMU Hoop for Cure Women's Basketball Classic last weekend.
They lost to host Southern Methodist, 86-80, on Friday before winning the consolation game, 75-51, against Arkansas Pine Bluff.
Guards Terica Hathaway and Molly McDowell are averaging 14.6 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Geshla Woodard leads the Salukis with 6.0 rebounds per game while averaging 5.2 points.
Head coach Lori Opp is in her first season as the head coach at Southern Illinois.
The Series
Wednesday marks the sixth all-time matchup between the Blue Demons and Salukis. DePaul leads the series 3-2 after the 60-52 victory in Chicago last year. The Blue Demons have won the last three meetings. Over the Years
First Meeting - Feb. 26, 1979
In Chicago - DePaul leads 3-0
In Carbondale - SIU leads 2-0
At A Neutral Site - none
Last DePaul win Dec. 4, 1999
60-52 in Chicago
Last SIU win - Dec. 19, 1979
64-58 in Carbondale
Biggest Margin - DePaul, 60-52
Dec. 4, 1999 in Chicago
Closest Game - DePaul, 63-62
Dec. 19, 1983 in Chicago
Date W/L Score Site 12/4/99 W 60-52 Chicago 12/19/83 W 63-62 Chicago 12/19/80 W 69-68 Chicago 12/19/79 L 58-64 Carbondale 2/26/79 L(ot) 61-64 CarbondaleNoting the Blue Demons
• Lenae Williams has not missed a free throw since the first half of DePaul's game against South Florida in last year's Conference USA Tournament. She has made 25 straight free shots, including a perfect 16-for-16 this season.
• As a team, DePaul is shooting .728 (67-92) from the line. Against Iowa State, the Blue Demons had seven free throw attempts after averaging just over 28 attempts in the first three games.
• Briana Fitzgerald is averaging 16 points and 6.5 rebounds in the last two games.
• Sylvia Blakeslee has started 61 straight games.
• Iowa State held Lenae Williams to her lowest point total since being held scoreless against South Florida on Jan. 30, 2000.
• DePaul's bench has outscored opponent's, 122-84, over the first four games.
• Molly Watson moved into fifth on the all-time assist list against Iowa State. Her four assists in that game brought her career total to 328. Ahead of Watson is Tammy Williams with 337 career assists. Watson also ranks fifth with 111 three-pointers and 323 three-point field goal attempts.
• Lenae Williams needs just 17 three-pointers for the all-time DePaul record. The sharpshooter also ranks second in career three-point attempts (462) and fourth in three-point shooting percentage (.364).
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 FloridaPreseason 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. The women's basketball team was one of five Blue Demon 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.
What's Back This Year
Head coach Doug Bruno returns all five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's 18-12 team that advanced to the second round of the WNIT a year ago.
The 11 returning players accounted for just over 90 percent of the scoring last year. The top eight scorers are back and seven returners played in at least 28 of DePaul's 30 games last year.
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 make their first appearance at the United Center in Chicago when they play Illinois.
Five 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 Purdue 6 5 Iowa State 7 9 AP Votes: UAB, Southern Miss, Tulane, Memphis, Illinois ESPN/USA Today Votes: UAB, Memphis, Illinois, TulaneReturning 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.
Family Ties
• Senior guard Candis Blankson has two brothers playing college basketball. Odartey, is a freshman at Marquette and Ryan is a junior at Loyola-Chicago.
• Sarah Kustok's brother, Zak, is the starting quarterback at Northwestern.
• Doug Bruno's son, David, plays for Pat Kennedy on DePaul's men's team.
Trifecta
DePaul's three-point barrage has seen the Blue Demons drop in 681 three-pointers over the last four seasons. For the second straight year, the Blue Demons broke the team three-point field goal record and set hte league's record for three-pointers with 223 treys and an average of 7.4 three's per game.
This season, the Blue Demons have dropped in 21-of-73 (.288) three-point attempts in four games. Against Iowa State, Candis Blankson and Sarah Kustok combined to go 7-for-11 from behind the arc.
