Women's Basketball Hosts Huskies At The DePaul Athletic Center
12/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Locals Only
The current portion of the schedule has DePaul playing five schools from the state of Illinois. The Blue Demons started the stretch on Wednesday with a 74-57 win at Southern Illinois. Following the game against Northern Illinois, the Blue Demons host Northwestern (Dec. 12) and play Illinois at the United Center (Dec. 16) before wrapping up the state schedule at Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 23. The only non-Illinois game will be Dec. 21 at Purdue.
Looking at the Blue Demons
DePaul enters tonight's game at 2-3 after snapping a two-game losing streak on Wednesday at Southern Illinois. Two of the Blue Demons' three losses have come to opponents ranked in the top 10. Second-ranked Tennessee defeated DePaul to open the season and the Blue Demons fell to Iowa State on Dec. 2.
Preseason All-Conference USA selection Lenae Williams leads DePaul with 18.8 points per game followed by Candis Blankson (11.6 ppg) and Briana Fitzgerald (9.4 ppg).
Fitzgerald leads DePaul with 29 rebounds in the first five games while Jamie Smith has pulled down 21 boards.
As a team, the Blue Demons are averaging 72.8 points per game while allowing 70.4 points. They are averaging 16.8 assists per game and just under 10 steals per contest.
Looking at Northern Illinois
The Huskies enter the DePaul game at 2-5 after dropping two straight games. Northern Illinois opened the season with a 83-60 win over Illinois State before losing three games to Northewestern, North Carolina State and Michigan.
Senior Michelle Johnson leads the team with 11.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She is followed by freshman Jennifer Youngblood and sophomore Kristan Knake with 10.9 and 10.8 points per game, respectively.
Head coach Carol Hammerle is in her third season at Northern Illinois after compiling a 456-226 record in 25 seasons at Wisconsin-Green Bay. In DeKalb, she owns a record of 18-43.
The Series
Saturday marks the 29th all-time matchup between the Blue Demons and Huskies. The Blue Demons have won six straight meetings and 11 of the last 13 games.
Over the Years
First Meeting Feb. 6, 1979
In Chicago DePaul leads 11-2
In DeKalb DePaul leads 8-5
At A Neutral Site DePaul leads 2-0
Last DePaul win Dec. 1, 1999
56-37 in DeKalb
Last NIU win Feb. 15, 1994
64-53 in DeKalb
Biggest Margin DePaul, 96-61
Feb. 24, 1979 in Carbondale
Closest Game Northern Illinois, 73-69
Jan. 19, 1993 in DeKalb
Last 15 Meetings
Date W/L Score Site 12/1/99 W 56-37 DeKalb 12/14/98 W 78-54 Chicago 2/3/98 W 89-80 DeKalb 1/21/97 W 75-54 Chicago 1/24/96 W 115-83 DeKalb 1/4/95 W 82-65 Chicago 2/15/94 L 53-64 DeKalb 2/15/93 W 84-68 Chicago 1/19/93 L 69-73 DeKalb 2/4/92 W 75-66 DeKalb 1/2/92 W 72-59 Chicago 3/8/91 W 91-84 Green Bay 2/28/91 W 79-74 DeKalb 1/26/91 L 82-91 Chicago 3/10/90 L 85-97 DeKalb
Noting the Blue Demons
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. 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 9AP Votes: UAB, Southern Miss, Tulane, Memphis, Illinois
ESPN/USA Today Votes: UAB, Memphis, Illinois, Tulane
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.
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