Women's Hoops Travels to Northwestern
11/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
DePaul (2-2) at Northwestern (0-4)
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 - 7 p.m.
Welsh-Ryan Arena - Evanston, Illinois
Click here for the audio broadcast of the game.
Blue Demons Play at Northwestern
The DePaul Blue Demons play their first non-tournament game of the season against the Northwestern Wildcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston. Tuesday marks the 19th all-time meeting between the two schools with the Wildcats holding a 13-5 advantage. Recently, DePaul has owned the series, winning the last two contests by an average of 28.5 points per game. This is the eighth straight season that the two schools have played.
The Blue Demons opened the 2001-02 campaign by winning the Moran Realty Classic in Chicago and dropping a pair of games over Thanksgiving at the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge in Ames, Iowa.
A pair of lucky fans will win two tickets each to the Wednesday night Britney Spears' concert at the Allstate Arena. Fans can sign up at the door and the winners will be announced during the second half of the game.
Ties To Northwestern
Allan and Jeanie Kustok won't have to worry about putting extra miles on the car Tuesday night as they did last week. On Thanksgiving, the parents were in Champaign to watch Zak and the Wildcats take on Illinois. From there, Allan and Jeanie traveled to Ames, Iowa, to watch Sarah and the Blue Demons play the Maryland Terrapins in the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge on Friday afternoon.
Former Fenwick High School teammates and coaches will be reunited on Tuesday evening. DePaul's Claudette Towers and Northwestern's Sarah Kwasinski led the Friars to the 2001 Illinois State Championship. Jana Mathis, DePaul's Director of Basketball Information, was an assistant coach at Fenwick last year.
Looking at the Blue Demons
The Blue Demons lost two games to a pair of top 25 programs at the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge in Ames, Iowa... her 41 points against No. 6 Iowa State was a career-high and the second-highest single-game total in school history... the team set new program marks with 14 three's on 37 attempts... Williams tied her own school record with eight treys against the Cyclones... the Blue Demons dropped the consolation game, 54-36, to Maryland on Friday... it was the lowest point total for a DePaul team since scoring 36 in a 59-36 loss at Marquette on Dec. 30, 1999... Jamie Smith grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss... she now ranks ninth all-time at DePaul with 53 career blocked shots... DePaul will be playing with just seven players on Tuesday night following a Yolanda Lewis conscussion against Maryland... Khara Smith is still out with a stress fracture and Latasha White will miss the season with a knee injury... the Blue Demons have made a three-point basket in 150 consecutive games... DePaul opened the season by winning the Moran Realty Classic... the Blue Demons are now 14-2 (.875) all-time at the DePaul Athletic Center and have won nine straight at home... DePaul is 20-8 in season openers... the Nov. 16 opening game date was the earliest in the program's history... a generous team that has assisted 63 of 96 field goals (.656)... the Blue Demons are averaging 9.3 three-point field goals per game... they are being outrebounded by 7.5 boards per contest... Williams was named MVP of the Moran Realty Classic after averaging 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game... DePaul's first non-tournament game will be Nov. 27 at Northwestern.
Checking In On Northwestern
The Wildcats stand at 0-4 entering Tuesday's game against DePaul. They have dropped games against Northern Illinois, Miami, Florida International and Monmouth.
Junior Emily Butler leads the club with 12.8 points per game and a team-high 10 steals. Freshman Sarah Kwasinski is chipping in 9.5 points and a team-high 6.5 boards per contest.
Head coach June Olkowski is in her third season in Evanston and owns a record of 11-44 with the Wildcats. Overall, she is 159-184 in 13 seasons as a head coach.
The Wildcats are one of three Big Ten teams that DePaul will play this season as they host Illinois on Dec. 4 and Purdue on Dec. 17.
Coaches vs. Cancer Recap
Over Thanksgiving, DePaul played in third annual Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge in Ames, Iowa. A tough field featured host Iowa State, Maryland and Mississippi State.
#6 Iowa State 79, DePaul 75
In the first game on Wednesday night, the Blue Demons gave sixth-ranked Iowa State everything they wanted in the 79-75 loss. Lenae Williams scored a tournament record 41 points on 15-of-29 shooting from the field and 8-for-16 from behind the arc.
Iowa State, which held Williams to four points in an 81-65 victory last season, never got her under control in this one. She made 8-of-16 3-point shots and finished 15-of-29 overall while continually frustrating the Cyclones with a variety of quick moves to the basket. Her 41 points in the second-highest single-game total in DePaul's 27-year history, and she also tied her own school record the eight three-pointers.
It matched the most points scored against Iowa State since Creighton's Connie Yori had 42 on Dec. 12, 1982. Jan Jensen of Drake scored 41 against Iowa State in 1990. During one stretch in the second half, Williams scored 16 of DePaul's 22 points.
Angie Welle had two baskets and fed Gahan for a layup during an 8-0 run that erased an 52-50 DePaul lead and put Iowa State ahead to stay. Welle finished with 12 points after scoring only four in the first half.
Williams converted a three-point play off a steal to draw the Blue Demons to 60-58 with 10:16 remaining, but they got no closer. Gahan hit a 3-pointer and sank two free throws and Wilson made a 3 as Iowa State built a 73-63 lead. That gave the Cyclones the cushion they needed to hold on down the stretch.
DePaul made 14-of-37 3-point shots, matching the most by an Iowa State opponent. Oklahoma hit 14 3s against the Cyclones on Jan. 7, 1996. The three-point totals also set new school records for the Blue Demons.
#23 Maryland 54, DePaul 36
After putting on a three-point exhibition Wednesday night at the Hilton Coliseum, the Blue Demons shot just .260 from the field in their 54-36 loss to Maryland in the consolation game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge.
Both teams came out of the gate slow as a basket by Lenae Williams with 9:37 left in the half made it 11-10 in favor of the Terrapins. From that point, the Blue Demons made just one more field goal to give Maryland a 26-16 advantage at the intermission. DePaul didn't score a point over the final 5:38 of the first stanza.
The second half was the same story as the Blue Demons went on a 10-minute draught without scoring a point. During that span, Maryland was able to increase their lead from 28-20 to 38-22 with just over five minute left in the ball game. The lead grew too as much as 22 points at 49-27 with 3:53 left in the contest.
Williams led all scorers with 14 points while Claudette Towers came off the bench to chip in nine points. Junior canter Jamie Smith pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds while blocking three shots. Four Maryland players scored in double-figures led by Marche Strickland's 12.
Moran Realty Classic Recap
DePaul opened the season by winning the fifth annual Moran Realty Classic. The Blue Demons knocked off Eastern Washington, 82-57, Friday night and Arkansas State, 86-68, in the championship game. Senior foward Lenae Willams was named tournament MVP after scoring 41 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the two games. Sarah Kustok joined Williams on the All-Tournament team with 28 tournament points, 14 rebounds and eight three pointers.
In the Eastern Washington game, DePaul started with a 15-0 run and never looked back in the 82-57 victory. Williams led four players in double figures with a team-high 19 points. The championship game saw DePaul take a 39-36 halftime lead only to outscore Arkansas State, 47-32, in the second half. Williams dropped in 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Kustok added 15, Lindsay Forsberg totaled 14 points and Jamie Smith chipped in 12 points.
Strength of Schedule
Doug Bruno calls this year's schedule the toughest ever at DePaul and CNNSI.com calls it the toughest in the midwest. A glance at the '01-02 slate reveals three of the last four national champions, the two finalists from a year ago and 15 teams that played in the postseason last March.
The current top 25's have a DePaul flavor as six opponents from the latest AP USA Today/ESPN polls are featured. A total of 12 opponents are either ranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll or receiving votes for the top 25.
All Roads Lead to Chicago
The DePaul Athletic Center will be the site of the 2002 Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament. The 12-team tourney will be Mar. 1-4 in Chicago. The winner receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tulane won its third straight conference tournament last year while the Blue Demons reached the semifinals before falling to Cincinnati.
Giving to Charity
Last season, the Blue Demons led Conference USA with a .716 overall mark from the free throw line. In league play, DePaul shot .733 and were 241-326 (.739) over their last 19 games. Lenae Williams ranked second in the league with an .827 (86-104) percentage from the stripe.
Through the first four games of this season, DePaul is a combined 50-67 (.746) from the free throw line while Williams has made 15-of-18 (.833) free attempts.
What's New
In addition to the usual loss and addition of players, the DePaul coaching staff saw a trio of changes during the offseason. Maggie Dixon and Candis Blankson replaced Corry Carter and Andre Wakefield as assistant coaches. Jana Mathis was hired over the summer to fill the Director of Basketball Operations position left open when Dixon assumed the assistant role. Also, just before the start of practice, Lisa Ryckbosch was named Associate Head Coach after serving as an assistant for the past 10 seasons.
On the roster, the program welcomes six new players to the roster. Freshmen Jenni Dant, Lindsay Forsberg, Khara Smith and Claudette Towers join transfers Ashley Luke and Charlene Smith. Luke and Charlene Smith will have to sit out this season under NCAA transfer guidelines.
Of DePaul's 13 players on the roster, 11 come from the Chicagoland area. Only Forsberg, from Tulsa, Okla., and Jamie Smith from Springfield, Ill., are from outside Chicago.
Regional Recognition
Prior to the start of the season, CNNSI.com ranked DePaul's 2001-02 schedule as the toughest in the Midwest. The slate features six teams currently in the AP top 25 and five teams in the ESPN/USA Today rankings.
In addition to the team recognition, freshman guard Jenni Dant was listed as one of the "Five New Faces to Watch" in the region and was the only player of the five not from either the Big Ten or Big 12 conferences.
True Student-Athletes
Earlier this year, the Blue Demons were rewarded for their hard work in the classroom by being named to the WBCA Academic Top 25. The Blue Demons were ranked in the top 20 for the second time in the last three seasons. DePaul finished 13th in NCAA Division I basketball after placing 20th following the 1998-99 season. DePaul and UW-Green Bay were the only two schools that played in the postseason last season. The Blue Demons reached the second round of the WNIT while the Phoenix lost in the WNIT first round.
Jenni Dant's Jersey in Ring of Honor
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame has recently added DePaul freshman Jenni Dant's jersey to their Ring of Honor. The Ring of Honor recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of high school and collegiate All-Americans. The former Stevenson High School standout is in an exclusive group of 40 young women from across the country to have their jerseys currently displayed at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., is the world's only hall of fame dedicated solely to the athletic achievements of women. Visitors are treated to such exhibits as a riveting video showcasing the history of the women's game, memorabilia from more than 100 years of basketball, inspirational halftime speeches from legendary coaches, a number of interactive exhibits and an opportunity for visitors to showcase their talents.
Injury Bug Bites Early
Prior to the start of practice, senior forward Latasha White injured her left knee and will miss the 2001-02 season. Last season, the junior college transfer averaged 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. She played in 21 games for the Blue Demons a year ago.
DePaul freshman forward Khara Smith suffered a stress fracture in her left foot during the week of Nov. 12 and will miss 2-6 weeks. Smith registered a pair of double-doubles in DePaul's two exhibition games before injuring the second and third metatarsal in her left foot.
Yolanda Lewis could miss up to two games after suffering a concussion in the Maryland game. Lewis was ran over by a Terrapin and hit her head on the floor.
Looking Ahead
DePaul signed four players to a National Letter of Intent in the early signing period. Three of thenewcomers next season are from the Chicago area and a fourth is Doug Bruno's first signee from the state of New York. The class features fourwards to go along with transfer guards Ashley Luke and Charlene Smith. Lauren Levine, Shiesha McCollum, Casmir Patterson and Maureen Simon join Luke and Smith who become eligible after sitting out this season.