Blue Demons Travel to Northern Illinois
12/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
DePaul (6-5) at Northern Illinois (5-4)
Evans Field House (6,044) - DeKalb, Illinois
Dec. 22, 2001 - 7 p.m.
First of the Last Two
The DePaul women's basketball team plays the first of their last two non-conference games on Saturday evening at Northern Illinois. The Huskies are also the last foe prior to the Christmas break. Following the holiday, the Blue Demons travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame on New Year's Eve.
Saturday's opponent, Northern Illinois, enters the game with a 5-4 record following their 55-52 loss at Illinois State on Thursday night. The Blue Demons stand at 6-5 and have dropped two straight games to teams ranked in the top seven in the country.
The Northern Illinois game is the first of five straight on the road for DePaul. The Blue Demons open the Conference USA schedule with games at Marquette, UAB and South Florida. The next contest at the DePaul Athletic Center will be Jan. 18 when the Memphis Tigers come to Chicago.
If You Read One Thing, Read This
DePaul is one of only five teams in the country to play at least three schools that have been ranked in the top 10 this season. The Blue Demons have faced Iowa State, Purdue and Tennessee. The only school to play four top 10 teams is North Texas. Others to play three include Louisiana Tech, Oral Roberts and Tennessee.
When looking at margin of victory or defeat, only Tennessee has won all of their games against top 10 foes. The Lady Vols have averaged a margin of 19.3 points per win over Louisiana Tech, Stanford and North Carolina State. None of the other schools have posted a victory against a top 10 school this season.
In their three top 10 defeats to Iowa State, Purdue and Tennessee, the Blue Demons have lost by an average margin of just 6.7 points per game. Following DePaul is North Texas at 16.0 points, Louisiana Tech at 17.0 points and Oral Roberts at 30.7 points per defeat.
Looking at the Blue Demons
The Blue Demons have received votes in either the AP or USA Today/ESPN poll six of the seven weeks this season... DePaul has dropped three straight after winning four straight... the Blue Demons are just one of two Conference USA programs to play at least three ranked opponents so far this season (Marquette is the other)... no other league school has played more than one... DePaul finished the Loyola game on Nov. 29 with just five players as two of the seven available fouled out... the Blue Demons have won 12 consecutive games against teams from the state of Illinois and 19 of the last 20... all five loses this season are to teams ranked in the top 25 at gametime and three are to top seven programs... Lenae Williams' 41 points against then-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... Jamie Smith is now fifth all-time at DePaul with 74 career blocked shots... DePaul opened the season by winning the Moran Realty Classic... the Blue Demons are now 16-4 (.800) all-time at the DePaul Athletic Center... the Blue Demons are averaging 8.3 three-point field goals per game while opponents have just 2.5... they are being outrebounded by 5.4 boards per contest.
Take Advantage From Beyond the Arc
Entering Saturday's game the Blue Demons averaging nearly six more three-point field goals per game than their opponents. As a team, the Blue Demons have made 91 three's compared to just 28 for the opposition. Individually, Lenae Williams has more three's with 34 the all Blue Demon opponents combined. The DePaul defense is holding opponents to a .222 (28-126) mark from behind the arc.
Making Some National Noise
In the Dec. 17 NCAA statistical rankings, DePaul sharpshooter Lenae Williams was ranked among the national scoring and three-point leaders. The senior forward was second in the country with a 26.0 scoring average and also holds the top two single-game efforts this season. Conference USA foe Deanna Jackson of UAB leads the country with a 28.1 average. Williams' 260 total points led all scorers in NCAA Division I. After scoring 10 points against Tennessee, her average has dropped to 24.5 points per game.
Williams' 41-point outburst at No. 6 Iowa State on Nov. 21 is tied for the single-game high this season with George Mason's Laura Kooij and Tennessee Tech's Janet Holt. Her 39-point total against Illinois on Dec. 4 is the second-highest total this season along with Austin Peay's Brooke Armistead and Mississippi State's Latoya Thomas.
Her eight three's at Iowa State is tied for the nation's single-game high with five other players. She is also ranked 10th in the country with 3.2 three-pointers per game. She has dropped in 32 in DePaul's 10 games this season.
As a team, the Blue Demons are seventh with 8.1 three's per game and 34th with a .382 team three-point field goal percentage.
The Friendly Confines
In their second season playing at the DePaul Athletic Center, the Blue Demons hold a 16-4 home-court record. The program won over 75 percent of their home games in 26 seasons across the street at Alumni Hall.
This season opened with a pair of victories in the Moran Realty Classic followed by wins over Toledo and Illinois. A year ago, DePaul was 12-2 with both loses coming in overtime games. The two losses this season came against No. 7 Purdue and No. 2 Tennessee. The Purdue loss also snapped the Blue Demons' 11-game DePaul Athletic Center winning streak.
In Conference USA action, Memphis, Saint Louis, Southern Miss and Tulane come to Chicago in January. February home games include Cincinnati, Louisville and Marquette. The 2002 Conference USA Tournament will be at the DePaul Athletic Center, Mar. 1-4.
The Northern Illinois Series
DePaul leads the all-time series, 22-7. The Blue Demons have won seven straight games in the series and 12 of the last 14. Saturday's game marks the 16th straight season that the two schools have played. In DeKalb, the Blue Demons are 5-0 against the Blue Demons. A year ago, DePaul won, 81-58, in Chicago. Northern Illinois enters the contest at 5-4 following Thursday night's 55-52 loss at Illinois State. Head coach Carol Hammerle is in her third season in DeKalb and 29th overall as a head coach. Prior to Northern Illinois, she was the head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Jennifer Youngblood leads the club with 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She is followed by Jessica Shattuck at 9.2 points and Kristan Knack with 9.0 points per game.
Lenae Williams Picks Up C-USA Honor
DePaul senior forward Lenae Williams was named the Conference USA Co-Player of the Week after leading the Blue Demons to three wins over Northwestern, Loyola-Chicago and Toledo. The senior forward continued her strong start to the 2001-02 campaign by averaging 28 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game in those three contests. Houston's Chandi Jones joined Williams in the league's weekly honor.
12 Straight Against the State
The Blue Demons have won 12 consecutive games against opponents from the state of Illinois over the last three seasons. This month, DePaul knocked off Illinois after defeating Northwestern and Loyola in November. The final Illinois game this season will be on Dec. 22 at Northern Illinois. A year ago, the club went a perfect 6-0 against state programs.
DePaul's last loss came on Dec. 10, 1999, when Illinois posted a 74-64 win over the Blue Demons in Champaign.
In addition to winning 12 consecutive games, DePaul has also won 19 of the last 20 contests with state schools. Over the stretch of 20 games, DePaul has defeated Loyola four times and Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Northwestern and Northern Illinois three times each. They have also knocked off Southern Ilinois twice and Chicago State once.
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 four opponents from the latest AP and USA Today/ESPN polls are featured. A total of 10 opponents are either ranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll or receiving votes for the top 25.
Giving to Charity
Through the first 11 games of this season, DePaul is a combined 129-183 (.705) from the free throw line while Lenae Williams has made 44-of-53 (.830) free attempts. Against Northwestern, she was a perfect 10-for-10.
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. Williams ranked second in the league with an .827 (86-104) percentage from the stripe.
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 three teams currently in the AP top 10 and five teams in the ESPN/USA Today top 25. 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.