DePaul University Athletics
Women's Basketball Tops Northern Iowa In WNIT Opener
3/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO (March 16) - With St. Patrick's Day a day away it was fitting that the third time was the charm for the DePaul women's basketball team. In the first round game of the Women's NIT the Blue Demons (18-13) downed Northern Iowa in overtime 76-73. The win was the team's first home overtime win in three tries.
"[UNI] is a very good basketball team. They're a team that very nearly was in the NCAA tournament," said DePaul head coach Doug Bruno. "This was a great win for us. The best victories you can have are tournament victories. You play for March and to keep playing in March and we're doing that."
The Blue Demons built a 39-30 halftime lead in a rugged game that found baskets at a premium. The second half proved that point as both teams consistently ran the shot clock to near extinction. The added patience paid off for UNI (18-11) with the Panthers improving their shooting to 54 percent from a first half of 39 percent. The opposite effect resulted for DePaul as its shooting dipped to 42 percent from 53 percent.
"Our offense went stagnant in the second half. A lot of times when Lenae [Williams] gets going one-on-one we have a tendency to stand around and we fell into that in the second half," said Bruno.
Williams led all scorers with 24 points including 13 in the second half and overtime.
For Bruno though the key to the game lay in the Blue Demons' defense. UNI's Abbi Schutte powered her way to 17 points from the post and posed the biggest threat to DePaul.
"We struggled defending Schutte at first, but I thought we were able to extend and elongate passing lanes from the perimeter and make it difficult for them to push the ball inside," said Bruno.
As a result of the interior pressure, UNI's leading scorer was guard Amy Swisher. Swisher paced the team with 21 points including connecting on all three of her three pointers. Schutte led all players with 11 rebounds.
The seesaw battle for possessions continued into overtime with the two most crucial trips for the Panthers resulting in turnovers in the final 20 seconds. The first came after a pair of Laura Sobieszczyk free throws to put DePaul ahead 75-73. Inbounding the ball at halfcourt, UNI fumbled the ball around and wound up with a backcourt violation. Candis Blankson made one of her two free throws after the subsequent foul to give the Blue Demons the final margin of victory.
DePaul will next play Ohio State in the second round of the WNIT in Columbus, Ohio. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. EST tip Sunday afternoon. The Buckeyes advanced to the second round with a 61-60 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
