Women's Hoops Open With a Win
11/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
CARBONDALE, Ill. – After a sluggish first half, the DePaul women’s basketball team warmed things up and put 49 second-half points on the board in a 69-60 win at Southern Illinois on Saturday evening. The game was the season-opener for both schools.
DePaul opened the game cold as they shot just .269 from the field in the first half and committed 19 turnovers. The Blue Demons didn’t score their first points of the season until a three-pointer by Laura Sobieszczyk with 16:40 left in the first stanza.
Southern Illinois built a 15-5 lead with just over 12 minutes left in the half before Sobieszczyk ended the drought with a jumper. The Salukis scored the game’s next eight points to increase the lead to 21-7 at the eight-minute mark.
A three-pointer by Ashley Luke cut the advantage to 11 points, but a Danette Jones trey and lay-in by Katie Berwanger up the lead to 26-10. The Blue Demons put together a brief 5-0 run late in the half only to see Southern Illinois score four straight points. At the half, the Salukis led, 31-20.
The second half saw the Blue Demons outscore the Salukis, 49-29. Jenni Dant and Khara Smith combined for 27 points to lead DePaul. As a team, the squad shot .571 from the field while cutting the turnovers to 10.
DePaul chipped away and put together a 16-4 run to take their first lead of the game on a lay-up by Dant with 10:30 left in the game. At 60-60, a lay-up by Dant gave DePaul the lead for good with 1:53 left in the game.
DePaul scored the final nine points of the game as Dant scored seven points to lead the way. She finished the game with 18 points as did Khara Smith. Smith also had 13 rebounds while Sarah Kustok grabbed a career-high 14 boards. The Blue Demons outrebounded the Salukis, 40-27, in the contest.
The Blue Demons take their 1-0 record west as the play North Carolina on Nov. 29 in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu.