DePaul Tops Valparaiso
12/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
VALPARAISO, Ind. – In a defensive struggle, the Blue Demons topped Valparaiso, 47-44, on Friday night at Athletics-Recreation Center. DePaul (7-2) and Valpo combined to shoot .307 from the field and the Blue Demons were 4-of-19 from three-point range. The win was the fourth straight for DePaul as they are off to their best start since the 1996-97 season.
The game started with the Blue Demons managing the only basket over the first six minutes of the game. On DePaul’s first possession, Charlene Smith nailed a jumper from the left side. From that point, it was a stalemate until Jenni Dant hit a jumper and Ashley Luke knocked down a three for a 7-2 Blue Demon lead.
Valparaiso (3-5) cut the lead to 7-6 on a pair of lay-ups by Katie Boone and Jenna Stangler forcing Doug Bruno to take a timeout at 11:30. The Blue Demons came out of the break and Laura Sobieszczyk hit a short jump shot to put DePaul back up by three.
The Blue Demon lead increased to four points before the Crusaders stormed back and took their first lead of the game at 11-10 with 8:35 left in the first stanza.
DePaul regained the lead with a brief 4-0 run and the two teams traded baskets for the rest of the half. Sobeiszczyk knotted the game at 23-23 before Valparaiso’s Kathryn Knoester finished the half with a driving lay-up at the buzzer. Knoester scored the final 12 points of the first half for the Crusaders.
The first seven points of the second half were scored by DePaul as a Sarah Kustok three and two free throws sandwiched a put back by Jamie Smith to give the Blue Demons a 30-25 lead.
Jeannette Gray scored the first six points of the second half for Valpo until Stangler’s free throw made the game 34-32 in favor of the Blue Demons with 10:44 left in the game. Two Crusader possessions later, Gray tied the game on a backdoor lay-up.
The remaining nine minutes saw seven lead changes and neither team winning by more than four points. DePaul went ahead 40-36 only to see the Crusaders score five straight. The run ended with a Knoester three-pointer with 4:47 left in the game. That proved to the final field goal of the game for Valparaiso.
The last four minutes were similar to the first four as both teams struggled to find the basket. A pair of free throws by Katie Boone gave Valpo the slim 44-42 margin with 3:22 left. Khara Smith answered with a lay-in to knot the game at 44 with just under three minutes remaining.
With the two teams knotted at 44-44, Dant found Khara Smith under the basket with just 23 seconds left to give DePaul the lead for good.
Valpo had an opportunity to win the game as a long rebound found Knoester in the corner. Her three-point attempt went in and out with under five seconds left in the game. Khara Smith gathered the rebound and was fouled. She hit one of two free throws for the 47-44 final.
Khara Smith collected her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. She scored the final five points for DePaul. Sobieszczyk also chipped in a season-high 10 points with a pair of three-pointers. Jamie Smith grabbed a game-high 12 boards to go with seven points and four blocked shots.
DePaul wraps up the weekend road trip with a Sunday afternoon game at Toledo. Tipoff at Savage Hall is set for 2 p.m. Eastern time. For the audio broadcast, click here.