DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Stumble at East Carolina
2/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Playing their first game away from the DePaul Athletic Center in 25 days, the DePaul women's basketball team lost, 65-53, at East Carolina on Friday night. The Blue Demons shot just .328 from the field and only Lenae Williams reached double-figures with a game-high 21 points.
DePaul (14-8, 7-2 C-USA) lost their first conference road game of the season and dropped out of a first-place tie with TCU, who defeated Southern Miss, 72-37. East Carolina (5-17, 2-7) scored 45 second-half points and snapped a six-game league losing streak.
DePaul opened the game with back-to-back three pointers by Sarah Kustok and Williams to take a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes. East Carolina didn't knock down a field goal until Samantha Pankey's three-pointer made the score 6-5 at the 14:27 mark.
East Carolina took a brief lead at 10-9 before the Blue Demon reclaimed the advantage and built it to as many as seven points on a Jenni Dant jumper with just over six minutes left in the opening stanza. From that point, East Carolina outscored DePaul, 9-4, and trailed by two at the intermission. Williams, hampered by three fouls, finished the first half with three points while playing only nine minutes.
DePaul couldn't shake the Pirates to start the second half as East Carolina took a 27-25 lead on a pair of free throws by Robich. Williams knotted the score 38-38 on one of her six second-half three-pointers, but Courtney Willis answered and gave East Carolina the lead for good. Willis' jumper started an 11-0 Pirate run that ended on another Williams' trey with 6:47 left in the game.
Following the final media timeout at 3:48, Williams knocked down her sixth three-pointer of the evening and Lindsay Forsberg drove for a wide-open layup to cut the lead to 57-50. That was as close as the Blue Demons would get as East Carolina scored eight of the game's last 11 points for the 65-53 final.
Williams' seven treys moved her into eighth place in NCAA history while becoming just the ninth player in NCAA annals with at least 300 three-pointers. Claudette Towers added eight points and Kustok chipped in six points. Tali Robich led three Pirates in double-figures with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
DePaul travels to Charlotte for a Sunday afternoon contest with the 49ers. Charlotte knocked of Marquette, 62-44, on Friday night. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. EST and can be heard live on www.depaulbluedemons.com.
