DePaul University Athletics
Women's Hoops Travels to Michigan State
3/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
2002 Women's National Invitation Tournament
Round One - DePaul at Michigan State
Breslin Center - East Lansing, Michigan
Mar. 14, 2002 - 7 p.m. EST
Click here for the internet audio broadcast.
Postseason Play
For the third consecutive season, the DePaul Blue Demons will play in the postseason WNIT. In each of the last two seasons, DePaul has lost in the second round to the eventual champion. A year ago they fell to Ohio State, and in 2000, they lost at Wisconsin. Over the last 14 seasons, DePaul is just one of 23 programs to play in the postseason at least 11 times.
The WNIT replaced the NWIT that ran from 1969-96. DePaul made four appearances in the NWIT and was crowned champions in 1988. Overall, the Blue Demons are a combined 8-8 in NIT action.
DePaul is one of three Conference USA schools to receive a WNIT bid as Houston hosts Rice and Louisville travels to Ball State. Cincinnati, TCU and Tulane represent the league in the NCAA Tournament.
When looking at the 2002 WNIT field, DePaul faced four of the 32 teams. The Blue Demons defeated possible second-round opponent Illinois and Louisville while losing to George Washington and Houston.
Looking at the Blue Demons
The Blue Demons have received votes in either the AP or USA Today/ESPN poll 14 of the 19 weeks this season... DePaul is 13-4 when leading at halftime and 12-4 when holding opponents to less than 70 points... on TV, DePaul is 5-1... DePaul is 21-7 (.750) all-time at the DePaul Athletic Center... the Blue Demons are averaging 7.7 three-point field goals per game while opponents have just 3.6... the Blue Demons set a school record with 15 treys against Lousiville... DePaul is 10-5 when they have 5-to-9 three's in a game, but 4-4 when they make 10 or more... they have knocked down at least eight three's in 16 games this season... the Blue Demons are being outrebounded by 5.1 boards per contest... they have outrebounded their opponents in nine games this season... Jamie Smith is third all-time at DePaul with 123 career blocked shots... her 75 blocks this season are fourth on the single-season chart... she recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Houston... Jenni Dant followed Smith with 20 points and 11 boards against Tulane... Lenae Williams has the club's other double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds at Northern Illinois on Dec. 22... DePaul finished the Loyola game on Nov. 29 with just five players as two of the seven available fouled out... against Louisville, six played most of the game due to injuries... Lenae Williams' 41 points against then-No. 6 Iowa State was a career-high and the second-highest single-game total in school history... she has scored at least 20 points in 18 of DePaul's 28 games, including six games of at least 30... twice this season, she has scored at least 20 points in the first 12 minutes of the game (Southern Miss and Houston)... the team set a new program marks with 37 three-point attempts (14 made) at Iowa State... Williams tied her own school record with eight treys against the Cyclones... in their three losses to teams ranked in the top seven at gametime, the average margin of defeat is 6.7 points per game... DePaul opened the season by winning the Moran Realty Classic.
Checking on Michigan State
The Spartans enter the WNIT at 16-12 after suffering a double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State went 6-10 in conference play and posted wins over NCAA-bound Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Head coach Joanne P. McCallie is in her second season in East Lansing after coaching for six seasons at Maine. Syreeta Bromfield leads the club with 15.8 points and 6.5 rebound per game while Kristin Haynie is averaging 7.9 points and a team-high 3.5 assists per contest.
Michigan State is the fourth Big Ten opponent that DePaul plays this season. Earlier in the year, the Blue Demons defeated Northwestern and Illinois before losing, 63-61, to Purdue. DePaul knocked off the Wildcats, 67-50, on Nov. 27, and Illinois, 69-62, on Dec. 4. Over the last two seasons, DePaul has won four of the seven meetings against Big Ten programs.
Nothing But the Best
DePaul's record of 15-13 could be a bit deceiving as six of the Blue Demons' losses have come to teams ranked in the top 25 at game time. Of the five defeats, three are to teams that were ranked in the top seven in the country at game time.
In their three top seven defeats to Iowa State, Purdue and Tennessee, the Blue Demons lost by an average margin of just 6.7 points per game. DePaul dropped a 79-75 decision at No. 6 Iowa State on Nov. 21. In the span of three days in December, the Blue Demons lost, 63-61, to No. 7 Purdue and 80-66, to No. 2 Tennessee.
Three weeks after playing the Blue Demons, Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt mentioned in the Chicago Tribune, "No one in women's basketball runs a better motion offense than LSU or DePaul. DePaul shortens the game and uses the clock."
Who Needs What
The team needs seven three's for the single-season record... their current .740 free throw percentage is a single-season school record while the .350 three-point percentage is ranked fourth... Lenae Williams needs 11 three-pointers to move into second in NCAA history and 36 for the record... she needs 18 points to move into eighth on DePaul's single-season scoring chart... she is four three-pointers shy of breaking her own school single-season three-point field goal record... Jamie Smith needs five more blocks to take over third on the single-season chart... on the current career free throw rankings, Williams is sixth at .794, Laura Sobieszczyk is ninth at .773 and Smith is 10th at .772... the season free throw charts sees Williams ranked seventh at .797... Sobieszczyk is currently fourth with a .378 career three-point percentage followed by Sarah Kustok in fifth at .369 and Williams sixth at .359.
We'll Spot You a Dozen
Throughout this season and the last four years, DePaul has taken advantage of the three-point basket. In the last four years, they have made 827 (7.1/gm) compared to 389 (3.3/gm) for the opposition. Sharpshooter Lenae Williams has tallied 327 treys by herself over that span.
Entering the WNIT, the Blue Demons are averaging just over four more three-point field goals per game than their opponents. As a team, the Blue Demons have made 216 three's compared to just 100 for the opposition. The team total is currently ranked second on the single-season chart and the team three-point percentage of .350 is fourth. A year ago, the Blue Demons hit 202 three's and the 1999-00 squad knocked down 223 treys.
Lenae Williams Picks Up C-USA Honor....Again
Twice this season, Lenae Williams was named the Conference USA Player of the Week. She earned the honor for the second time after averaging 29.0 points and shooting .600 from the field in the two victories over Tulane and Southern Miss.
Earlier this year, she earned Co-Player of the Week honors after leading DePaul to three wins over Northwestern, Loyola-Chicago and Toledo. The Addison, Ill., native, averaged 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.
This marks the fourth time in her career that Williams has earned the league's weekly honor. She is just one of three players in DePaul history to win the Conference USA honor multiple times in her career. Former All-Americans Kim Williams and Latasha Byears was also named Player of the Week more than once. Kim Williams, no relation to Lenae, was a four-time winner while Byears was picked three times.
Fun With Numbers
- Individually, Lenae Williams moved into third in NCAA history with her four three's at TCU on Feb. 22. Of the top 25 all-time, Williams is the only player taller than 5'10".
- Williams' total of 90 three's this season is more than Memphis, Saint Louis and UAB of Conference USA. It also surpasses the season total of three teams in DePaul history (1987-88, 90-91, 93-94). As a team, Michigan State has 104 three's this season.
- This season she tied single-game three-point records in three different arenas. On Nov. 21, she tied her career-high of eight three's at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. A month later she tied the Chick Evans Fieldhouse record of six treys against Northern Illinois. On Feb. 8, she tied the Williams Arena record with seven three's at East Carolina. She also owned the Alumni Hall record of eight three's against Oregon on Dec. 22, 1999. Ironically, Williams doesn't hold the DePaul Athletic Center record as Marju Sober of Louisville knocked down eight trifectas in the 99-97 Cardinal overtime victory on Jan. 12, 2001.
- The sharpshooter is one of two players in Conference USA history with at least 90 three's in a season. With her four three's against Tulane, she accomplished the feat for the second time in her career. Cincinnati's Valerie King currently holds the single-season record with 98 three's entering the NCAA Tournament.
Strength of Schedule
Doug Bruno called this year's schedule the toughest ever at DePaul and CNNSI.com chose 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 11 teams that will be playing in either the NCAA or WNIT tournaments this March.
The current top 25's have a DePaul flavor as six opponents from the latest AP and USA Today/ESPN polls are featured. A total of nine opponents are either ranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll or receiving votes for the top 25. DePaul has received votes for either poll in 14 of the 17 polls this season.
Making Some National Noise
In the Mar. 4 NCAA statistical rankings, DePaul sharpshooter Lenae Williams was ranked among the national scoring and three-point leaders. Entering the WNIT, the senior forward is fifth in the country with a 22.7 scoring average and also holds two of the top single-game efforts this season.
Williams' 41-point outburst at No. 6 Iowa State on Nov. 21 is tied for the fourth spot on the single-game high chart this season with three other players. Her 39-point total against Illinois on Dec. 4 is the 10th-highest total this season along with Austin Peay's Brooke Armistead and Mississippi State's Latoya Thomas. Williams is just one of three players in the nation with at least 39 points in multiple games this season.
Her eight three's at Iowa State is tied for second on the nation's single-game three-point chart with 14 other players. She is also ranked fourth in the country with 3.2 three-pointers per game. She has dropped in 90 in DePaul's 28 games this season.
As a team, the Blue Demons are seventh with 7.7 three's per game while Jamie Smith's eight blocks at Northern Illinois is tied for ninth with seven others on the single-game chart. Smith is also ninth among all players with 2.7 blocks per game. Their combined .740 free throw percentage is 36th in the country while their school record 15 three's against Louisville is tied for third on the team single-game chart. Earlier this season, they drained 14 three's at Iowa State which place them in a tie for eighth with 14 other schools.
The Friendly Confines
In their second season playing at the DePaul Athletic Center, the Blue Demons hold a 21-7 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, the Blue Demons were 12-2 with both loses coming in overtime games. The losses this season came to three top 25 teams in Purdue, Tennessee and Cincinnati. The other two defeats were a 50-48 loss to Saint Louis on Jan. 20 and an 88-83 decision to Tulane in the Conference USA Tournament.
Giving to Charity
Through this season, DePaul is a combined 376-508 (.740) from the free throw line while Lenae Williams has made 98-of-123 (.797) free attempts. The DePaul team mark is tops in the league this season and currently stands as a Conference USA record. Earlier this season, Williams was a perfect 10-for-10 at Northwestern and 7-for-7 at UAB. She ranks fifth among all Conference USA players followed by Jenni Dant in sixth place at .778 overall. In the last 14 games, DePaul is a combined 229-of-296 (.774). Individually, Jenni Dant was 62-for-70 (.886) in Conference USA play while Lindsay Forsberg is shooting .806 (29-36) for the season.
Last year, 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.
13 Straight Against the State
The Blue Demons have won 13 consecutive games against opponents from the state of Illinois over the last three seasons. This season, DePaul knocked off Illinois and Northern Illinois after defeating Northwestern and Loyola in November. 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 13 consecutive games, DePaul has also won 20 of the last 21 contests with state schools. Over the stretch of 21 games, DePaul has defeated Loyola and Northern Illinois four times and Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, and Northwestern three times each. They have also knocked off Southern Illinois twice and Chicago State once.
Injury Report
The Blue Demons have battled the injury bug that has left them with eight players available through most of the season. Laura Sobieszczyk missed the Conference USA Tournament with a strep infection that left DePaul with seven players against Tulane. The Blue Demons finished that game with five after two fouled out. That was the second time this season that DePaul has finished with a game five eligible players.
Sarah Kustok and Claudette Towers were the victims that caused DePaul to play with just six in the overtime win over Louisville. Kustok injured a calf muscle in the second half at Charlotte and missed the Louisville and Cincinnati games while Towers suffered a concussion during the practice before the Louisville game. She was able to play only eight minutes against the Cardinals, but came back for the entire game against Cincinnati. Volleyball player Christa Dirr, who added because of the injuries, has been available for only five games as she battled a stress fracture in her left foot. Last weekend, she dressed for the TCU and Houston games, but did not play.
After missing the first nine games of the season, freshman forward Khara Smith suffered a torn ACL in her right knee at Notre Dame on Dec. 31 and will be out for the remainder of the season. Smith missed the nine games after she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left foot just before the first game of the season. At the time of her knee injury, she was averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. In DePaul's two exhibition games, she registered a pair of double-doubles.
Prior to the start of practice, senior forward Latasha White injured her right knee and will miss the 2001-02 season. Last season, the junior college transfer averaged 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds while playing in 21 games. Both Smith and White will sit out this season under medical hardships.
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.
Jenni Dant's Jersey in Ring of Honor
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame has recently added DePaul freshman Jenni Dant's jersey to their Ring of Honor. The Ring of Honor recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of high school and collegiate All-Americans. The former Stevenson High School standout is in an exclusive group of 40 young women from across the country to have their jerseys currently displayed at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tenn., is the world's only hall of fame dedicated solely to the athletic achievements of women.
