Blue Demons Finish Exhibition Slate
11/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The DePaul women's basketball team plays the second of two exhibition contests on Saturday night against the Chicago Challengers. Tipoff at the DePaul Athletic Center is set for 6 p.m. DePaul opened the exhibition season with a 109-74 win over the National Team of Holland on Wednesday evening.
The Chicago Challengers will have a DePaul flavor as five former Blue Demons will be playing against their alma mater. Among the DePaul players on the Challengers roster are Stacy Bruno, Kris Rastrelli, Briana Fitzgerald, Jamie Lewis and Carla Stone. Other local player notes include Ashley Berggren of Illinois and Staci Carney from Purdue.
Gametime is at 6 p.m. with the DePaul men's team playing the Spot Lite Jammers at 8 p.m. in their final exhibition tune-up.
What’s Back
DePaul returns all but two players from the 2002-03 NCAA Tournament team that posted a 22-10 record. The returners include three starters in Jenni Dant, Sarah Kustok and Ashley Luke and the nine players combined for 84 percent of the scoring, 74 percent of the rebounding and 71 percent of the minutes played. They also shot a combined .461 from the field a year ago. In addition to the three starters, DePaul also returns key reserves Jarietta Benton, Shiesha McCollum, Casmir Patterson, Charlene Smith, Khara Smith and Claudette Towers.
Preseason Picks
Prior to the start of the season, the Conference USA coaches picked the Blue Demons to finish second behind preseason favorite TCU. The Horned Frogs earned the league’s automatic bid by winning the C-USA Tournament in Memphis after starting as the fifth seed. Charlotte, who won the league regular season title a year ago, was picked fourth just behind Cincinnati. DePaul posted a 10-4 record to earn the third seed in the 2003 conference tourney.
Junior Jenni Dant was named to the league’s preseason All-Conference team after earning second team All-CUSA honors after last season. Houston’s Chandi Jones was named the preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the league’s preseason team by Dant, Sandora Irvin of TCU and Cincinnati’s Valerie King and Debbie Merrill.
Home Cookin’
In three seasons, the DePaul Athletic Center has proven itself as one of the toughest venues in the Midwest. The Blue Demons have posted a 34-7 (.829) home record over 41 games. In their 29th season, the Blue Demons have an all-time home court record of 277-87 (.761). Over 26 seasons at Alumni Hall, the women’s basketball program won over 75 percent of their games with a 242-80 all-time record. At the Allstate Arena, the women’s program has posted an all-time record of 19-4, including a 79-65 win over Northern Illinois earlier this season. DePaul returns to Rosemont this season for a game against Southern Illinois in December.
Entering the 2003-04 season, the Blue Demons hold one of the longest home-court winning streaks in the country. DePaul is tied for seventh with Ohio State and Washington with their 14 consecutive home court victories. Connecticut leads the country with a 63-game home court winning streak and is followed by UC Santa Barbara with 23 straight home victories.
Nothing but the Best
The 2003-04 schedule features 13 opponents that played in the postseason a year ago. Among the 13 are 10 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last March. The Blue Demons take on Alabama State, Illinois, Tennessee and Valparaiso in non-conference action at the DePaul Athletic Center while traveling to Holy Cross and Manhattan. A year ago, Conference USA sent seven teams to postseason action. Charlotte, Cincinnati, TCU and Tulane joined the Blue Demons in the NCAA Tournament while Marquette and Saint Louis played in the WNIT.
Eyeing 300
Heading into this season, DePaul head coach Doug Bruno is needs just one win for his 300th victory with the Blue Demons. He holds 299 career victories with DePaul and will eclipse the 300-win plateau with DePaul’s first win of the 2003-04 season. In 17 seasons with the Blue Demons, he stands at 299-196.
Along with being the winningest coach in DePaul women’s basketball history, Bruno has also tallied the most victories among Conference USA coaches at their respective schools. Jeannie Milling is next with 256 wins at UAB while Laurie Pirtle has tallied 254 victories at Cincinnati. Milling leads all C-USA coaches with 417 overall victories.
Eyeing 1,000
Preseason All-Conference USA honoree Jenni Dant could become the 18th player in DePaul basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point mark in her career. The junior enters the 2003-04 campaign with 753 points. Last season, Dant led the club in scoring at 14.4 points per game on her way to finishing the season with 460 points. As a freshman, Dant tallied 293 points while averaging 10.1 points per contest. The most recent DePaul player to enter the 1,000-point club was Lenae Williams. She finished her four-year DePaul career ranked second all-time with 2,046 points.
Taking Advantage From Beyond the Arc
The DePaul women’s basketball program has turned the three-point field into a potent offensive weapon. This season will be no different as the Blue Demons return their top two sharpshooters from last season in Sarah Kustok and Ashley Luke. Kustok led Conference USA with a .445 three-point field goal percentage while Luke tied DePaul’s single-season record with 94 three’s last season.
As a team, DePaul has made at least one three-pointer in 207 consecutive games. Over the last four seasons the club has knocked down 888 trifectas compared to just 419 for the opposition. In the last two seasons the Blue Demons have set new single-season records with 230 in 2001-02 and 233 in 2002-03.
In 32 games in 2002-03, the Blue Demons outscored their opponents by 336 points from three-point range. DePaul was 233-646 (.361) from behind the arc while opponents were 121-356 (.340). The squad averaged 7.3 three’s per game while the opposition made 3.8 treys per contest. The .361 team three-point percentage is ranked third on the single-season chart.
Giving to Charity
Along with the accuracy from behind the arc, the Blue Demons also rank among the best in Conference USA from the free throw line. Over the last three season, DePaul has finished either first or second in the league in free throw percentage. The squad finished the 2002-03 campaign ranked second with a .718 (425-592) season percentage. Against Charlotte, the Blue Demons posted a season-best .947 (18-19) from the charity strip. Earlier in the season, they shot .850 (17-20) at Illinois and against Northern Illinois went 25-for-30 (.833).
TV Time
As always, the DePaul women’s basketball program will be featured multiple times on national television. This season, the Blue Demons are scheduled for at least four televised games. They will be on the C-USA Network twice with games at TCU on Feb. 22 and Marquette on Feb. 29. The Cincinnati matchup at the DePaul Athletic Center on Jan. 11 will be broadcasted on ESPN2. FOX Sports Net Chicago will also televise the Tulane game on Jan. 25.
DePaul was no stranger to the cameras last season as 10 games were televised. The Blue Demons posted a 6-4 record in televised games last year and have won 11 of the last 16 televised games. Over the last two seasons, DePaul has won five of six games on C-USA TV including wins over Tulane, TCU, Marquette and Louisville.