Blue Demons Cruise to Second Exhibition Win
11/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
CHICAGO – The DePaul women’s basketball team closed the exhibition portion of the schedule with a 92-68 win over the Chicago Challengers on Saturday evening at the DePaul Athletic Center. Charlene Smith led four players in double-figures while Ashley Luke added 21 points.
The Challengers took an early 5-4 lead on a free throw by Ashley Berggren before DePaul went on a 15-2 run over the next three minutes. After a three-pointer by Claudette Towers, the Blue Demons led 19-7 with 12:59 left in the half.
DePaul went cold over the next six minutes and trailed 23-22 when former Blue Demon Briana Fitzgerald hit a bucket with 6:01 left in the opening half. Back-to-back free throws by Khara Smith and Luke pushed the Blue Demons back ahead and they wouldn’t trail for the rest of the game.
The lead was up to 11 points three times in the last minute of the first half and the Blue Demons went into the break leading, 40-29, on a jumper by Charlene Smith as the clock expired. The club shot just .353 from the field in the first stanza, but took advantage of 18 turnovers by the Challengers, turning them into 22 points.
DePaul warmed up in the second half, hitting 17-of-37 (.459) shots. The lead grew to 27 points at 74-47 on a pair of free throws by Shiesha McCollum with 10 minutes left in the half. Over the final 10 minutes, the Challengers would cut the lead to 18 points, but the home team finished the game by scoring the final 14 of the game’s 22 points.
Charlene Smith finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds while Luke tallied 21 points on five three-pointers with seven steals. Khara Smith added 16 points and a team-high nine boards and Jenni Dant chipped in 15 points with 16 assists.
Berggren led the Challengers with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Kris Rastrelli led the six former Blue Demons with nine points while Carla Stone scored eight and Jamie Smith added seven points.
The Blue Demons open the regular season next weekend with the annual Moran Realty Classic. DePaul takes UW-Milwaukee at 8 p.m. after Ball State and Northwestern State start the action at 6 p.m. The consolation game is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday followed by the championship game at 8 p.m.