Women's Basketball Tops Alabama State, 99-63
12/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
CHICAGO – After leading by just six points at halftime, the DePaul women’s basketball team outscored Alabama State, 57-27, in the second half for a 99-63 final at the DePaul Athletic Center on Friday night. With the win, the Blue Demons are off to the best start in school history matching the 9-1 start at the beginning of the 1985-86 season.
The Blue Demons started slow, but jumped ahead, 14-6, early in the game. The Lady Hornets took a three-point lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half before the Blue Demons outscored them, 23-14, to end the first half. Khara Smith led the way in the first stanza with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the field.
Alabama State (3-3) scored the first bucket of the second half before the Blue Demons went on a 20-4 run to take a commanding 62-42 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the game. During the run, Jenni Dant tallied nine points while Ashley Luke added five and the Smith cousins combined for six points.
The DePaul (9-1) lead grew to 31 points on a Jenna Rubino three-pointer with 2:16 left in the game. Another Rubino trey gave the Blue Demons their largest lead of the game at 99-61 with just 10 seconds remaining.
Khara Smith led five Blue Demons in double-figures with 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Charlene Smith and Dant added 18 points each while Rubino added 15 and Luke scored 12 points. In nine of 10 games this season at least four players have scored in double-figures. With the win, the Blue Demons are averaging 95.4 points per game which ranks them first in the country.
DePaul wraps up the weekend with a Sunday afternoon game against the Valparaiso Crusaders. Tipoff at the DePaul Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.