Blue Demons Capture Blue Sky Crown
12/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
HANOVER, N.H. – The DePaul women’s basketball team won their fourth straight game and in the process took the Blue Sky Restaurant Classic title with a 61-55 decision over previously unbeaten Richmond. It is the second tournament title this season for the Blue Demons. Khara Smith was named MVP and joined on the All-Tournament team by Allie Quigley.
After a back-and-forth first five minutes, the Blue Demons found themselves trailing, 11-10 with 14:18 left in the half. DePaul responded by holding the Spiders without a field goal over the next six minutes and led, 19-14, on a lay-up by Jarietta Benton.
Benton’s two free throws with just under four minutes left gave DePaul (10-2) their largest lead of the first half at 32-19 before Richmond closed the period with a 7-0 run. At the intermission, DePaul held a six-point advantage at 32-26.
DePaul started the second half with a 10-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 42-28 with 15 minutes left. The DePaul defense was stingy again as they held Richmond (9-1) to just two points over the first seven minutes of the second period.
The Spiders wouldn’t go away as an 8-2 run closed the gap to 52-48 with 3:37 to go in the contest. Quigley answered the run with her third three-pointer of the night and two free throws to push the advantage back to nine points, 57-48, with just over a minute left on the clock.
In the final minute, Quigley added two more free throws and Benton knocked down a pair of free shots for the 61-55 final.
Quigley tallied a game-high 23 points with five rebounds and three assists while Smith added 11 points and 11 rebounds. The junior added those numbers to her 18 points and 16 boards in the opening-game against Valparaiso to earn tourney MVP honors. Quigley joined Smith on the All-Tournament team.
Jenni Dant added 15 points and two assists before fouling out with just over four minutes left in the game. The senior guard also held Richmond’s Katie Flavin to 15 points and just four rebounds after she entered the tournament with averages of 22.0 points and 8.1 boards per game.
Benton finished in double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points and five rebounds. Flavin’s 15 points led the Spiders while Saona Chapman added 13 points. Richmond entered the tournament as one of six teams in the country without a loss this season.
The tournament title is the second for DePaul this season as they also won the Moran Realty Classic at the DePaul Athletic Center in November. It marks the first time since the 1987-88 season that the Blue Demons have won two regular-season tournaments.
The Blue Demons return to the DePaul Athletic Center on Sunday night against Holy Cross. Tipoff between the Blue Demons and Crusaders is set for 7 p.m. DePaul opens Conference USA action on Sunday, Jan. 9 at Marquette. That game can be seen on ESPN2 at 3 p.m.
Blue Sky Restaurant Classic All-Tournament Team
Khara Smith, DePaul
Allie Quigley, DePaul
Saona Chapman, Richmond
Kate Flavin, Richmond
Jenna Stangler, Valparaiso
Angie Soriaga, Dartmouth
MVP – Khara Smith, DePaul