Women's Basketball Season-in-Review

Complete Season-in-Review

CHICAGO – After returning to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the DePaul Blue Demons went one step further with a second-round appearance in the 2004 Big Dance.  In addition to the NCAA Tournament appearance, the club garnered the program’s highest ranking in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches polls, led the nation in scoring the entire season and placed three players on All-Conference USA teams.

Armed with a 22-6 record, the Blue Demons entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region.  DePaul rolled past eighth-seeded George Washington, 83-46, in the first round game to set up a rematch with the top-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols.  In December, the Blue Demons gave the Lady Vols everything they wanted, but fell in overtime.  The March matchup was a different story as Tennessee jumped to an early 10-3 lead and never looked back in the 79-59 win over DePaul.

The Blue Demons put together an eight-game winning streak to open the season.  Following a pair of easy wins over UW-Milwaukee and Northwestern State in the Moran Realty Classic, DePaul posted wins over Northwestern, Illinois, Holy Cross, Manhattan, Illinois-Chicago and Southern Illinois.

On Dec. 17, DePaul put their 18-game home court winning streak on the line, but lost to Tennessee in overtime, 96-89.  That defeat is the only home game the Blue Demons have lost in the last two seasons with a two-year home record of 27-1.

DePaul bounced back from the overtime loss to reel off one of the longest winning streaks in school history.  The club put up 10 consecutive wins for just the fifth winning streak in program history of at least 10 games.  During the run, the Blue Demons knocked off Alabama State, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Louisville, Cincinnati, UAB, USF, Southern Miss and Tulane.  DePaul was dominating during the 10-gamer as they won by an average of 24 points per game.

All good things come to end and it did on Jan. 31 at Charlotte.  The 49ers used nine three-pointers for a 74-70 win over the visiting Blue Demons.  The loss snapped the 10-game winning streak and also handed the Blue Demons their first road defeat of the season.

Once again, DePaul came back and won four straight over East Carolina, Marquette, Saint Louis and Memphis to improve their record to 22-2.  Following the win over Memphis on Feb. 15, the Blue Demons moved up to No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll and No. 12 in the AP top 25.  Both rankings marked the highest slots in the program’s 30-year history.

With three games left in the regular season, DePaul faced a difficult road schedule.  The Blue Demons traveled to Houston, TCU and Marquette to close the regular-season schedule.  At Houston, the team’s late surge wasn’t enough as the Lady Cougars held on for a 84-75 win over DePaul.  The club moved on to TCU and dropped their second straight game with a season-low 53 points.  In the regular-season finale, Charlene Smith’s buzzer-beater was called off and Marquette knocked off the Blue Demons, 62-61.

DePaul’s 10-4 Conference USA record gave them the No. 4 seed in the league tournament.  The Blue Demons squared off with Marquette for the second time in a week in a highly-contested game.  The Golden Eagles eventually came out on top of a 74-70 decision that saw the score change hands 14 times.

The Blue Demons were one of four C-USA teams in the NCAA Tournament, joining Houston, Marquette and TCU.  With the first-round win over George Washington, DePaul played in the second round for just the fourth time in school history.  The bid for the first Sweet Sixteen berth was halted by Tennessee.

DePaul led the nation in scoring for the entire season and finished in the nation’s top 30 in seven different categories.  The team finished the season at No. 25 in the Coaches poll with the third-highest winning percentage in school history.  Khara Smith, Charlene Smith and Jenni Dant picked up All-Conference USA honors while Khara was a top 16 finalist for the inaugural Women’s Wooden Award.  Khara and Charlene Smith also earned WBCA All-District honors and head coach Doug Bruno was the region’s Coach of the Year.

Tourney Time: The DePaul Blue Demons returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and ninth time in school history.  The No. 9-seeded Blue Demons advanced to the second round for just the fourth time in school history with an 83-46 win over No. 8 George Washington in Tallahassee, Fla.  The team was the Midwest Region’s ninth seed for the second straight year as they were the No. 9 seed in Raleigh, N.C., a year ago.

Yes and No: Prior to last season’s NCAA appearance in Raleigh, N.C., the Blue Demons last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 1997.  However, two players for the Blue Demons made their second and third NCAA Tourney appearances in 2004.  Senior Ashley Luke played in four games over her freshman and sophomore seasons at Penn State while Charlene Smith made one appearance as a freshman at UW-Milwaukee.

Double the Fun: For just the third time in school history both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at DePaul University played in the NCAA Championship.  The programs played simultaneously in both the 1991 and 1992 NCAA Tournaments before this year.

The seventh-seeded DePaul men’s team knocked off No. 10 Dayton in Buffalo, N.Y., before falling to eventual National Champion Connecticut.  Overall, this was the men’s team 22nd appearance in the NCAA Championship.

DePaul was one of 16 athletic programs with the men’s and women’s teams playing in March.  The Blue Demons were the lone Conference USA program with both teams competing at NCAA sites.  DePaul was joined by: Arizona, Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Liberty, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech, Valparaiso and Vanderbilt.  Connecticut won both the men’s and women’s national championships.

Fun With Numbers: Over the last two seasons, the Blue Demons are 45-17... the 45 victories are tied for the second-highest two-year total in program history... DePaul entered the NCAA Tourney with a four-game losing streak, the longest of the 64 teams... Texas Tech was the only other school with a multiple-game losing streak with two in-a-row... the Blue Demons have won a game on every day of the week this season... Doug Bruno used the same starting line-up in all 28 games... the Blue Demons were one of eight teams in the country with the same starting five all season (Florida, Nebraska, Niagara, Purdue, Utah, Villanova and West Virginia)... DePaul is one of 21 programs to play in the postseason in at least 13 of the last 16 seasons... the Blue Demons were 19-1 this season when scoring at least 80 points... over the last four seasons, the team have scored at least 80 on 40 occasions with a 37-3 record... as a team, the Blue Demons have made at least 200 three-pointers in five straight seasons.

Conference USA Honor Roll: The DePaul women’s basketball team placed a league-best three players on the three All-Conference USA teams prior to the league tournament in Fort Worth.  Khara Smith was named to C-USA’s first team while her cousin Charlene picked up second team honors.  Jenni Dant earned third team All-Conference USA recognition.

Houston’s Chandi Jones was named the Player of the Year for the third time while Houston coach Joe Curl was the Coach of the Year.  TCU’s Sandora Irvin was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and Victoria Crawford of Memphis was the Sixth Player of the Year.

All-Conference USA First Team

Sandora Irvin, Jr., F, TCU

Chandi Jones, Sr., F, Houston

Sara Nord, Sr., G, Louisville

Khara Smith, So., F, DePaul

Courtney Willis, Sr., F/C, East Carolina

All-Conference USA Second Team

Jazz Covington, Fr., F, Louisville

Jessica Dickson, Fr., F, USF

Valerie King, Jr., G, Cincinnati

Sancho Lyttle, Jr., F/C, Houston

Charlene Smith, Jr., G/F, DePaul

All-Conference USA Third Team

Victoria Crawford, Jr., F, Memphis

Jenni Dant, Jr., G, DePaul

Jennifer Jackson, Jr., G/F, East Carolina

Angie Lewis, Sr., F, Saint Louis

Natasha Thomas, Sr., F, UAB

Conference USA All-Freshman Team

Jazz Covington, Fr., F, Louisville

Jessica Dickson, Fr., F, USF

Natasha Lacy, Fr., G, TCU

Nalini Miller, Fr., F, USF

Deondra Carter, Fr., G/F, Southern Miss

Coach of the Year – Joe Curl, Houston

Player of the Year – Chandi Jones, F, Houston

Freshman of the Year – Jessica Dickson, F, USF

Defensive Player of the Year – Sandora Irvin, F, TCU

Sixth Player of the Year – Victoria Crawford, F, Memphis

Noting the Blue Demons: The 2003-04 campaign was the 30th season of women’s basketball at DePaul University... the team averaged an NCAA-high 84.4 points per game... the Blue Demons scored at least 90 points in 11 games and 100 points five times... the five 100-point games were a single-season school record... DePaul scored at least 50 points in a half on 15 occasions... since scoring 90 at East Carolina on Feb. 2, DePaul averaged just 69.1 points per game... at least four players scored in double-figures in 18 games... Khara Smith earned Conference USA Player of the Week honors four times this season and was named to the Wooden Award final ballot... over the final nine games, non-starters scored just 50 points... over the final 10 games, the club shot .263 from behind the arc (59-of-224)... DePaul’s former 10-game win streak from Dec. 19, 2003-Jan. 25, 2004 was the longest since a 17-gamer from Jan. 11-Mar. 3, 1988... there have been just five winning streaks of at least 10 games in school history... DePaul was 9-4 on the road and victorious in 17 of the last 23 regular season C-USA games... over the last two seasons, the Blue Demons are 27-1 at home with the lone loss coming in overtime to No. 2 Tennessee in December... in those 28 games, DePaul is 25-1 at the DePaul Athletic Center and 2-0 at the Allstate Arena... with the Dec. 14 win over Southern Illinois at the Allstate Arena, the Blue Demons are 20-4 all-time in Rosemont... the victory at Holy Cross was the 500th in the program’s history... the club had 419 steals while forcing 681 turnovers... the team single-season steal record is 493 by the 1988-89 squad... DePaul trailed at halftime six times this season and was 1-5 in those games... at the free throw line, DePaul made 480 free shots while opponents attempted 483... the team single-season record for free throws made is 527 in 1986-87.

Khara Smith Named Wooden Award Finalist: DePaul sophomore forward Khara Smith was selected as one of 16 finalists for the inaugural John R. Wooden Women’s Award.  She went on the official voting ballot for the 2004 Wooden Women’s Award All-American Team and Player of the Year.  Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.  This season will be the first Women’s Wooden Award presentation.  Smith and LSU’s Seimone Augustus were the lone sophomores among the 16 finalists.  Duke’s Alana Beard won the first-year award and was joined on the All-American team by Kelly Mazzante of Penn State, Nicole Powell from Stanford, Diana Taurasi of Connecticut and Purdue’s Shereka Wright.  Smith, a four-time C-USA Player of the Week, had 20 double-doubles to go with 20.4 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

WBCA Recognition: DePaul head coach Doug Bruno and the Smith cousins garnered recognition from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).  Bruno was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year.  He moved on to the national ballot with: Ferne Labati (Miami, Region 1), Gail Goestenkors, (Duke, Region 2), Joe Ciampi (Auburn, Region 3), Jody Conradt (Texas, Region 5), Rene Portland (Penn State, Region 6), Kurt Budke (Louisiana Tech, Region 7), Julie Wilhoit (Loyola Marymount, Region 8).  Penn State’s Rene Portland was named the WBCA National Coach of the Year.

Cousins Khara and Charlene Smith were selected as two of six players from Region 4 that were named finalists for the 2004 NCAA Division I Kodak/WBCA All-America team.  Joining them from the region were: Sandora Irvin (TCU), Chandi Jones (Houston), Sara Nord (Louisville) and Casey Rost (Western Michigan).

Eyeing 1,000: On two occasions this season, a player moved into the 1,000-point club at DePaul.  Jenni Dant became the 18th player in DePaul basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point mark in her career with a three-pointer at USF on Jan. 18.  Through 91 career games, the junior has 1,177 points.  She averaged 14.1 points per game this season after leading the club in scoring at 14.4 (460 points) points per game a year ago.  As a freshman, Dant tallied 293 points while averaging 10.1 points per contest.

Khara Smith joined Dant on Feb. 22 at TCU with a jumper in the first half.  The sophomore is the 19th player with at least 1,000 career points in program history.  Smith’s average of 16.1 points per game over her first 66 career games give her 1,061 career points.  She led the club this season with 20.4 points per game after averaging 13.8 last season.

Outstanding On and Off the Court:  Sarah Kustok and Ashley Luke were honored for their efforts both on and off the court by being named to the Academic All-District V second team.  The two were of 10 players selected to the district first and second teams covering Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario and Manitoba.

Both players played in all 30 games this season while being the top two three-point shooters for the Blue Demons.  Kustok averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting .359 from behind the arc.  Luke was one of four averaging double-figures with 12.5 points per game.  She led the club with 134 assists and 86 three’s.  Kustok is set to graduate from DePaul with a Communications degree while Luke is majoring in Physical Education.

For the second straight year, Kustok was one of 10 student-athletes named to the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete team by the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association.

20-20 Vision:  With all of the points being scored this season, a player scored at least 20 points on 32 occasions.  Khara Smith led the way with 15 games of at least 20 while Charlene Smith checked in with 10, Jenni Dant had six and Ashley Luke totaled a pair of 20-point outings.  Nine times this season two players tallied at least 20 in a game and twice there were three with 20 or more.  On the flip side, there were 10 games where no player reached 20.  Ironically, in four of those games the Blue Demons totaled 94, 109, 106 and 99 points.  The club set a DePaul Athletic Center record in the 109-73 win over Northwestern State after posting a 94-62 win against UW-Milwaukee in the season-opener.  The 106 points were scored at Illinois-Chicago while the Blue Demons tallied 99 points at Manhattan.

Home Cookin’: In four seasons, the DePaul Athletic Center has proven itself as one of the toughest venues in the Midwest.  The Blue Demons have posted a 46-8 (.852) record in the arena’s first 54 games.  In their 30th season, the Blue Demons have an all-time home court record of 290-88 (.767).  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 20-4.  DePaul returned to Rosemont this season with a 102-57 win over Southern Illinois on Dec. 14.

Tennessee snapped DePaul’s 18-game home court winning streak with the 96-89 overtime decision on Dec. 17.  In 30 seasons of women’s basketball at DePaul University there have been 12 streaks of at least 10 straight home victories.  The longest streak was a 20-game run from Feb. 4, 1978 to Feb. 19, 1979.  The 18-gamer over the last year is the second-longest streak in school history followed by a 15-game home court win streak from Mar. 5, 1994 to Feb. 26, 1995.  Over the last two years, the team is 27-1 at home with the lone loss coming to Tennessee on Dec. 17.  Heading into next season, the Blue Demons hold a nine-game home winning streak.

In the Rankings: In the final edition of the NCAA statistics, the Blue Demons rank among the nation’s leaders in a variety of categories.  DePaul led the nation in scoring offense all season and finished the year in the top 30 in steals per game (2nd), scoring margin (7th), three-point field goals per game (12th), assists per game (14th), field goal percentage (23rd) and winning percentage (26th).  Khara Smith was one of two players nationally in the nation’s top 14 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.  The sophomore was fifth in field goal percentage and rebounding, 14th in scoring and 30th in steals per game.  Ashley Luke was 13th in three-point field goals per game, Jenni Dant ranked 30th in steals per game and Charlene Smith was 59th in scoring.

In the C-USA rankings, DePaul ranked first in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point field goals made, assists, steals, turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio.  Khara Smith led the league in field goal percentage and ranked second in double-doubles, scoring, rebounding and steals.  Dant was second in the league in steals and third in free throw percentage.  Luke ranked second in three’s per game and seventh in assists per contest.  The team sported four of the top 20 C-USA scorers with Khara Smith second, Charlene Smith at sixth, Dant at 16th and Luke ranked 20th.

National Scoring Leaders	Games	Total Pts.	Avg.
1. DePaul	30	2,531	84.4
2. Louisiana Tech	32	2,639	82.5
3. Duke	34	2,785	81.9
4. TCU	32	2,498	78.1
5. Southwest Missouri State	32	2,486	77.7

Player of the Week Times Four: Sophomore forward Khara Smith was named the Conference USA Player of the Week four times this season.  Following a pair of huge games against Saint Louis and Memphis she picked up the honor for the fourth time.  After sitting out of practice with the flu during the week, she scored 32 points with nine rebounds against Saint Louis in the Friday night contest.  Smith returned on Sunday with her 17th double-double of the season on 27 points and 14 rebounds against Memphis.  For the week, she averaged 29.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting .765 from the field.

Following the opening weekend of league play, she earned Player of the Week honors for the third time this season.  Smith started the weekend by matching her then-career high with 26 points against Louisville.  She also pulled down 15 boards while going 11-for-13 from the field.  On Sunday against Cincinnati, she bettered her Friday performance with a career-best 35 points and 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.  She averaged 30.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game while shooting .767 (23-30) from the field.

On Dec. 8, she earned the league honor after leading the Blue Demons to wins over Northwestern, Illinois and Holy Cross.  In the three wins, she tallied two double-doubles while averaging 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.  For the week, she posted a .571 field goal percentage with eight steals and eight assists.

On Dec. 22, she picked up her second honor of the year after shooting .735 (25-34) from the field in games against Tennessee, Alabama State and Valparaiso.  She averaged 19.0 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the three games.

Smith was the only DePaul player to earn the weekly honor this season and one of two league players to be recognized four times this season.  As a freshman, she was named player of the week on two occasions.

C-USA Players of the Week

N24 – Chandi Jones, F, Houston

D1 – Valerie King, G, Cincinnati

D8 – Khara Smith, F, DePaul

D15 – Sarah Nord, G, Louisville

D22 – Khara Smith, F, DePaul

D29 – Sara Nord, G, Louisville

J5 – Nalini Miller, F, USF

J12 – Khara Smith, F, DePaul

J19 – Chandi Jones, F, Houston

J26 – Courtney Willis, F, East Carolina

F3 – Jessica Dickson, F, USF

F9 – Chandi Jones, F, Houston & Sarah Nord, G, Louisville

F16 – Khara Smith, F, DePaul & Chandi Jones, F, Houston

F23 – Sandora Irvin, F, TCU & Sancho Lyttle, F, Houston

M1 – Jazz Covington, F, Louisville

Program-Best Ranking: Prior to back-to-back losses at Houston and TCU, the Blue Demons achieved their highest ranking in both the Associated Press (No. 12) and ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches (No. 11) poll.

DePaul finished the season with a No. 25 ranking in the final Coaches poll after reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  The Blue Demons made their coaches poll debut on Dec. 23 at No. 21 and remained there for three weeks.  A year ago, the club was ranked as high as 20th in the coaches poll.

Following the C-USA Tournament defeat against Marquette, the Blue Demons dropped out of the AP rankings for the first time since mid-December.  DePaul entered the poll on Dec. 22 at No. 22 and moved to their highest ranking in school history at No. 12 before losing at Houston and TCU.  The No. 12 slot was the program’s highest ranking surpassing the previous high of No. 15 during the 1995-96 campaign.  The Blue Demons received votes in every poll this season.  In program history, DePaul has been ranked a total of 40 weeks with a record of 36-30 as a ranked team.

All in the Family: Cousins Charlene and Khara Smith have been an offensive force since joining the club a year ago.  The two were among team, C-USA and national leaders in scoring, rebounding and steals.  Khara, a sophomore, had 21 double-doubles this season and averaged team-high’s of 20.4 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.  Charlene, a junior, was second on the club with 17.5 points per game and led the team with 133 free throws.  The cousins ranked first and third in steals with Khara swiping 88 and Charlene totaling 69 steals.  The two combined for just under 45 percent of the scoring this season (1,137 points).

In the C-USA opener against Louisville, the two Smith’s combined for 52 points on 26 points each.  Khara grabbed 15 boards while Charlene  was 10-for-11 from the free throw line with four rebounds.  At UAB, the duo totaled 54 of DePaul’s 88 points and in the Southern Miss game each tallied a double-double while combining for 37 points and 23 rebounds.  At Houston, each player scored 27 while they combined for 19 boards.  In C-USA games, Khara averaged 22.4 points per game while Charlene checked in with 18.0 points per contest.

Speaking of Family:  Siblings and coaches Maggie and Jamie Dixon were a combined 54-12 this season.  Jamie, the men’s head coach at Pittsburgh, led the Panthers to the Sweet Sixteen as the No. 3 seed in the men’s East Rutherford Region.  Jamie was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year and led Pittsburgh to a program-best 31-5 record.  Maggie, an assistant at DePaul, had the Blue Demons at 23-7 and a No. 9 seed in the women’s Midwest Region.  DePaul’s .767 winning percentage was the third-highest in DePaul history.

Puttin’ It On the Board: The Blue Demons kept the scoreboard operators busy as they averaged 84.4 points per game this season.  DePaul topped the century mark five times and scored at least 90 points in 11 games.  In school history, a DePaul team has scored at least 100 points in a game 29 times without a loss.  The five 100-point games this season were a single-season record surpassing the four occasions in 1994-95 and 1995-96.

Swarming: Despite all of the offensive numbers, the DePaul defense was devastating to their opponents.  Through 30 games, the Blue Demons made 419 steals while forcing 681 turnovers.  DePaul converted the 681 mishaps into 738 points (24.6 ppg).  At Northwestern, DePaul took advantage of 30 Wildcat turnovers for 39 points and used 27 Holy Cross mistakes to generate 39 points.  Against Tulane, DePaul took advantage of 26 Green Wave miscues to score 36 points.  In back-to-back games, the Blue Demons outscored Illinois-Chicago, 43-6, and Southern Illinois, 44-9, in points off turnovers.

Taking Advantage From Beyond the Arc: The DePaul women’s basketball program has turned the three-point field goal into a potent offensive weapon.  This season was no different as the Blue Demons returned 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 in 2002-03.  The two returners combined for 132 three’s which were 15 more than all DePaul opponents combined.

As a team, DePaul has made at least one three-pointer in 237 consecutive games.  Over the last four seasons the club has knocked down 900 trifectas compared to just 452 for the opposition.  The Blue Demons set new single-season records with 230 in 2001-02 and 233 in 2002-03.  Over the last five years, the team has totaled at least 200 three-pointers in each season.

In 30 games this season, the Blue Demons outscored their opponents by 294 points from three-point range (9.8 ppg).  DePaul was 215-654 (.329) from behind the arc while opponents were 117-386 (.303).  The squad averaged 7.2 three’s per game while the opposition made 3.9 treys per contest.

Counting in Three's
Year	3pt. FG's
1999-00	223
2000-01	202
2001-02	230
2002-03	233
2003-04	204

Giving to Charity: Along with the accuracy from behind the arc, the Blue Demons also ranked among the best in Conference USA from the free throw line.  Over the last four seasons, 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.  Prior to finishing second, DePaul was a combined 384-520 (.738) from the free throw line in 2001-02 to rank first among Conference USA schools for the second straight season.  In 2000-01, the Blue Demons led Conference USA with a .716 overall mark from the free throw line.

Through the first three games this season, the club struggled from the charity stripe with a combined .623 (43-69) percentage.  Over the next 18 games, the Blue Demons combined to go 329-for-428 (.769) from the line.  DePaul struggled against Marquette on Feb. 8 with a season-low .333 (4-12) free throw percentage, but bounced back against Saint Louis to go 16-for-20 (.800).

Against Louisville in the C-USA opener, the team made 20 straight before finishing the game 20-of-21 from the line.  On Feb. 2 at East Carolina, DePaul went 21-for-22 from the charity stripe.  The club finished the 2003-04 campaign ranked second in the league with a combined .724 (480-663) percentage.  The team single-season record is .738 set during the 2001-02 campaign.

TV Time: As always, the DePaul women’s basketball program was featured multiple times on national television.  During the regular season, the Blue Demons made five televised appearances.  They were on the C-USA Network twice with games at TCU on Feb. 22 and Marquette on Feb. 29.  The 88-61 win over Cincinnati on Jan. 11 was broadcasted on ESPN2.  FOX Sports Net Chicago televised the 99-60 victory over Tulane on Jan. 25 and the 61-59 win over Marquette on Feb. 8 was broadcasted regionally on ESPN2.  The Blue Demons were just one of 14 women’s basketball programs in the country scheduled to appear on the ESPN network multiple times this season.

DePaul was no stranger to the cameras in 2002-03 as 10 games were televised.  The Blue Demons posted a 6-4 record in televised games last year and have won 15 of the last 23 televised games.

Against the State: DePaul has seen recent success against opponents from the state of Illinois.  Over the last 24 games against Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Southern Illinois, the Blue Demons have posted 23 victories.  In games this season against Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, the club was 5-0.

A year ago in Champaign, the Illini snapped a 14-game winning streak against state opponents for DePaul with the 71-67 decision on Dec. 4.  In addition to the 14-game streak ended last year, DePaul has won 29 of the last 31 games against state opponents.  Currently, the Blue Demons have nine straight wins over Illinois schools following the 70-60 victory at Northern Illinois on Jan. 3.

Eyeing 300: With DePaul’s first win this season, DePaul head coach Doug Bruno earned his 300th victory with the Blue Demons.  In his 18th season with the Blue Demons, he stands at 322-205.  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.  Laurie Pirtle at Cincinnati is second on the C-USA list with 269 victories.

Recapping the Moran Realty Classic: The Blue Demons captured their third straight Moran Realty Classic title with wins over UW-Milwaukee and Northwestern State.  DePaul opened the tournament with a 94-62 win over the Panthers and a 109-73 victory over Northwestern State in the championship game.

In the final against Northwestern State, records fell as the Blue Demons set a new DePaul Athletic Center record with 109 points.  The club also tied the program’s single-game record with 15 three-pointers and set a new program mark with 39 three-point attempts.

Moran Realty Classic All-Tournament Team

Jenni Dant, DePaul (co-MVP)

Charlene Smith, DePaul (co-MVP)

Ashley Luke, DePaul

Khara Smith, DePaul

Diamond Cosby, Northwestern State

Maria Viall, UW-Milwaukee

Jessica Reiter, Ball State

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 in 2003 by winning the C-USA Tournament in Memphis, Tenn.  Charlotte, who won the league’s 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.

2003-04 C-USA Preseason Poll

1. TCU

2. DePaul

3. Cincinnati

4. Charlotte

5. Houston

6. Tulane

7. Louisville

8. Marquette

9. Memphis

10. Saint Louis

11. East Carolina

12. Southern Miss

13. UAB

14. USF

Preseason Picks, Part II: In the Athlon Sports preseason Top 25, the magazine slotted DePaul at No. 18.  The Blue Demons were one of two Conference USA programs in the Top 25 as TCU was picked 22nd.  The No. 18 ranking is DePaul’s highest preseason ranking by any magazine as the Blue Demons are coming off a 22-10 record in 2002-03 and a NCAA Tournament appearance.

Two-time defending National Champion Connecticut was Athlon’s preseason favorite.  The Huskies were followed by Duke, Kansas State, Stanford and Texas.  Tennessee, who the Blue Demons lost to in overtime, was ranked ninth.

Looking Ahead: The DePaul coaching staff signed one of the top recruiting classes in the country as Erin Carney, Allie Quigley and Caprice Smith signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Blue Demons starting next season.  The trio makes up one of DePaul’s top recruiting classes in the program’s 30 years. Overall, Carney, Quigley and Smith are ranked as the nation’s 10th-best recruiting class by the Women’s Basketball News Service and No. 15 by the Blue Star Index.

Carney, a 6-1 forward, led the St. Francis Gladiators to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.  Michigan and Montana are the nation’s only states that play girls high school basketball in the fall. Carney averaged 19.0 points and 17.4 rebounds per game while leading the Glads to a 18-3 record.  This season, she has put together game highs of 29 points and 25 rebounds in a game. She finished sixth in Michigan’s Miss Basketball voting and was Class C All-State honoree by the Associated Press.

Quigley, a three-sport standout, was an honorable mention All-American by Street and Smith in 2003 and is ranked No. 78 on Blue Star’s top 100 seniors. In addition to her honorable mention All-American honors, she also earned All-State mention by the Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune last season after averaging 28 points per game.  She earned fourth team Parade All-American honors following her senior year and played in the WBCA High School All-American game at the Final Four.

Smith, a 6-2 forward, led Trinity to the first Elite Eight appearance in school history last season while averaging 21.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She also shot .450 (54-120) from three-point range. Following her junior season, she received first team All-State honors from the Chicago Sun-Times, Champaign News-Gazette, Chicago Tribune and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. She is ranked No. 29 in the Blue Star Index Top 100 seniors and No. 50 by the All Star Girls Report.  Smith was a third team Parade All-American following her senior season at Trinity.

DePaul University Athletics

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