Blue Demons Travel to UW-Green Bay
11/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
#17/21 DePaul (3-1) at UW-Green Bay (3-2)
Nov. 29, 2006 | 7 p.m.
Phoenix Sports Center | Green Bay, Wis.
Game Notes: DePaul | Opponent Information: UW-Green Bay
Internet Audio: UW-Green Bay | Live Stats: Gametracker
GREEN BAY, Wis. - DePaul returns to the site of the last loss to a Horizon League opponent with a Wednesday night game at UW-Green Bay. Since a 68-64 loss to the Phoenix on Jan. 9, 1996, the Blue Demons have won 22 in-a-row against the current Horizon League lineup. All-time, DePaul is 96-30 against the Horizon League.
The Blue Demons enter the game at 3-1 with three straight wins, including a 71-68 decision against Northern Illinois on Saturday. DePaul enters the game ranked 17th in this week’s AP poll and No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25.
The UW-Green Bay game is the first of two consecutive road games for the Blue Demons. Following Wednesday’s action, DePaul travels to Missouri State for a Sunday afternoon contest. Both games can be heard live at depaulbluedemons.com with Dave Bernhard on the mic.
Noting the Blue Demons: In the three wins, opponents have scored less than 70 points... since the start of the 2003-04 season (99 games), the Blue Demons have held 70 percent of their opponents to less than 70 points (69-of-99)... in that span, DePaul is 63-6 (.913) when holding opponents to less than 70 points... in the last two-plus seasons, the Blue Demons are 56-13 (.812)... DePaul is one of 19 programs that have reached postseason play in at least 15 of the last 18 seasons... they are also one of 14 teams to reach at least the second round in each of the last three NCAA Championships... joining the Blue Demons on the list of 14 second-round regulars are Baylor, Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, Georgia, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee and Vanderbilt... the 2005-06 season was the first year that DePaul didn’t score 100 points in a game since the 1999-00 season... the Blue Demons have won seven consecutive regular-season tournaments... over the last six-plus seasons (192 games), DePaul has scored at least 80 points in 70 games... the Blue Demons hold a 67-3 record in those games... in the 33rd season of play at DePaul, the women’s basketball program is 574-339.
Opponent 5 - UW-Green Bay Phoenix: UW-Green Bay enters the game 3-2 record having won three of the last four games. Last weekend saw the Phoenix knock off Minnesota, 75-66, and host Northern Arizona, 75-64, to win the La Quinta Inn & Suites Thanksgiving Tournament. Nicole Soulis leads the team with 18.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while Natalie Berglin adds 12.8 points and team-high’s of 23 assists and 11 three-pointers. UW-Green Bay was picked to win the Horizon League title by the league’s head coaches. Head coach Kevin Borseth is in his ninth season with the Phoenix and holds a 190-160 record in Green Bay.
The Series - DePaul leads 9-5: Wednesday is the 15th meeting between the two programs with Blue Demons taking nine of the previous games. Last year’s meeting in Chicago, a 86-62 DePaul victory, was the first game between the two schools since Nov. 1996. The Phoenix have taken three of the five meetings in Green Bay, including a 68-64 decision, in the last game on Jan. 9, 1996. That game was the last loss for DePaul against a Horizon League opponent as the Blue Demons have won 22 in-a-row against the current league lineup. All-time, DePaul is 96-30 against the Horizon League.
It Could Happen: A win would be the 575th in program history... it would also be the 23rd straight victory over an opponent from the Horizon League... Allie Quigley needs four points to move into 18th place on the all-time scoring list... 11 points puts her in the No. 17 spot... two three-pointers for Quigley moves her into eighth all-time... the UW-Green Bay game is No. 100 for Jenna Rubino.
Demon Doings: Notes following the 71-68 win against Northern Illinois on Saturday night:
- The two double-doubles marked the first time since Jan. 14, 2006, that two DePaul players turned in a double-double. Khara Smith (24 pts./14 rebs.) and Jenna Rubino (20 pts./10 rebs.) accomplished the feat together against Villanova.
- Allie Quigley is now 19th all-time with 1,012 points.
- Erin Cattell’s double-double was the first of her career while the 14 rebounds were a career best.
- Caprice Smith’s 13 boards matched her career high set at USF on Dec. 7, 2005. It was also her second career double-double.
- DePaul has won 57 straight games at home over unranked opponents and 19 in-a-row against opponents from Illinois.
- The win was the 574th in program history.
- DePaul leads the series, 28-7, and has won 13 straight games over Northern Illinois.
Against the State: DePaul has seen recent success against opponents from the state of Illinois. Over the last 34 games against Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Southern Illinois, the Blue Demons have posted 33 victories. The Huskies represent the second of six in-state opponents this season. DePaul knocked off Illinois State to win the DePaul Invitational and host Northwestern on Dec. 13. The Northwestern game is followed by a Dec. 17 date at Illinois-Chicago, a Dec. 20 game against Loyola-Chicago in Puerto Rico and a Dec. 30 contest at Chicago State.
DePaul has won 40 of the last 42 games against state opponents and currently holds a 19-game winning streak against Illinois schools. The last loss to a state program was on Dec. 4, 2002, as Illinois defeated the Blue Demons in Champaign by a 71-67 score.
Seven Tourney Titles: DePaul has totaled seven straight regular-season tournament titles starting with the 2002 Moran Realty Classic. A year ago, the Blue Demons claimed the DePaul Invitational and Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. DePaul also claimed the Moran Realty Classic (hosted by DePaul) in 2003 and 2004 and also earned championship hardware at Dartmouth’s Blue Sky Restaurant Classic in 2004. The most recent tourney championship was the 2006 DePaul Invitational with wins over Yale and Illinois State at McGrath Arena.
DePaul Invitational Recap: The Blue Demons knocked off Yale and Illinois State to claim the 2006 DePaul Invitational. On Friday night, DePaul opened up a 35-34 halftime lead with a 51-point second half against Yale. China Threatt came off the bench for a game-high 18 points to lead four players in double-figures as the Blue Demons defeated the Bulldogs, 86-60. The Blue Demons claimed the championship on the following evening with a 90-64 win over Illinois State. Allie Quigley dropped in 26 points along with eight assists as DePaul combined to shoot .529 from the field. Quigley was named the tourney MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Caprice Smith and Threatt.
Sweet in the Classroom and on the Court: In addition to making the program’s first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005-06, the Blue Demons also accumulated the nation’s 11th-highest team grade-point average. DePaul’s team GPA of 3.361 placed them 11th in the country and was tops among the BIG EAST’s 16 women’s basketball programs. The No. 11 slot was the highest in program history, surpassing a No. 13 ranking for the 2000-01 season and No. 20 spot following the 1998-99 campaign. DePaul was the lone Sweet Sixteen program both on and off the court.
Streaking: Dating back to last season and in some cases, the last couple of seasons, the Blue Demons have put together various streaks. Listed below are some current active streaks heading into Wednesday’s game at UW-Green Bay:
- 57 straight victories at home against unranked opponents
- 46 consecutive games with a three-pointer
- 19 straight wins against opponents from Illinois and 33 of the last 34
- seven consecutive regular-season tournament championships
- four 20-win seasons in-a-row and four straight NCAA Championship appearances
- 69 consecutive starts for Jenna Rubino and 60 in-a-row for Allie Quigley
BIG EAST Preseason Picks: The league’s 16 coaches slated the Blue Demons at No. 3 in the BIG EAST preseason poll. DePaul was picked to finish fourth prior to the start of last season and took the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Championship with an 11-5 league record. Connecticut was selected as the favorite in 2006-07 with 11 first-place votes followed by Rutgers and DePaul. Junior guard Allie Quigley was one of 11 players named to the All-BIG EAST preseason team. USF’s Jessica Dickson was named the Preseason Player of the Year.
Home Cookin’: In six-plus seasons, the DePaul Athletic Center, now named McGrath Arena, has proven itself as one of the toughest venues in the nation. The Blue Demons have posted a 77-9 record in the arena’s first 86 games. Now in the 33rd season, the Blue Demons have an all-time home court record of 341-93 (.786). 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 22-4.
In 30-plus seasons of women’s basketball at DePaul University there have been 13 streaks of at least 10 straight home victories. The longest streak was the 33-game run that started on Dec. 19, 2003 with a 99-63 win over Alabama State and ended on Jan. 28, 2006 with an 84-75 defeat to then-No. 5/4 Connecticut. The victory over Houston on Feb. 11, 2005, broke the former record of 20 games from Feb. 4, 1978-Feb. 19, 1979.
Over the last four-plus years, the team is 60-2 at home with the two losses to a pair of teams ranked in the top five. DePaul lost in overtime to then-No. 2 Tennessee on Dec. 17, 2003, before the Connecticut loss last season. Maybe more impressive is that the Blue Demons average margin of victory during that span is 23.6 points per game.
The Blue Demons have also posted 57 straight home victories over unranked opponents. During the 57-game streak over unranked opponents, there have been 53 victories at McGrath Arena and four wins at the Allstate Arena. Tulane handed DePaul their last home loss to an unranked team on Mar. 2, 2002, with a 88-83 decision in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament.
1K Club: Allie Quigley became the newest member of DePaul’s 1,000-career point club against Northern Illinois on Nov. 25. She enters the UW-Green Bay game with 1,012 points to rank 19th all-time. Jenna Rubino is set to become the 21st player with 1,000 points as she has 951 points in 99 career games. The duo also ranks among the top five fastest players in DePaul history to reach 100 career three-pointers. Quigley hit her 100th career three-pointer in her 44th career game to rank third while Rubino knocked down her 100th three in the 80th game to rank as the fifth-fastest player to 100 trifectas. Following Quigley and Rubino, the next Blue Demon on the 1,000-point horizon is junior Caprice Smith with 544 career points.
New Name, Same Gym: In July, the DePaul Athletic Center was renamed the Sullivan Athletic Center while the gymnasium was christened McGrath Arena. The Sullivan Athletic Center was named after former DePaul athletics director Gene Sullivan. McGrath Arena takes its name from Frank McGrath, legendary DePaul assistant men’s basketball coach and administrator.
Taking Advantage From Beyond the Arc: Since the start of the 2003-04 season, the club has knocked down 697 trifectas compared to just 407 for the opposition. Over the last seven years, the team has totaled at least 200 three-pointers in each season. With a 0-for-8 showing against Houston on Feb. 11, 2005, DePaul’s streak of games with a three-pointer ended at 259 games. At the time, it was the nation’s seventh-longest active streak.
In four games this season, the Blue Demons have outscored their opponents by 39 points from three-point range (9.8 ppg). DePaul is 35-94 (.372) from behind the arc while opponents are a combined 22-64 (.344). The squad averages 8.8 three’s per game while the opposition makes 5.5 treys per contest.
At Oklahoma in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic, the Blue Demons used the experimental three-point distance of 20’6”. DePaul went 8-for-28 (.286) as a team. The Blue Demons have played in two events in the last two seasons where the experimental distance was used. At the 2005 Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, the team posted a combined .306 percentage from behind the extended arc on 15-of-49 shooting in the three games.
Sister Act: The DePaul roster features two sets of sisters in 2006-07. Samantha Quigley joins the program this season for the roster’s second Quigley. Senior Rachael Carney and junior Erin Carney start their second season together while Samantha and junior Allie Quigley are playing together at the collegiate level for the first time this season. The two duos on the DePaul roster are two of 21 sets of sisters playing on a NCAA Division I team this season. DePaul is the only team in the country with two sets of sisters on the roster.
Four Going on Five: DePaul is looking to make the program’s fifth straight NCAA Championship appearance and fifth consecutive season with at least 20 victories. Last season saw the Blue Demons reach the NCAA Regional Semifinals for the first time in school history. Entering the 33rd season in school history, DePaul has totaled 11 NCAA Championship appearances and 15 campaigns of at least 20 wins. A 20-win season in 2006-07 will match the program’s longest streak of five consecutive years of 20 victories set from 1985-90.
TV Time: The BIG EAST Conference totals 82 combined appearances this season with every game of the league tournament televised for the first time. DePaul is scheduled to make six regular-season television appearances starting at Oklahoma on ESPN2. The Blue Demons will also be seen on ESPNU, CSTV and the BIG EAST TV Network.
Season-Opening Notes: Beginning the 33rd season of women’s basketball at DePaul University, the Blue Demons are 24-9 all-time in the first game. Prior to this year’s loss at Oklahoma, the Blue Demons won five straight season-openers from 2001-05. A year ago, the Blue Demons posted a 97-52 win over Harvard in the first round of the DePaul Invitational. The 45-point margin of victory was the second-highest season-opening advantage in school history. In DePaul’s first game in 1974, the Blue Demons posted a 62-17 win over Mundelein. Head coach Doug Bruno is 15-6 in the season’s first game at DePaul.