Blue Demons Host Chicago Challengers
11/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO – The DePaul women's basketball team takes on the Chicago Challengers in the final exhibition tune-up before next week's regular-season opener at Oklahoma. The Blue Demons opened the preseason schedule with a 93-83 win over Lewis on Wednesday.
Familiar Faces: As always, the Chicago Challengers roster features a few familiar faces. Scheduled to play against the current roster of Blue Demons are former DePaul players Tammy Williams, Jamie Lewis and Carla Stone. Along with the DePaul trio, the Challenger roster has Kristi Faulkner from Iowa, Roz Turner from Calumet College, Thurlin Buchanan of Washburn, Missouri's Amanda Lassiter, Ashley Berggren of Illinois and Kina Brown from Western Michigan. The Challengers defeated Illinois-Chicago, 80-66, on Thursday night before playing at Northwestern on Friday evening.
Recapping the Lewis Exhibition: The Blue Demons held a 26-point lead midway into the second half before the Flyers closed the deficit to 10 points for the 93-83 final. Allie Quigley led five players in double-figures with 25 points while Caprice Smith added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
What’s Back: The Blue Demons return 10 players and a combined four starters from last season’s 27-7 Sweet Sixteen squad. The returners accounted for 68 percent of the scoring last season while three of the top four scorers are back for the 2006-07 campaign. Second team All-BIG EAST members Allie Quigley and Jenna Rubino are the top returners. Quigley averaged 15.0 points per game while Rubino scored 12.3 points per contest. The two sharp¬shooters combined for 113 three-pointers last season. Along with Quigley and Rubino, DePaul welcomes back part-time start¬ers in 2005-06 Erin Carney and Caprice Smith. Carney started the first 21 games of the season while Smith started four times, including the final three games of the season.
Other top returners include Rachel Carney, Erin Cattell and Holly Medley. Carney is expected to push for the starting guard spot vacated by graduated senior Claudette Towers. Carney, a senior guard, averaged 16 minutes per game as a junior after playing her first two seasons at Michigan. In her only start of the season at Providence, she totaled season-high’s of 39 minutes and six assists. Cattell, a sophomore forward, started the final seven games of the regular season in 2005-06. As a starter in nine games, she averaged 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. Medley, a sophomore guard, averaged 14.5 minutes per game in the final 11 contests of her freshman season while shooting .415 (17-41) from the field and .450 (9-20) from three-point range. She played in 23 games, averaging 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per game as a rookie.
Remembering Ray and Maggie: DePaul’s 2006-07 uniform features a commemorative patch remember¬ing Ray Meyer and Maggie Dixon. Meyer, known as “Coach,” led the DePaul men’s program to 724 victories over his 42 seasons. Meyer passed away in March 2006 at the start of the NCAA Tournament. After attending the wake for Meyer, the Blue Demons went and defeated Tulsa, 71-67, at the Allstate Arena to advance to the first Sweet Sixteen in women’s basketball history. Dixon served as an assistant coach at DePaul from 2001-05. Instrumental in DePaul’s recent success, Dixon was in San Antonio with the players she recruited for DePaul as they played LSU in the Sweet Sixteen. Following the Final Four in Boston, Dixon passed away tragically at the age of 28. The patch features a red, white and blue basketball with “Coach” in the center between “Ray” for Ray Meyer and “Maggie” for Maggie Dixon.
Hits and Bits: In the last two seasons, the Blue Demons are 53-12... the 53 victories are the highest two-season total as is the two-year winning percentage of .815... 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... entering the 2006-07 season, the Blue Demons have won six consecutive regular-season tournaments... over the last six seasons (188 games), DePaul has scored at least 80 points in 68 games... the Blue Demons hold a 65-3 record in those games.
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.