DePaul Falls to Texas
12/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
SAN DIEGO The No. 12/13 DePaul women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a 91-81 decision to No. 19/19 Texas, Friday at the Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic hosted by the University of San Diego.
DePaul's Allie Quigley led all players with 29 points while Texas' Carla Cortijo led the Longhorns with 17 points, Ashley Lindsey added 16.
DePaul (10-1) had been one of four undefeated teams, along with No. 1 Connecticut, No. 7 Georgia and Arkansas. The loss prevented the Blue Demons from winning the program's 600th game.
The Longhorns (10-2) used a tough, athletic defense to hold DePaul, one of the nation's highest scoring teams, to a season-low 34.6 percent shooting.
Quigley struggled after hitting her first three shots from the field as the Blue Demons jumped out to an early lead nearly four minutes into the game. But the Longhorns increased their defensive pressure and forced Quigley into missing her next eight shots.
After falling behind 12-4, Texas outscored the Blue Demons 37-18 over the rest of the half, including a 15-3 run leading into halftime. The Longhorns took a 41-30 lead into the locker room at the half.
Coming into the second half, the Blue Demons cut Texas' lead to five on Quigley's jumper with 14:26 left in the game.
However, DePaul's offense stalled and Texas scored 14 unanswered points and took a 65-46 lead with 11:47 left in the contest. The Longhorns took their biggest lead of the game, at 73-51 with 9:03 left.
DePaul put a dent in Longhorn advantage over the next five minutes. Quigley, who finished the game 5-11 from behind the arc, knocked down a three to shave Texas' lead to 78-69 with four minutes left in the game.
Deirdre Naughton, who finished with 14 points, pulled the Blue Demons within eight with 53 seconds remaining, but DePaul eventually lost the battle by 10 points.
Texas won its eighth consecutive game, the Longhorns' longest win streak since near the end of the 2005 season.
The Blue Demons close out the Maggie Dixon Surf and Slam Classic on Sunday when they face Appalachian State at 8 p.m. (CST). Appalachian State lost to tournament host San Diego 79-60 on Friday.
Notes: With 29 points, Allie Quigley eclipsed the 20+ point margin for the fifth time this season and the 25th time in her career... Quigley made her 99th consecutive and 100th start of her career against Texas... With eight field goals, Quigley moves into eighth on DePaul's all-time field goal list with 617 field goals. She passes Melanee Ehrhardt (1996-90) who had 614... Texas leads the overall series 2-0... the Blue Demons are now 6-12 against schools from the Big 12 Conference.