DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Raise the Curtain on 2008-09
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - DePaul opens the 35th season of women’s basketball in Albuquerque, N.M., as one of four teams in the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Classic. The Blue Demons open play against Idaho State on Saturday before a Sunday game against Alcorn State. Host New Mexico is the third and final opponent of the round-robin tournament.
The Blue Demons enters the regular season following a pair of exhibition victories over Saint Xavier and the University of Chicago. DePaul knocked off Saint Xavier, 87-61, on Oct. 31 before a 107-51 win over Chicago on Nov. 7.
Following this weekend’s action, DePaul opens the home schedule with the DePaul Invitational, Nov. 21-22. The Blue Demons welcome Duke, Hartford and Southern to McGrath Arena for the two-day event. Duke and Hartford play the first game Friday night followed by DePaul and Southern. The two winners meet for the championship following the consolation game on Saturday.
Season-Opening Notes: Beginning the 35th season, the Blue Demons are to 25-9 all-time in the first game. A year ago, DePaul registered a 78-63 victory at Southern Illinois. Saturday’s game against Idaho State marks the third straight year the Blue Demons have started the season outside of Chicago. Prior to last season’s game at Southern Illinois, DePaul lost dropped a 105-71 decision at #/3/3 Oklahoma in the 2006 State Farm Tip-Off Classic. The program is 6-5 all-time when opening the season on the road with each of the last two season-opening road victories at Southern Illinois. The Blue Demons also started the 2002 season with a 69-60 win against the Salukis in Carbondale. Head coach Doug Bruno is 16-6 in the season’s first game at DePaul.
Noting the Blue Demons: DePaul enters the 2008-09 season with a 609-364 (.626) all-time record... the 2008-09 campaign is the 35th season of women’s basketball at DePaul University... the Blue Demons have put together at least one 10-game winning streak in four of the last five campaigns... with a record-setting 252 three-pointers in 2007-08, DePaul has made at least 200 three’s in a season in nine straight years... since the start of the 2003-04 season (159 games), the Blue Demons have held 62.3 percent of their opponents to less than 70 points (99-of-159)... in that span, DePaul is 86-13 (.869) when holding opponents to less than 70 points... in the last four seasons, the Blue Demons are 92-37 (.713)... in the last 45 home games against conference opponents, DePaul has posted 37 victories... over the last eight seasons (252 games), DePaul has scored at least 80 points in 92 games... the Blue Demons hold an 87-5 (.946) record in those games... in the same span, DePaul is 40-1, including 38 straight wins, when scoring at least 90 points... with two games in each of its three BIG EAST Tournaments, DePaul is just one of three teams to play in multiple conference tourney games... Connecticut and Pittsburgh have also played at least two games in each of the last three BIG EAST Championships... the Blue Demons are one of 17 programs nationally with six straight NCAA Championship appearances.
It Could Happen: A win would start DePaul’s season at 1-0 for the second straight year... it would also be the 610th victory in program history and Doug Bruno’s 415th win at DePaul... Deirdre Naughton needs 16 points for 500 in her DePaul career... she also needs eight three-pointers for 75 in a Blue Demon uniform.
What’s Back: The Blue Demons aim for their seventh straight NCAA Championship appearance in 2008-09. DePaul finished last year with a 20-12 record for the program’s 16th 20-win season and the fifth in the last six campaigns. DePaul is just one of 17 programs to play in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments and the run is a program record passing the four-year NCAA streak from 1990-93.
With the loss of five seniors from last season, DePaul returns just 53 percent of its scoring from a year ago. However, two of the top three scorers are back with junior Deirdre Naughton averaging 15.1 points and senior Natasha Williams averaging 10.0 points per game. Naughton also led the Blue Demons with 67 three-pointers and was an honorable mention All-BIG EAST honoree as a sophomore. Williams led DePaul with 6.5 rebounds per game and 47 blocked shots while the team brings back 51 percent of the rebounding from last season.
Other returning players include seniors Erin Cattell and Holly Medley along with junior China Threatt and sophomores Felicia Chester, Taylor Pikes and Sam Quigley. Threatt and Quigley missed part and all of last season with knee injuries. Threatt played 26 games before her injury at Rutgers while Quigley missed the entire 2007-08 campaign. Pikes, the only true freshman a year ago, averaged 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in just over 11 minutes per game, and Chester was second on the team with 24 blocked shots. Cattell saw action in 28 games while Medley played in 25 contests.
What’s New: The Blue Demons welcome a six-member class of newcomers this season consisting of five freshmen and one transfer. Junior Rachel Pierson sat out the 2007-08 season after transferring from Iowa State. She played in 35 games for the Cyclones as a redshirt freshman in 2006-07. The freshmen class includes Keisha Hampton of Philadelphia, Danielle Havel from Carmel, Ind., Maureen Mulchrone and Deanna Ortiz of Chicago, and Courtney Webb from Benton Harbor, Mich. DePaul added Jennifer Juergens in September 2008 and she will sit out the 2008-09 season under NCAA guidelines. The Bourbonnais, Ill., native has two seasons of eligibility starting with the 2009-10 campaign.
Who, When and Where: The Blue Demons open the season in Albuquerque, N.M., in the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tourney. DePaul faces Alcorn State, Idaho State and host New Mexico in the three-day round-robin tournament, Nov. 15-17. The home portion of the schedule opens with the annual DePaul Invitational, Nov. 21-22, at McGrath Arena. The Blue Demons host Southern, Hartford and nationally-ranked Duke. The Blue Demons visit defending NCAA Champion Tennessee and also travel to Loyola-Chicago, Missouri State and Illinois-Chicago. Home non-conference games include Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Northwestern, Northern Illinois and UW-Green Bay. A total of 13 2008-09 opponents played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
The Blue Demons face five teams that at least reached the Sweet 16 a year ago in the first six conference games. The league-opening stretch starts with two Sweet 16 opponents in a road game at Louisville followed by a home game against Notre Dame. DePaul then goes on the road at Pittsburgh (Sweet 16) and Connecticut before hosting Providence and Rutgers. The Huskies advanced to the Final Four last season after defeating Rutgers in an Elite Eight matchup.
Following the opening three-week stretch, the Blue Demons host Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall, USF and West Virginia while traveling to Cincinnati, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova. All 16 BIG EAST teams venture to Hartford, Conn., for the 2009 BIG EAST Championship, Mar. 6-10.
Naughton Named Honorable Mention Preseason All-BIG EAST: DePaul junior guard Deirdre Naughton was named a preseason honorable mention All-BIG EAST honoree while the Blue Demons were picked by the league’s coaches to finish eighth.
Connecticut picked up 14 first-place votes to get the nod as preseason favorite. The Huskies were followed by Rutgers, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh for the top five. Maya Moore of Connecticut was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and Rutgers’ April Sykes was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Marching Along: DePaul has tallied six straight NCAA Championship appearances and 13 appearances overall. The current six-year streak is the longest in program history ahead of DePaul earning four straight berths from 1990-93. That four-year run was followed by three straight appearances from 1995-97. The program is 7-13 all-time in NCAA action and 4-6 since 2003, including the 2006 NCAA Regional Semifinal in San Antonio, Texas. The program is one of 14 schools to play in the postseason in at least 17 of the last 20 years and is just one of 17 programs to play in each of the last six tournaments.
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 Saturday’s game against Idaho State:
- 106 consecutive games with a three-pointer
- 30 straight wins against opponents from Illinois, 43 of the last 44, and 51 wins in the last 53
- six straight NCAA Championship appearances
- nine seasons in-a-row with at least 200 three-pointers
Taking Advantage from Beyond the Arc: Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the club has knocked down 724 trifectas compared to just 484 for the opposition. With 10 three-pointers at Rutgers on Feb. 27 last season, the team clinched the ninth straight year with at least 200 three-pointers. An 0-for-8 showing against Houston on Feb. 11, 2005, ended DePaul’s streak with a three-pointer at 259 games. At the time, it was the nation’s seventh-longest active streak. Including the Houston game, the Blue Demons have tallied a three-pointer in 365 of the last 366 games. DePaul enters the 2008-09 campaign with a streak of 106 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
TV Time: The BIG EAST Conference continues to have one of the top television schedules in women’s college basketball on the national, regional and local levels as 98 appearances featuring all 16 BIG EAST schools are on the 2008-09 slate. For the third straight year, every conference team is included in the regular-season broadcasts. The league’s overall exposure continues to grow and this season’s national television package includes: two games on CBS and 14 appearances on ESPN/ESPN2, 31 on ESPNU and 25 on CBSC (CBS College Sports Network).
DePaul is scheduled to make at least seven regular-season television appearances starting on Nov. 17 at New Mexico on The Mtn. On Dec. 7, the Blue Demons will be on in the Chicagoland area on Lakeshore Public TV in game at Loyola-Chicago. The BIG EAST television schedule features DePaul on CBSC on Jan. 6 against Notre Dame and two appearances on the BIG EAST TV Network. DePaul’s Jan. 19 game at Pittsburgh and the Feb. 17 contest at Syracuse will be on BETV. ESPNU is set to carry the Feb. 8 game at Notre Dame while the network is scheduled to carry the quarterfinals and semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship. The finals of the BIG EAST Championship are scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 10 on ESPN.