Blue Demons Let Potential Upset Slip Through Their Hands

Friday, November 14

McGrath-Phillips Arena

6:30 PM

DePaul University

#5/5 Texas A&M

Jessica January scored a career-high 24 points in DePaul's 76-68 loss to Texas A&M Friday night.

Blue Demons Let Potential Upset Slip Through Their Hands

11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Nov. 14, 2014

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CHICAGO - For more than 37 minutes on Friday night, it looked like the Blue Demons had a terrific opportunity to upset one of the top five teams in the country and catapult into the upper reaches of women's college basketball.

But it turned out to be a missed opportunity as No. 5/5 Texas A&M outscored No. 18/18 DePaul 10-2 in the final three minutes of a 76-68 loss in both teams' season opener and their first game of the Maggie Dixon Classic at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

The Aggies had taken a 56-47 lead with 10:45 left in the second half when DePaul came charging back behind Megan Rogowski and Brittany Hrynko.

Rogowski scored on a three-point play and followed up with three points from behind the arc in trimming the deficit to 58-56. DePaul outscored Texas A&M 19-10 to tie it at 60-60 on a pair of Hrynko free throws with 6:21 on the clock.

The Aggies went back ahead 66-60 when layups by Rogowski and Chanise Jenkins along with two free throws by Jessica January tied it 66-66 with 2:45 to go.

January led DePaul with a career-high 24 points while Hrynko scored 19 points and Rogowski finished with 10. The Aggies' Courtney Walker led all scorers with 25 points.

"There are a lot easier ways to open up your season, but we schedule fearlessly at DePaul," said Blue Demon coach Doug Bruno. "When you do that, you have to expect your players to play fearlessly---which they did tonight. But you still have to execute when you're playing fearlessly.

"We made too many turnovers in the second half despite playing some good basketball. We were trying to make plays that weren't there. Make the simple pass if the drive or the shot isn't there. We made a number of bad decisions in the second half.

"We have good guards. That's not us."

Texas A&M came in looking to slow down DePaul's three-point shooting.

"We did a good job on Rogowski," said Aggies coach Gary Blair as DePaul went 5-of-26 from behind the arc. "We had to play small ball at the end because their guards were driving right by us.

"Jessica January had a terrific game. Thank God she got into foul trouble because we couldn't stop her the whole night. And Brittany Hrynko is one of the best players we'll face all season.

"You just saw a couple of NCAA Sweet 16 teams out there tonight, and I think both of us will be back. You have to give Doug Bruno credit. They play a system no matter if it's against Connecticut, Notre Dame or us."

January continued her impressive play in the second half, scoring eight of her team's first 11 points after intermission.

"We played four guards and one post (Megan Podkowa)," January said. "I had some mismatches that I could take advantage of with my quickness. We had been practicing with our guards posting up for this game."

The Aggies went ahead 47-42 on a Tori Scott basket, but DePaul came back to within 49-47 on a pair of January free throws with less than 12 minutes to go.

The Blue Demons came right at Texas A&M from the opening tip. January was aggressively attacking the basket and making the most of her scoring opportunities. The sophomore guard had seven of DePaul's first 13 points.

A 6-0 Aggies run put the visiting team ahead 25-19. DePaul trailed 27-22 when it took off on a 14-5 burst, playing its best ball of the first half. January had five points and Hrynko four in that surge that established a 36-32 lead.

Texas A&M scored the last five points of the half in taking a 37-36 lead into the locker room. January had 14 points in the first 20 minutes and Hrynko nine.

"We could have won this game, and we let it slip away," Hrynko said. "Me personally, I had too many turnovers. Taking better care of the ball was a teaching moment for everybody.

"We have a young team, and games like this will teach the younger players about playing in tough games like this down the road."

The Blue Demons will look for their first win in a 6:30 p.m. game Saturday against Texas-Pan American.

NOTES: A large, raucous crowd at McGrath-Phillips Arena made it difficult for Blair to communicate with his players in the first half... "It was difficult, but I loved it," Blair said. "This is old-school basketball in a small, noisy gym like it was meant to be"... DePaul forced 25 Aggie turnovers while committing 14---10 in the second half... Texas A&M shot 50.9 percent from the floor to DePaul's 31 percent... the Aggies were 40 percent from three-point range while DePaul was 19.2 percent... the Blue Demons had 10 assists on 22 baskets... in the earlier game Friday at the Maggie Dixon Classic, Texas-Pan American topped New Mexico 61-59 behind Shawnte' Goff's 21 points.