DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Indiana
No. 19 DePaul tops Indiana 84-69 in Preseason WNIT
11/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - In only the third game of the season, No. 19 DePaul has already embraced a tournament mentality---just win and move on.
The Blue Demons won their third-straight Preseason WNIT game on Thursday night with an 84-69 semifinal victory over Indiana at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
They are now headed to the tournament championship game against No. 5/4 Baylor (3-0) Sunday in Waco, Texas.
Megan Podkowa led DePaul (3-0) with 16 points and Ashton Millender came through with 15 points including four 3-pointers. Brooke Schulte finished with 13 points. Freshman Tanita Allen led the Blue Demons with seven rebounds.
Millender's fourth 3-pointer of the game ignited an 11-3 Blue Demon burst for a 77-57 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Jessica January had four points in that span while Podkowa, Schulte and Allen also contributed.
Most of this came with starting point guard Chanise Jenkins on the bench with five fouls. Millender scored on a three-point play and a Mart'e Grays layup made it 84-63 in the final two minutes.
"Any player on our team is capable of stepping up and having a big game," Schulte said. "Ashton stepped up her game tonight and Lauren Prochaska played some great defense.
"I was taking shots that I was comfortable with tonight and having more of a scorer's mentality."
Opening the third quarter with a 6-2 run gave DePaul a 48-41 lead. It was 48-44 when a January three-point play, Podkowa three-point shot and a Grays layup off a brilliant feed from January left the Blue Demons with a 56-44 advantage midway through the quarter.
DePaul maintained a double-digit margin right to the end of the quarter when Podkowa's buzzer-beater baseline shot made it 64-52 heading into the final 10 minutes.
"Indiana does a great job of not letting you get to the paint," said DePaul coach Doug Bruno. "We ended up taking 34 three-pointers (making 11) because that's what Indiana was giving us.
"Indiana forced us to take more time on offense. Brooke was good at picking her spots and patiently taking shots where there were openings. Eventually, our ball reversal and patience got us good looks at the rim.
"I thought our bench did a great job tonight with Ashton Millender, Brandi Harvey-Carr, Tanita Allen and Lauren Prochaska."
This was a definite step up in class for the Blue Demons as Indiana (2-1) rolled out a big and talented lineup. The Hoosiers were getting up and down the court in the first quarter and built a 15-10 lead. They were effective early at getting the ball down low for baskets.
Three-pointers by Grays and Millender helped keep DePaul close as Indiana made seven of its first 10 shots. Schulte and Podkowa followed with three-pointers of their own. A Jenkins basket tied it at 18 before the Hoosiers went on a three-point spurt.
Jenkins drove coast-to-coast with less than five seconds on the clock and scored on a layup to bring DePaul within 21-20 after the first quarter.
Harvey-Carr opened the second quarter with a fast-break layup off a Lauren Prochaska steal and assist. A Jenkins three-pointer provided a 25-21 lead.
Back came the Hoosiers with a 5-0 burst to move back in front. It went back and forth with Millender connecting again from long distance for a 30-30 tie.
Another 5-0 Indiana run left the Blue Demons trailing 35-30 midway through the quarter. Millender's third 3-pointer cut the deficit to two. Near the end of the quarter, Allen buried a three-pointer and then scored on a nifty driving layup for a 40-37 DePaul lead.
After a Hoosier score, Harvey-Carr put back an offensive rebound to culminate a 12-4 DePaul run for a 42-39 halftime lead. Harvey-Carr was providing her team with some quality minutes off the bench.
DePaul was averaging 91 points a game heading into the semifinal matchup while the Hoosiers were holding opponents to 49.5 points a game.
Something had to give, and this game was being played at DePaul's pace.
"What a fantastic team DePaul has," said Indiana coach Teri Moren. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for what coach Doug Bruno has done here.
"The pressure they put on us defensively sped us up and made us play faster than we would have liked. That led to our 23 turnovers."
DePaul returns to the court for the Preseason WNIT title game with tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Baylor.
