DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Minnesota
DePaul Uses Huge Second Half to Surge Past Minnesota
3/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Box Score: DePaul 79, Minnesota 72
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Despite trailing by double digits at halftime, DePaul coach Doug Bruno thought his team was in a good place.
Turned out he was right, once the Blue Demons' outside shots finally started to fall Friday.
Megan Podkowa scored 23 points and No. 9 seed DePaul used a 22-4 second half run to come from behind and beat eighth-seeded Minnesota 79-72 in the first round of NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The Blue Demons (27-7) missed 20 of their first 22 3-pointers, but their dormant perimeter game suddenly came to life five minutes into the second half when Podkowa hit consecutive 3-pointers to spark the long run.
"At halftime, I really thought, as crazy as this sounds, (the players) heard me say I thought we were in a good place," Bruno said.
The main reason was DePaul's pressure. The Demons hounded Minnesota the entire length of the court and forced a season-high 28 Golden Gophers turnovers. That constant pressure took its toll down the stretch.
"I thought Minnesota was exhausted at halftime," Bruno said.
Gophers coach Marlene Stollings agreed.
"We got a little bit rattled handling the ball," Stollings said. "In a 40 minute game, when you don't have a lot of depth, that (pressure) has a tendency to wear on you."
DePaul's big second-half burst turned a 15-point deficit into a 56-53 lead with 9:23 left after Ashton Millender's line-drive 3-pointer from the left wing.
"We all know that we can make shots," Podkowa said. "The coaches did a good job at halftime telling us that our shots are going to fall, we just had to keep getting the open looks."
Chanise Jenkins added 16 points for DePaul.
Amanda Zahui B. led Minnesota (23-10) with 21 points and 22 rebounds. She came one board short of matching the NCAA Tournament record. Shae Kelley added 17 for the Gophers.
The Blue Demons, second in the nation in scoring (86.8 points per game) and 3-pointers per game (10.5), missed their first 10 3s and fell behind by eight points after an early 9-0 Minnesota run.
DePaul fought back to take a one-point lead with six minutes left before halftime, but missed its last eight 3-point tries and finished 2-of-20 for the half. Carlie Wagner knocked down three 3-pointers and Zahui had 12 rebounds in the first 20 minutes as the Gophers led 41-30 at the break.
CAREER MARK
Brittany Hrynko came in averaging 19.6 points per game for DePaul, but struggled shooting and finished with 10 points. She hit just 3 of 16 from the field, but her six assists set a new DePaul career record of 676.
"She's human," Bruno said of Hrynko. "She still has super value to our team."
DOWN NOT OUT
Despite forcing 12 first-half turnovers, Bruno knew his team's defense, and their will to win, could be better in the second half.
"Maybe the 15-point deficit was the best things that could have happened to us," Bruno said. "It really showed (the players) that our backs were going to be against the wall and they had to fight."
Notes: DePaul played in its 13th consecutive NCAA Championship and 20th overall... the Blue Demons move to 13-19 all-time and 10-12 in their last 13 appearances... this was the second meeting between these programs all-time... Minnesota has won both matchups... DePaul forced Minnesota into 28 turnovers, marking the most the program has forced in NCAA Tournament history... that mark eclipsed the previous record of 23 against SMU in 1996... with six assists, Brittany Hrynko is now the all-time leader in assists in program history (676)... the Blue Demons forced 20-plus turnovers for the 21st time this season... Megan Podkowa reached double figures for the 26th time this season.
Notes: DePaul played in its 13th consecutive NCAA Championship and 20th overall... the Blue Demons move to 13-19 all-time and 10-12 in their last 13 appearances... this was the second meeting between these programs all-time... Minnesota has won both matchups... DePaul forced Minnesota into 28 turnovers, marking the most the program has forced in NCAA Tournament history... that mark eclipsed the previous record of 23 against SMU in 1996... with six assists, Brittany Hrynko is now the all-time leader in assists in program history (676)... the Blue Demons forced 20-plus turnovers for the 21st time this season... Megan Podkowa reached double figures for the 26th time this season.
