DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
St. John's
DePaul Hangs on To Defeat St. John's
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Box Score: DePaul 54, St. John's 51 
CHICAGO -- Brooke Schulte simply would not be denied Friday night at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
The Blue Demon star scored 24 points---including 13 in the third quarter in leading No. 17/17 DePaul to a 54-51 BIG EAST victory over St. John's. She also had 10 rebounds for a double-double.
That was the Blue Demons' 13th win in their last 14 games.
The Blue Demons went scoreless for the first 6:30 of the fourth quarter as St. John's crept within 51-46. That's when Tanita Allen hit a difficult bank shot for a seven-point margin.
Back came Aaliyah Lewis with a driving shot at the 2:18 mark. After missing a pair of technical foul shots, Kelly Campbell came back for a key steal with :54 left. Lauren Prochaska came up with a steal with 23.8 seconds left, and her free throw upped the lead to 54-48. St. John's hit a three with 16 seconds to go.
Schulte took over the game in the middle of the third quarter, scoring 12 points in a row to give DePaul the first significant lead for either team at 44-33. The senior guard hit five consecutive shots including a pair of threes.
Back-to-back Allen layups turned the Schulte-ignited surge into a 16-2 run as the Blue Demons built a 48-33 advantage with 4:33 to go. At that point, Schulte was shooting 9-of-12 from the field.
Thanks largely to Schulte's 13 points in the quarter, DePaul took a 51-41 lead into the final 10 minutes. Schulte also had 10 rebounds after the first three quarters.
Right from the opening tip, Schulte scored seven quick points to keep her team close by the middle of the first quarter. Her baseline jumper with 5:43 left gave her 1,000 points for her career.
A six-point St. John's spurt near the end of the quarter put the visiting team ahead 18-14. Lauren Prochaska's layup brought the Blue Demons within two after the first 10 minutes. Schulte had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting going into the second quarter.
The Red Storm led by four early in the second quarter and maintained a lead into the media timeout. St. John's was doing a good job on the backboards and taking advantage of second chances, outrebounding the Blue Demons 22-17 in the first half.
DePaul was down four late in the quarter when Jacqui Grant scored inside and Schulte dropped a pair of free throws. After a Red Storm free throw, Grant came back with a timely three-point play with less than two seconds to go that sent her team into the halftime locker room with a 31-29 lead. The Blue Demons went an uncharacteristic 1-for-8 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.
DePaul is right back at McGrath-Phillips Arena on Sunday for a BIG EAST game against Seton Hall that tips at 2 p.m.
Notes
- Schulte joined the list of DePaul's career 1,000-point scorers in the first quarter.
- Schulte has reached double figures the last 14 games and is averaging 21.6 points over that span.
- Schulte was the primary defender on St. John's star Jade Walker who was limited to 13 points.
- The Blue Demons lead the all-time season series with St. John's at 14-5 and are 6-3 at home.
- Grant has nine double-doubles and seven in BIG EAST play. Schulte notched her fifth double-double on Friday.
- In BIG EAST play, Grant is averaging double figures in points and rebounds over 11 conference games.
