No. 19/20 DePaul Comes Up Short Saturday Night

Saturday, December 29

McGrath-Phillips Arena

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Creighton

DePaul

No. 19/20 DePaul Comes Up Short Saturday Night

12/29/2018 10:31:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score PDF Box Score

Blue Demons drop their BIG EAST opener to Creighton 85-82

CHICAGO – The BIG EAST Conference is getting stronger and more competitive every season, and No. 19/20 DePaul saw that first-hand on Saturday night.

In a battle that went right down to the end, the Blue Demons came up short 85-82 to Creighton in both teams' BIG EAST opener at McGrath-Phillips Arena. The loss snapped a five-game DePaul winning streak.

Chante Stonewall led DePaul with 17 points and eight rebounds while Ashton Millender finished with 15 points. Freshman Lexi Held had 10 points and a game-high five assists and classmate Sonya Morris scored 10 points. Kelly Campbell contributed 13 rebounds, three points and four assists.

This one would come down to the final 10 minutes. It was a one-point game through the first three minutes as the lead went back and forth. Creighton was on top 70-69 with 7:18 left in the game.

Brooke Kissinger (game-high 20 points) scored eight in a row as the Bluejays moved in front 77-71 with 4:50 showing on the clock.

A late-charging 10-2 Blue Demon burst gave the home team an 81-79 lead with 1:44 to go. Audrey Faber (19 points) hit a three-pointer followed by a free throw on the next possession for an 83-81 Bluejay lead.

After Rebekah Dahlman hit a foul shot, Olivia Elger connected on a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left.

Leading 42-35 at the half, DePaul (9-4, 0-1) was up by five points when the Bluejays went on a 9-3 burst to take the lead 61-60. Mart'e Grays fired in a three for a 63-61 DePaul lead.

After Creighton (7-5, 1-0) scored near the end of the end of the third quarter, Held hit a big-time shot for a 65-63 Blue Demon advantage after three quarters.

Creighton came out from the opening tip shooting from the perimeter, hitting five of its first 11 attempts from three-point range in building a 12-point lead late in the first quarter. Millender's layup made it 25-15 after the first 10 minutes.

The Blue Demons responded by scoring the first 10 points of the second half to deadlock the score. Morris came off the bench and scored seven in a row.

They took their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter on a pair of Dahlman free throws. Another Millender driving layup made it 31-27.

Baskets by Held and Grays followed by a Morris three-pointer provided the largest lead to that point at 38-27. The Bluejays came within 42-35 by halftime. DePaul outscored Creighton 27-10 in the second quarter.

After the opening accuracy from deep, Creighton made just 1-of-6 from distance in the second quarter while the home team had converted 5-of-12. Morris led all scorers at the break with 10 points and Campbell already had seven rebounds.

The Blue Demons will look to bounce back on Monday afternoon in a BIG EAST matchup against Providence scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Postgame Notes

Campbell is 26-of-30 from the free throw line this season while Grays is 27-of-31 and Dahlman 36-for-42.
With 235 career three-pointers, Millender is fourth all-time and pursuing No. 3 Allie Quigley (248). Quigley is a WNBA All-Star with the Chicago Sky.
Millender (620) is fifth all-time in career three-point attempts. Quigley is fourth at 642.
Campbell (365) is No. 9 all-time in assists and pursuing Barb Atsaves (379) for No. 8.
Dahlman (969) is 31 points shy of the 1,000 mark.
Morris was 4-of-5 from the field and made both of her three-pointers.
The Blue Demons outscored Creighton 27-10 in the second quarter.