Friday, November 22
McGrath-Phillips Arena
11:00 A.M. CT
DePaul University
3-1,0-0Big East
109
vs
64
Arkansas State
1-3,0-0Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
Arkansas St.
15
20
14
15
64
DePaul
45
19
27
18
109
No. 19/20 DePaul Puts On a Record-Breaking Show
11/22/2019 2:46:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Explosive Blue Demons accelerate past Arkansas State 109-64 on Friday
CHICAGO – Somewhere up above, Maggie Dixon must have been smiling.
The inspirational former DePaul assistant coach who spent five seasons in Lincoln Park is honored every season at a tournament named in her honor. Dixon went on to lead Army West Point to its first conference title and NCAA tournament appearance before passing away a month later from heart arrhythmia at the age of 28.
The No. 19/20 Blue Demons could not have picked a better time for a record-breaking performance in Friday's 109-64 victory over Arkansas State before a boisterous Field Trip Day crowd of nearly 2,000 that featured more than 1,600 schoolchildren.
After setting a program record for points in a quarter with 45 in the opening 10 minutes, the McGrath-Phillips Arena partisans saw Jolene Daninger lead the scoring parade with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Five of her teammates also finished in double figures with Chante Stonewall turning in a 13-point, five-steal game.
Deja Church and Dee Bekelja both filled up the stat sheet with Church racking up 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds while Bekelja totaled 12 points along with a career-high eight assists. Kelly Campbell had 11 points and five assists. Freshman Keke Rimmer posted her first double-figure game with 11 points.
In addition to the record-setting first quarter, the Blue Demons tied a program record with 39 assists. There were only five field goals without an assist on Friday.
DePaul (3-1) floored it right from the opening tip and never looked back. Morris hit her first three shots from beyond the arc and Campbell connected back-to-back from distance for a 21-4 lead.
That's when Daninger entered the fray and put on a shooting display hitting her first five shots including four from behind the arc. When the smoke had cleared, the Blue Demons had a 43-10 cushion.
Rimmer scored near the end of the first quarter for a 45-15 advantage. Those 45 points were the most in a quarter in school history, eclipsing the 41 points DePaul scored at Northwestern in December of 2017.
The Blue Demons shot 58.6 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from three-point range. Daninger had 14 points, Morris nine and Campbell eight.
Coach Doug Bruno gave his younger players plenty of playing time in the second quarter with freshmen Rimmer and Hannah Purcell taking advantage of the opportunity. They keyed an offense that posted a 64-35 halftime lead.
Bekelja's jumper at the end of the third quarter increased the margin to 91-49 heading into the final 10 minutes.
DePaul advances into the 3:30 p.m. title game on Saturday against the winner of No. 16/17 Miami and North Carolina A&T.
Postgame Notes
The inspirational former DePaul assistant coach who spent five seasons in Lincoln Park is honored every season at a tournament named in her honor. Dixon went on to lead Army West Point to its first conference title and NCAA tournament appearance before passing away a month later from heart arrhythmia at the age of 28.
The No. 19/20 Blue Demons could not have picked a better time for a record-breaking performance in Friday's 109-64 victory over Arkansas State before a boisterous Field Trip Day crowd of nearly 2,000 that featured more than 1,600 schoolchildren.
After setting a program record for points in a quarter with 45 in the opening 10 minutes, the McGrath-Phillips Arena partisans saw Jolene Daninger lead the scoring parade with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Five of her teammates also finished in double figures with Chante Stonewall turning in a 13-point, five-steal game.
Deja Church and Dee Bekelja both filled up the stat sheet with Church racking up 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds while Bekelja totaled 12 points along with a career-high eight assists. Kelly Campbell had 11 points and five assists. Freshman Keke Rimmer posted her first double-figure game with 11 points.
In addition to the record-setting first quarter, the Blue Demons tied a program record with 39 assists. There were only five field goals without an assist on Friday.
DePaul (3-1) floored it right from the opening tip and never looked back. Morris hit her first three shots from beyond the arc and Campbell connected back-to-back from distance for a 21-4 lead.
That's when Daninger entered the fray and put on a shooting display hitting her first five shots including four from behind the arc. When the smoke had cleared, the Blue Demons had a 43-10 cushion.
Rimmer scored near the end of the first quarter for a 45-15 advantage. Those 45 points were the most in a quarter in school history, eclipsing the 41 points DePaul scored at Northwestern in December of 2017.
The Blue Demons shot 58.6 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from three-point range. Daninger had 14 points, Morris nine and Campbell eight.
Coach Doug Bruno gave his younger players plenty of playing time in the second quarter with freshmen Rimmer and Hannah Purcell taking advantage of the opportunity. They keyed an offense that posted a 64-35 halftime lead.
Bekelja's jumper at the end of the third quarter increased the margin to 91-49 heading into the final 10 minutes.
DePaul advances into the 3:30 p.m. title game on Saturday against the winner of No. 16/17 Miami and North Carolina A&T.
Postgame Notes
- The Blue Demons set a program record with 45 points in the first quarter, the most in any quarter. Previous high was 41 at Northwestern on Dec. 13, 2017.
- DePaul tied a program record with 39 assists on 44 baskets.
- This was the first time Bruno & Co. reached triple digits this season.
- Daninger recorded career highs in points with 16 and rebounds with six.
- Church posted a DePaul career high in assists with seven.
- Bekelja had a career-high eight rebounds.
- This was the first double-figure game of Rimmer's career.
- DePaul forced 27 turnovers and outrebounded the Red Wolves 48-26.
- Stonewall has 71 points, 29 rebounds and 16 steals in her first four games.
- The Blue Demons need nine more wins to reach 900 in program history.
- Campbell needs 115 points to reach the 1,000-point career milestone.
- Campbell is No. 5 in career assists with 494 and Jessica January is fourth with 554.
- Campbell is No. 10 all-time in career rebounds with 741 and Felicia Chester is ninth with 751.
- Bruno needs three victories to become only the third active women's basketball coach to reach the 700-win plateau at one school, joining Connecticut's Geno Auriemma and Villanova's Harry Perretta.
- Stonewall is No. 34 all-time in career scoring with 1,118 points passing with No. 33 Felicia Chester (1,129) in her sights.
Team Stats
ASU
DePaul
FG%
.479
.489
3FG%
.231
.381
FT%
.600
.714
RB
26
48
TO
27
15
STL
3
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Guard
/ WOMEN'S BASKETBALLGuard
/ WOMEN'S BASKETBALLGuard
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Forward
/ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Guard
/ WOMEN'S BASKETBALLForward
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