Friday, November 8
Wintrust Arena
4:30 P.M. CT
DePaul University
vs
Miami (Ohio)
Quest Begins for No. 18/20 Blue Demons on Friday
11/7/2019 1:06:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
DePaul opens Preseason WNIT play against Miami (Ohio) at Wintrust Arena
CHICAGO – There is an abundance of promise along with some lofty aspirations for the No. 18/20 DePaul women's basketball program that opens its 2019-20 season Friday against Miami (Ohio) at Wintrust Arena in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
Tipping off at 4:30 p.m. is the beginning of a quest for coach Doug Bruno's team shooting for its sixth BIG EAST regular-season title in the last seven years, a three-peat BIG EAST tournament crown and the program's 18th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
That is certainly a highly ambitious undertaking and one that will require Bruno's three decades of savvy experience as he enters his 34th season at his alma mater needing just six more wins to reach the 700 plateau in his illustrious Hall-of-Fame career.
He is definitely in rarified air as only two other currently active women's basketball coaches can make the same claim---Connecticut's Geno Auriemma (1,062) and the outgoing Harry Perretta who will add onto his 765 total wins in his final season at the helm.
The last thing on the Blue Demon coach's mind is the number 700 as he concocts a formula for integrating seven newcomers with seven returning players.
The nucleus of this year's team is a pair of versatile and talented seniors who have been recognized among the best in the nation.
Chante Stonewall has been named to the Citizen Naismith Trophy watch list for the top 50 players in the country along with the Basketball Hall of Fame's Cheryl Miller watch list for the top 20 small forwards in NCAA Division I. The 6-foot, 1-inch All-BIG EAST Second Team forward was honored as the BIG EAST tournament's Most Outstanding Player after her three-point play with five seconds left sparked a 74-73 title-game victory over Marquette. She averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds last season and is a Preseason All-BIG EAST choice.
Kelly Campbell was recognized among the top 20 point guards in the USA for the second year in a row as a member of the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. The 5-10 Preseason All-BIG EAST selection was a top 10 finalist for the Lieberman Award last season.
She averaged 7.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists while leading the team in rebounds, assists and steals. The team facilitator has one career triple-double (sophomore season) and came very close to a triple-double twice last season. She was No. 5 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio and No. 34 in total assists.
Junior guard Dee Bekelja is showing signs that this could be her breakthrough year while sophomores Lexi Held, Sonya Morris and Maya Stovall prepare to take a considerable leap after earning steady playing time as freshmen. Held was selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team while Stovall started 14 of the last 15 games when DePaul went 12-2. Morris and sophomore Jolene Daninger give Bruno a pair of dangerous three-point threats.
Heading up the newcomers are Michigan transfer Deja Church and Iowa Western transfer, 6-2 Kiara Dallmann.
The 5-10 Church started all 34 games last season averaging nearly nine points a game in 26.8 minutes and helping lead the Wolverines to the NCAA Second Round where they lost to NCAA Elite Eight power Louisville. In an 84-54 victory over Kansas State in the NCAA First Round, Church finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
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Dallmann gives DePaul a forceful inside presence after averaging nearly 14 points along with 7.5 rebounds a game last season. The junior college All-American was fifth best in the country in field goal percentage at 61.2 percent. As a freshman, she led the nation shooting 70.9 percent from the field.
The Blue Demons will also be bolstered by 6-2 redshirt freshman Nadège Jean along with incoming freshmen Keke Rimmer of Proviso East, 6-1 Kayla Caudle (Vernon Hills), Marisa Warren (Incarnate Word Academy) and Hannah Purcell of Annandale (Minn.) High School.
If all the individual pieces coalesce into a potent and unified team, the women's basketball program could feature one of its deepest lineups in years. It's been a while since Bruno and his outstanding coaching staff have encountered the challenge of blending in so many new faces.
Miami (Ohio) is coming off a 23-9 season that saw the RedHawks advance to the MAC tournament semifinals and earn a berth in the WNIT where they lost 67-73 in their opener to Western Kentucky. They were picked to finish fourth in the MAC preseason coaches poll.
Leading the way is 5-3 All-MAC playmaker Lauren Dickerson who led the team with 16.4 points per game and was tops in three-pointers, assists and steals. She was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. All-MAC forward 6-2 Savannah Kluesner returns after averaging 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds last season.
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Tipping off at 4:30 p.m. is the beginning of a quest for coach Doug Bruno's team shooting for its sixth BIG EAST regular-season title in the last seven years, a three-peat BIG EAST tournament crown and the program's 18th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
That is certainly a highly ambitious undertaking and one that will require Bruno's three decades of savvy experience as he enters his 34th season at his alma mater needing just six more wins to reach the 700 plateau in his illustrious Hall-of-Fame career.
He is definitely in rarified air as only two other currently active women's basketball coaches can make the same claim---Connecticut's Geno Auriemma (1,062) and the outgoing Harry Perretta who will add onto his 765 total wins in his final season at the helm.
The last thing on the Blue Demon coach's mind is the number 700 as he concocts a formula for integrating seven newcomers with seven returning players.
The nucleus of this year's team is a pair of versatile and talented seniors who have been recognized among the best in the nation.
Chante Stonewall has been named to the Citizen Naismith Trophy watch list for the top 50 players in the country along with the Basketball Hall of Fame's Cheryl Miller watch list for the top 20 small forwards in NCAA Division I. The 6-foot, 1-inch All-BIG EAST Second Team forward was honored as the BIG EAST tournament's Most Outstanding Player after her three-point play with five seconds left sparked a 74-73 title-game victory over Marquette. She averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds last season and is a Preseason All-BIG EAST choice.
Kelly Campbell was recognized among the top 20 point guards in the USA for the second year in a row as a member of the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. The 5-10 Preseason All-BIG EAST selection was a top 10 finalist for the Lieberman Award last season.
She averaged 7.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists while leading the team in rebounds, assists and steals. The team facilitator has one career triple-double (sophomore season) and came very close to a triple-double twice last season. She was No. 5 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio and No. 34 in total assists.
Junior guard Dee Bekelja is showing signs that this could be her breakthrough year while sophomores Lexi Held, Sonya Morris and Maya Stovall prepare to take a considerable leap after earning steady playing time as freshmen. Held was selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team while Stovall started 14 of the last 15 games when DePaul went 12-2. Morris and sophomore Jolene Daninger give Bruno a pair of dangerous three-point threats.
Heading up the newcomers are Michigan transfer Deja Church and Iowa Western transfer, 6-2 Kiara Dallmann.
The 5-10 Church started all 34 games last season averaging nearly nine points a game in 26.8 minutes and helping lead the Wolverines to the NCAA Second Round where they lost to NCAA Elite Eight power Louisville. In an 84-54 victory over Kansas State in the NCAA First Round, Church finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
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Dallmann gives DePaul a forceful inside presence after averaging nearly 14 points along with 7.5 rebounds a game last season. The junior college All-American was fifth best in the country in field goal percentage at 61.2 percent. As a freshman, she led the nation shooting 70.9 percent from the field.
The Blue Demons will also be bolstered by 6-2 redshirt freshman Nadège Jean along with incoming freshmen Keke Rimmer of Proviso East, 6-1 Kayla Caudle (Vernon Hills), Marisa Warren (Incarnate Word Academy) and Hannah Purcell of Annandale (Minn.) High School.
If all the individual pieces coalesce into a potent and unified team, the women's basketball program could feature one of its deepest lineups in years. It's been a while since Bruno and his outstanding coaching staff have encountered the challenge of blending in so many new faces.
Miami (Ohio) is coming off a 23-9 season that saw the RedHawks advance to the MAC tournament semifinals and earn a berth in the WNIT where they lost 67-73 in their opener to Western Kentucky. They were picked to finish fourth in the MAC preseason coaches poll.
Leading the way is 5-3 All-MAC playmaker Lauren Dickerson who led the team with 16.4 points per game and was tops in three-pointers, assists and steals. She was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. All-MAC forward 6-2 Savannah Kluesner returns after averaging 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds last season.
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