Sunday, December 1
Evanston, Ill.
2:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
6-1,0-0Big East
70
at
68
Northwestern
5-1,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
DePaul
19
20
13
18
70
Northwestern
17
21
15
15
68
No. 16/17 DePaul Edges Northwestern 70-68
12/1/2019 5:40:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue Demons close out coach Doug Bruno's 700th win at DePaul
EVANSTON, Ill. – Something pretty special usually takes place each time No. 16/17 DePaul and Northwestern renew their storied 44-year women's basketball rivalry.
For example, two years ago the Blue Demons scored 41 points in the third quarter of a wild comeback win in Evanston.
This time it was an edge-of-your-seat Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena as No. 16/17 DePaul pulled out a 70-68 win over a rival that came in with the No. 6 defense in the country.
Chante Stonewall and Sonya Morris were the leading heroines featuring some clutch plays in crunch time.
Stonewall had a game-high 25 points and made a crucial free throw with 2.2 seconds left to account for the final margin. The senior co-captain tipped the ball away from Northwestern star Lindsey Pulliam with 14 seconds left resulting in a Lexi Held steal with her team clinging to a 69-68 lead.
Morris scored 22 points with none bigger than her jumper with :43 on the clock for the 69-68 lead. The second-year guard was 10-of-14 from the field.
Dee Bekelja scored 11 points off the bench, Held had eight points and some big shots in the fourth quarter and Kelly Campbell impacted the outcome with 11 assists and seven rebounds. The glue of the team fouled out with 43 seconds to go.
This was the 700th collegiate win for Doug Bruno now coaching his 34th year at DePaul. Bruno's overall career mark stands at 740 including his 40 victories in two seasons heading up the Chicago Hustle women's pro team.
A nail-biter of a fourth quarter began with the Blue Demons (6-1) grabbing a 61-57 lead on two Stonewall scores along with baskets by Maya Stovall and Held. Northwestern (5-1) came back on a 9-2 burst with Courtney Shaw's basket giving the Wildcats a 66-63 advantage with 2:26 left.
Pulliam hit two big shots to pull the Cats ahead 68-65 with 1:36 left. Morris scored on a layup at the 1:24 mark. Then came her big shot to make it 69-68.
Looking to build on a one-point halftime lead, DePaul outscored NU 8-4 at the outset of the third quarter. Morris had three baskets, one on a nice, three-quarter court feed from Kelly Campbell. The Blue Demons needed to take advantage of their edge in overall team speed.
Stonewall's three increased the margin to 50-42 when the Wildcats came back strong with an 11-2 burst to take a 53-52 lead into the fourth quarter.
Early threes by Morris and Bekelja plus a pair of Stonewall scores secured a 12-6 lead at the first quarter media timeout.
It was 15-6 when NU went on an 11-2 run to draw even 17-17. Morris' basket put her team ahead 19-17 after one quarter.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with six points in a row for a 23-19 lead. DePaul responded by outscoring their hosts 17-10 to seize a 36-33 lead as Stonewall, Bekelja and Morris connected from beyond the arc.
Northwestern scored twice more before halftime but Held's three-pointer provided the visiting team with a 39-38 lead at the break.
Stonewall had 13 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting while Bekelja went 4-for-5 including 3-of-4 from deep for 11 points. Morris was 4-of-6 for 10 points. As a team, DePaul shot nearly 44 percent from three-point range to offset NU's 64 percent shooting from the floor.
The Blue Demons' stretch of three consecutive road games continues Saturday with a 1 p.m. matchup at Green Bay.
Postgame Notes
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For example, two years ago the Blue Demons scored 41 points in the third quarter of a wild comeback win in Evanston.
This time it was an edge-of-your-seat Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena as No. 16/17 DePaul pulled out a 70-68 win over a rival that came in with the No. 6 defense in the country.
Chante Stonewall and Sonya Morris were the leading heroines featuring some clutch plays in crunch time.
Stonewall had a game-high 25 points and made a crucial free throw with 2.2 seconds left to account for the final margin. The senior co-captain tipped the ball away from Northwestern star Lindsey Pulliam with 14 seconds left resulting in a Lexi Held steal with her team clinging to a 69-68 lead.
Morris scored 22 points with none bigger than her jumper with :43 on the clock for the 69-68 lead. The second-year guard was 10-of-14 from the field.
Dee Bekelja scored 11 points off the bench, Held had eight points and some big shots in the fourth quarter and Kelly Campbell impacted the outcome with 11 assists and seven rebounds. The glue of the team fouled out with 43 seconds to go.
This was the 700th collegiate win for Doug Bruno now coaching his 34th year at DePaul. Bruno's overall career mark stands at 740 including his 40 victories in two seasons heading up the Chicago Hustle women's pro team.
A nail-biter of a fourth quarter began with the Blue Demons (6-1) grabbing a 61-57 lead on two Stonewall scores along with baskets by Maya Stovall and Held. Northwestern (5-1) came back on a 9-2 burst with Courtney Shaw's basket giving the Wildcats a 66-63 advantage with 2:26 left.
Pulliam hit two big shots to pull the Cats ahead 68-65 with 1:36 left. Morris scored on a layup at the 1:24 mark. Then came her big shot to make it 69-68.
Looking to build on a one-point halftime lead, DePaul outscored NU 8-4 at the outset of the third quarter. Morris had three baskets, one on a nice, three-quarter court feed from Kelly Campbell. The Blue Demons needed to take advantage of their edge in overall team speed.
Stonewall's three increased the margin to 50-42 when the Wildcats came back strong with an 11-2 burst to take a 53-52 lead into the fourth quarter.
Early threes by Morris and Bekelja plus a pair of Stonewall scores secured a 12-6 lead at the first quarter media timeout.
It was 15-6 when NU went on an 11-2 run to draw even 17-17. Morris' basket put her team ahead 19-17 after one quarter.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with six points in a row for a 23-19 lead. DePaul responded by outscoring their hosts 17-10 to seize a 36-33 lead as Stonewall, Bekelja and Morris connected from beyond the arc.
Northwestern scored twice more before halftime but Held's three-pointer provided the visiting team with a 39-38 lead at the break.
Stonewall had 13 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting while Bekelja went 4-for-5 including 3-of-4 from deep for 11 points. Morris was 4-of-6 for 10 points. As a team, DePaul shot nearly 44 percent from three-point range to offset NU's 64 percent shooting from the floor.
The Blue Demons' stretch of three consecutive road games continues Saturday with a 1 p.m. matchup at Green Bay.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul forced 18 Wildcat turnovers that led to 14 points.
- Stonewall has 129 points, 44 rebounds and 26 steals in her first seven games.
- The Blue Demons need six more wins to reach 900 in program history.
- Campbell needs 93 points to reach the 1,000-point career milestone.
- Campbell is No. 5 in career assists with 516 and Jessica January is fourth with 554.
- Campbell passed WNBA Draft pick Felicia Chester and Beth Hasenmiller for eighth in all-time rebounds with 758. Megan Podkowa is No. 7 at 835.
- Bruno became 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. Including his 40 wins with the Chicago Hustle women's pro team, the Hall of Fame coach has an overall career total of 740.
- Bruno's first win came on Jan. 7, 1976---66-58 over North Park at home. A number of his players from that team were at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday helping him celebrate the milestone.
- Stonewall is No. 32 all-time in career scoring with 1,176 points. Former teammate Brooke Schulte is No. 31 with 1,192. No. 30 is Deirdre Naughton (1,198), No. 29 is Caprice Smith (1,199), No. 28 is Kim Williams (1,203) and Janine Douglas is No. 27 at 1,206.
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Team Stats
DePaul
NU
FG%
.526
.509
3FG%
.391
.333
FT%
.250
.647
RB
26
27
TO
20
18
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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