Monday, December 16
Wintrust Arena
7:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
9-2,0-0Big East
74
vs
84
Connecticut
9-0,1-0AAC
1
2
3
4
F
UConn
26
29
14
15
84
DePaul
13
16
27
18
74
No. 16/16 DePaul Puts a Scare Into No. 2/2 Connecticut
12/16/2019 11:13:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Slash 26-point deficit to four during 84-74 setback Monday night at Wintrust Arena
CHICAGO – No matter what the final outcome would eventually be, the Blue Demon faithful at Wintrust Arena came away admiring the feisty scrappiness of their favorite women's basketball team.
Never for a moment backing down---even in the face of a 26-point halftime deficit to the No. 2-ranked team in the country---DePaul played a second half to remember Monday night.
The No. 16/16 Blue Demons battled back to within four in an 84-74 setback to Connecticut that had Chante Stonewall saying in the postgame news conference: "All of us should walk out of here with our heads held high."
Indeed, this rally reached its crescendo when Lexi Held buried a clutch three-pointer to make it 70-66 and capping off an 8-1 DePaul run.
But UConn (9-0), which coach Doug Bruno refers to as the greatest program in the history of intercollegiate basketball---men or women---regrouped after a timeout and didn't allow DePaul (9-2) any closer than six down the stretch. Megan Walker had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies and Crystal Dangerfield scored 22.
Stonewall led the way for the Blue Demons with 21 points. Sonya Morris scored 20 points and Dee Bekelja added 12. Held finished with 11 points while the 5-foot, 10-inch warrior point guard Kelly Campbell defended 6-4 Olivia Nelson-Ododa while willing her body to grab 10 rebounds against the bigger, physical Huskies.
This is the ultimate challenge for any collegiate women's basketball program, battling to remain competitive against the gold standard of the sport.
The Blue Demons had Wintrust Arena rocking at the outset of the fourth quarter. Baskets by Bekelja and Stonewall followed by three-pointers from Campbell and Held brought the Blue Demons within70-66---totally cutting into UConn's 26-point halftime lead.
Morris knocked down a three and it was 74-69 with six minutes to go. The BIG EAST Player of the Week hit another three to prevent UConn from running out to a bigger lead and it was 78-72. Back-to-back Huskie scores left DePaul down 10 with 2:39 left.
Three-pointers by Held and Stonewall got their team off to an 8-0 start after trailing 55-29 at halftime. DePaul's offense was operating much more efficiently after the break, but cutting into UConn's sizeable lead would be a tall task.
Bekelja's back-to-back baskets made it 63-45 at the third quarter media timeout. At that point, the Blue Demons were winning the second half 16-8. Threes by Bekelja and Stonewall gave the home team some momentum, and you could feel their confidence building. An 8-2 run had trimmed the deficit to 14 when UConn coach Geno Auriemma called timeout.
Held subbed in with five seconds left in the third quarter and promptly hit a buzzer-beating three to bring DePaul the closest it had been since early in the second quarter at 69-56. In a 10-minute span, the Blue Demons had sliced a 26-point halftime deficit in half.
Although it took them until the middle of the first quarter to connect on their first three-pointer (courtesy of Deja Church), the Blue Demons stayed within range. A 9-2 burst cut the UConn lead to 12-9.
That's when the Huskies reeled off seven unanswered points that was cut off by a Held drive down the lane. It was 19-11 UConn at the media timeout. Another 7-0 run by the visiting team left DePaul trailing 26-11. Crystal Dangerfield was heating up from behind the arc drilling her first three.
Stonewall's basket cut the deficit to 26-13 after one quarter. Connecticut went on one of their patented runs early in the second quarter as back-to-back threes fueled a 12-0 spurt and a 38-17 lead. At that point, UConn was 6-of-8 from three-point range while DePaul was 1-of-11.
Kelly Campbell was playing terrific defense deflecting passes, tipping balls and making herself quite a nuisance. But the Blue Demons weren't converting on the opportunities her defense was creating.
A Stonewall three made it 42-26 when the Huskies closed out the second quarter on a 12-3 run for a 55-29 halftime lead.
Morris led her team with 10 points and Stonewall had nine by intermission as the Blue Demons went 2-for-13 from deep in the first 20 minutes. UConn converted on eight of it 13 attempts from three-point range as Dangerfield had 17 points at the break and finished with 22.
Next up for the Blue Demons is the Red Line Rivalry game Friday at undefeated Loyola (9-0).
Postgame Notes
Never for a moment backing down---even in the face of a 26-point halftime deficit to the No. 2-ranked team in the country---DePaul played a second half to remember Monday night.
The No. 16/16 Blue Demons battled back to within four in an 84-74 setback to Connecticut that had Chante Stonewall saying in the postgame news conference: "All of us should walk out of here with our heads held high."
Indeed, this rally reached its crescendo when Lexi Held buried a clutch three-pointer to make it 70-66 and capping off an 8-1 DePaul run.
But UConn (9-0), which coach Doug Bruno refers to as the greatest program in the history of intercollegiate basketball---men or women---regrouped after a timeout and didn't allow DePaul (9-2) any closer than six down the stretch. Megan Walker had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies and Crystal Dangerfield scored 22.
Stonewall led the way for the Blue Demons with 21 points. Sonya Morris scored 20 points and Dee Bekelja added 12. Held finished with 11 points while the 5-foot, 10-inch warrior point guard Kelly Campbell defended 6-4 Olivia Nelson-Ododa while willing her body to grab 10 rebounds against the bigger, physical Huskies.
This is the ultimate challenge for any collegiate women's basketball program, battling to remain competitive against the gold standard of the sport.
The Blue Demons had Wintrust Arena rocking at the outset of the fourth quarter. Baskets by Bekelja and Stonewall followed by three-pointers from Campbell and Held brought the Blue Demons within70-66---totally cutting into UConn's 26-point halftime lead.
Morris knocked down a three and it was 74-69 with six minutes to go. The BIG EAST Player of the Week hit another three to prevent UConn from running out to a bigger lead and it was 78-72. Back-to-back Huskie scores left DePaul down 10 with 2:39 left.
Three-pointers by Held and Stonewall got their team off to an 8-0 start after trailing 55-29 at halftime. DePaul's offense was operating much more efficiently after the break, but cutting into UConn's sizeable lead would be a tall task.
Bekelja's back-to-back baskets made it 63-45 at the third quarter media timeout. At that point, the Blue Demons were winning the second half 16-8. Threes by Bekelja and Stonewall gave the home team some momentum, and you could feel their confidence building. An 8-2 run had trimmed the deficit to 14 when UConn coach Geno Auriemma called timeout.
Held subbed in with five seconds left in the third quarter and promptly hit a buzzer-beating three to bring DePaul the closest it had been since early in the second quarter at 69-56. In a 10-minute span, the Blue Demons had sliced a 26-point halftime deficit in half.
Although it took them until the middle of the first quarter to connect on their first three-pointer (courtesy of Deja Church), the Blue Demons stayed within range. A 9-2 burst cut the UConn lead to 12-9.
That's when the Huskies reeled off seven unanswered points that was cut off by a Held drive down the lane. It was 19-11 UConn at the media timeout. Another 7-0 run by the visiting team left DePaul trailing 26-11. Crystal Dangerfield was heating up from behind the arc drilling her first three.
Stonewall's basket cut the deficit to 26-13 after one quarter. Connecticut went on one of their patented runs early in the second quarter as back-to-back threes fueled a 12-0 spurt and a 38-17 lead. At that point, UConn was 6-of-8 from three-point range while DePaul was 1-of-11.
Kelly Campbell was playing terrific defense deflecting passes, tipping balls and making herself quite a nuisance. But the Blue Demons weren't converting on the opportunities her defense was creating.
A Stonewall three made it 42-26 when the Huskies closed out the second quarter on a 12-3 run for a 55-29 halftime lead.
Morris led her team with 10 points and Stonewall had nine by intermission as the Blue Demons went 2-for-13 from deep in the first 20 minutes. UConn converted on eight of it 13 attempts from three-point range as Dangerfield had 17 points at the break and finished with 22.
Next up for the Blue Demons is the Red Line Rivalry game Friday at undefeated Loyola (9-0).
Postgame Notes
- DePaul outscored Connecticut 45-29 in the second half.
- After shooting just 2-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half, DePaul hit nine 3-pointers in the second half on 19 attempts (47 percent).
- Bruno's team forced 21 UConn turnovers while committing just seven.
- This was the closest DePaul has come to UConn since a one-point loss in March of 2008.
- The Blue Demons went into the game leading the nation in assists and ranked No. 2 in scoring and three-pointers.
- In the first NCAA RPI reveal, DePaul was ranked No. 7.
- The Blue Demons need three more wins to reach 900 in program history.
- Campbell needs 71 points to reach the 1,000-point career milestone.
- Campbell is No. 5 in career assists with 535 and Jessica January is fourth with 554.
- Campbell has passed WNBA Draft pick Felicia Chester and Beth Hasenmiller for eighth in all-time rebounds with 800. Megan Podkowa is No. 7 at 835.
- Stonewall is passed Janine Douglas, Kris Booker and Rita Hale for No. 25 all-time in career scoring with 1,239 points. Sam Quigley is No. 24 with 1,273.
Team Stats
UConn
DePaul
FG%
.547
.387
3FG%
.400
.344
FT%
.750
.714
RB
50
28
TO
21
7
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Guard
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Guard
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