DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Honors Four Talented, Resilient Seniors
2/20/2019 2:00:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Allen, Dahlman, Grays, Millender will be celebrated Sunday on Senior Day
CHICAGO - After overcoming all kinds of adversity, Rebekah Dahlman, Mart'e Grays, Ashton Millender and Tanita Allen reflect on the last four years as their time in scarlet-and-blue ticks away. It wasn't always easy and life was not always fair, but these four seniors displayed a resilience that will forever leave a mark on the storied tradition of "DePaulBall."
With one true senior, two fifth-year seniors and one sixth-year senior, this talented quartet brought a diverse mix of experience and knowledge to the program. For all their contributions to Blue Demon women's basketball, the foursome will be honored after DePaul's final regular-season home game Sunday against Butler at Wintrust Arena.
They will be greeted and congratulated at midcourt during the Senior Day ceremony by DePaul University President Dr. Gabriel Esteban and his wife, Jo, Athletics Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto and Senior Associate Athletics Director Jill Hollembeak.
Regardless of the trials and tribulations each player endured, no one knows adversity quite like sixth-year senior Rebekah Dahlman. After spending four seasons at Vanderbilt, missing the final 22 games of her freshman season due to a blood clot and being hampered with a sprained ankle, hamstring injury and a concussion her junior season, Dahlman searched for a new home to finish her college basketball journey on a positive note. That home would become DePaul.
"I knew (ex-Blue Demon great) Jessica January and that she had a fantastic career at DePaul so I talked to her about how she liked it here," Dahlman said. "She told coach Doug Bruno about me. He ended up reaching out to me the next day and we talked for hours.
"Speaking to him, I immediately believed in myself because he believed in me. With the confidence coach Bruno had in me off, I knew he was someone I wanted to play for. His success, his style of play, everything---he's a coach that will go down in history and I am so glad to be playing for DePaul."
Just as everything seemed to fall into place, things took a turn for the worst. Just 17 minutes was all it took to end her first season at DePaul. In the very first game of the 2017-18 season against Northern Colorado, Dahlman broke her hand in two places after going up for a rebound and was out for the season.
Even after moving on from her health issues at Vanderbilt, she just could not catch a break. Dahlman refused to give in.
"It was tough to sit out, but I looked at it as a blessing," she said. "I'm getting my master's degree and playing another year in the sport I love. I think there is a plan for my life and everything turned out how it was supposed to. The injury gave me a whole new mindset and just made me look forward to playing again and ending with a bang."
That final chapter included the game against Seton Hall on Jan. 20 when Dahlman became a 1,000-point scorer for her collegiate career. She will be honored for that achievement before Sunday's game.
Even when she was not participating on the court, Dahlman made valuable contributions from the sideline. From encouraging teammates to spreading her positive mindset, she provided a support system for the rest of the team. The Blue Demon players and coaching staff returned the favor by absolutely having her back throughout yet another difficult recovery.
"The coaches included me every single day," Dahlman said. "I would be off the court on the bike and they would always tell me 'lock in because your time is coming soon'. Every single day I learned something new from the coaches, and now that my time is here, I'm still learning from them."
Along with her coaches, Dahlman found common ground with Tanita Allen. What began as a mutual attitude about beating a health issue blossomed into a beautiful friendship.
"Lay-Lay (Allen's nickname) went through so much adversity so we would always talk about how we got through it," Dahlman said. "We talk about our injuries all the time and it has really helped us connect and grow close."
Allen sustained a meniscus tear during her junior year at Whitney Young that took its toll on her college recruiting. While many names disappeared from her recruiting list, Bruno never left her corner.
"I put on some weight after the injury and a lot of teams lost interest," Allen said. "The people who stayed were DePaul, Marquette and Ole Miss.
"Doug has been recruiting me since I was in eighth grade and he really knows who he wants. He didn't care if I got hurt. He understood that things happen and he never gave up on me. He knew I could still get back to where I was and that was really important to me."
Known by her coaches and teammates as Lay-Lay, Allen's nickname has been a part of her identity from a young age.
"It started when I was little and my grand-dad used to call me 'Ladybug'," Allen said. "I refused to go into high school with that name. My mom used to call me 'Lady,' so eventually it just transformed into Lay-Lay. I also have an aunt who passed away when I was younger and her name is Latisha, which is my middle name, so it also partly came from that."
Coming in as the lone freshman, Allen often put a lot of pressure on herself. Her budding relationship with Bruno correlated to her growth on and off the court.
"I've grown so close with coach Bruno," Allen said. "His idea of who I can be has increased over the years. My freshman and sophomore seasons I never would've joked with him like I do now. I'm very playful in practice and I'm always messing with him. Our relationship has helped me to feel very comfortable at DePaul."
Along with all the advice Bruno has offered Lay-Lay throughout the last four years, she holds one Bruno saying very close to her. This simple but genuine affirmation has helped Allen confidently chase her dreams.
"He always said this to me before and still says it to this day: 'You can and will be great, and you will reach excellence'."
For some of Bruno's players, his impact reached them long before the recruiting process. After attending Bruno's summer basketball camp for five years and spending her formative years in the bleachers at DePaul games, fifth-year senior Ashton Millender always dreamed of putting on a Blue Demon uniform.
"I have been around this program all my life and being part of the team now, I've formed some of the best memories, she said."
Playing only nine games her junior year because injury, Millender reached the decision with input from her coach to become a medical redshirt. Along the way, Bruno helped with her conditioning and recovery.
Coming back better than ever, Millender scored the 1,000th point of her college career on Nov. 22 in a victory over Princeton at the Cancun Challenge. That was a Thanksgiving she will never forget.
The senior shooting guard is currently No. 22 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,275 points. Millender is third all-time in three-pointers (263) and No. 2 in career three-point attempts (713).
She lit up Wintrust Arena and equaled her career high with 27 points against No. 1/1 Notre Dame last November. Millender has played in 136 games in her career, No. 4 all-time. She is five behind all-time leader Chanise Jenkins.
Though she did not see a surplus of playing time throughout her first few seasons, some of Millender's best memories come from her earlier days at DePaul.
"Getting into the NCAA Sweet Sixteen my sophomore year and beating Louisville were two of my best memories," she said. "I think I was 5-for-5 from the field against Louisville and had so much fun."
Speaking of the Louisville game, that memory will also go down as one of the best for fifth-year senior Mart'e Grays.
"When we beat Louisville on its own home court, I don't think I've ever heard a gym that loud before," Grays said. "The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and that year was huge for us."
Like the other seniors standing alongside Grays in their final season at DePaul, she has faced her share of hardships. After tearing her Achilles tendon during her junior year, Grays got down on herself. But the coaching staff and her teammates kept her going.
"The staff here has been so true to me since I first got here, and I'm always just so happy and excited to be here," Grays said. "From the start of my recruiting process, I fell in love with the staff and players here. I knew it was the best choice for me based on who I could become academically and on the court."
After receiving various conference accolades including All-BIG EAST First Team last year, Grays has truly made her time as a Blue Demon count. She became a 1,000-point collegiate scorer on Dec. 9 after finishing with a career-high 26 points in a big road win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
She outdid herself on Feb. 8 with a dazzling performance setting a new career high with 31 points in a victory over Villanova. Grays was 12-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range en route to being honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Week.
Grays is No. 24 on the all-time scoring list with 1,261 points---just 12 behind No. 23 Sam Quigley.
Looking back on these last five years, there is so much she will miss about DePaul.
"I will miss having the greenest green light in all of America and the coaching staff that took care of me the second I got here," she said. "No group of people has ever had my back more than they have. You can't find coaches so genuine, nice and caring anywhere else, and I'm so grateful."
What's next for these seniors? They have some lofty goals in sight that they hope to achieve before turning the page on this chapter of their lives.
"I'm looking forward to winning another BIG EAST Championship," Grays said. "We are going to go further than we have ever gone before."
With one true senior, two fifth-year seniors and one sixth-year senior, this talented quartet brought a diverse mix of experience and knowledge to the program. For all their contributions to Blue Demon women's basketball, the foursome will be honored after DePaul's final regular-season home game Sunday against Butler at Wintrust Arena.
They will be greeted and congratulated at midcourt during the Senior Day ceremony by DePaul University President Dr. Gabriel Esteban and his wife, Jo, Athletics Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto and Senior Associate Athletics Director Jill Hollembeak.
Regardless of the trials and tribulations each player endured, no one knows adversity quite like sixth-year senior Rebekah Dahlman. After spending four seasons at Vanderbilt, missing the final 22 games of her freshman season due to a blood clot and being hampered with a sprained ankle, hamstring injury and a concussion her junior season, Dahlman searched for a new home to finish her college basketball journey on a positive note. That home would become DePaul.
"I knew (ex-Blue Demon great) Jessica January and that she had a fantastic career at DePaul so I talked to her about how she liked it here," Dahlman said. "She told coach Doug Bruno about me. He ended up reaching out to me the next day and we talked for hours.
"Speaking to him, I immediately believed in myself because he believed in me. With the confidence coach Bruno had in me off, I knew he was someone I wanted to play for. His success, his style of play, everything---he's a coach that will go down in history and I am so glad to be playing for DePaul."
Just as everything seemed to fall into place, things took a turn for the worst. Just 17 minutes was all it took to end her first season at DePaul. In the very first game of the 2017-18 season against Northern Colorado, Dahlman broke her hand in two places after going up for a rebound and was out for the season.
Even after moving on from her health issues at Vanderbilt, she just could not catch a break. Dahlman refused to give in.
"It was tough to sit out, but I looked at it as a blessing," she said. "I'm getting my master's degree and playing another year in the sport I love. I think there is a plan for my life and everything turned out how it was supposed to. The injury gave me a whole new mindset and just made me look forward to playing again and ending with a bang."
That final chapter included the game against Seton Hall on Jan. 20 when Dahlman became a 1,000-point scorer for her collegiate career. She will be honored for that achievement before Sunday's game.
Even when she was not participating on the court, Dahlman made valuable contributions from the sideline. From encouraging teammates to spreading her positive mindset, she provided a support system for the rest of the team. The Blue Demon players and coaching staff returned the favor by absolutely having her back throughout yet another difficult recovery.
"The coaches included me every single day," Dahlman said. "I would be off the court on the bike and they would always tell me 'lock in because your time is coming soon'. Every single day I learned something new from the coaches, and now that my time is here, I'm still learning from them."
Along with her coaches, Dahlman found common ground with Tanita Allen. What began as a mutual attitude about beating a health issue blossomed into a beautiful friendship.
"Lay-Lay (Allen's nickname) went through so much adversity so we would always talk about how we got through it," Dahlman said. "We talk about our injuries all the time and it has really helped us connect and grow close."
Allen sustained a meniscus tear during her junior year at Whitney Young that took its toll on her college recruiting. While many names disappeared from her recruiting list, Bruno never left her corner.
"I put on some weight after the injury and a lot of teams lost interest," Allen said. "The people who stayed were DePaul, Marquette and Ole Miss.
"Doug has been recruiting me since I was in eighth grade and he really knows who he wants. He didn't care if I got hurt. He understood that things happen and he never gave up on me. He knew I could still get back to where I was and that was really important to me."
Known by her coaches and teammates as Lay-Lay, Allen's nickname has been a part of her identity from a young age.
"It started when I was little and my grand-dad used to call me 'Ladybug'," Allen said. "I refused to go into high school with that name. My mom used to call me 'Lady,' so eventually it just transformed into Lay-Lay. I also have an aunt who passed away when I was younger and her name is Latisha, which is my middle name, so it also partly came from that."
Coming in as the lone freshman, Allen often put a lot of pressure on herself. Her budding relationship with Bruno correlated to her growth on and off the court.
"I've grown so close with coach Bruno," Allen said. "His idea of who I can be has increased over the years. My freshman and sophomore seasons I never would've joked with him like I do now. I'm very playful in practice and I'm always messing with him. Our relationship has helped me to feel very comfortable at DePaul."
Along with all the advice Bruno has offered Lay-Lay throughout the last four years, she holds one Bruno saying very close to her. This simple but genuine affirmation has helped Allen confidently chase her dreams.
"He always said this to me before and still says it to this day: 'You can and will be great, and you will reach excellence'."
For some of Bruno's players, his impact reached them long before the recruiting process. After attending Bruno's summer basketball camp for five years and spending her formative years in the bleachers at DePaul games, fifth-year senior Ashton Millender always dreamed of putting on a Blue Demon uniform.
"I have been around this program all my life and being part of the team now, I've formed some of the best memories, she said."
Playing only nine games her junior year because injury, Millender reached the decision with input from her coach to become a medical redshirt. Along the way, Bruno helped with her conditioning and recovery.
Coming back better than ever, Millender scored the 1,000th point of her college career on Nov. 22 in a victory over Princeton at the Cancun Challenge. That was a Thanksgiving she will never forget.
The senior shooting guard is currently No. 22 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,275 points. Millender is third all-time in three-pointers (263) and No. 2 in career three-point attempts (713).
She lit up Wintrust Arena and equaled her career high with 27 points against No. 1/1 Notre Dame last November. Millender has played in 136 games in her career, No. 4 all-time. She is five behind all-time leader Chanise Jenkins.
Though she did not see a surplus of playing time throughout her first few seasons, some of Millender's best memories come from her earlier days at DePaul.
"Getting into the NCAA Sweet Sixteen my sophomore year and beating Louisville were two of my best memories," she said. "I think I was 5-for-5 from the field against Louisville and had so much fun."
Speaking of the Louisville game, that memory will also go down as one of the best for fifth-year senior Mart'e Grays.
"When we beat Louisville on its own home court, I don't think I've ever heard a gym that loud before," Grays said. "The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and that year was huge for us."
Like the other seniors standing alongside Grays in their final season at DePaul, she has faced her share of hardships. After tearing her Achilles tendon during her junior year, Grays got down on herself. But the coaching staff and her teammates kept her going.
"The staff here has been so true to me since I first got here, and I'm always just so happy and excited to be here," Grays said. "From the start of my recruiting process, I fell in love with the staff and players here. I knew it was the best choice for me based on who I could become academically and on the court."
After receiving various conference accolades including All-BIG EAST First Team last year, Grays has truly made her time as a Blue Demon count. She became a 1,000-point collegiate scorer on Dec. 9 after finishing with a career-high 26 points in a big road win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
She outdid herself on Feb. 8 with a dazzling performance setting a new career high with 31 points in a victory over Villanova. Grays was 12-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range en route to being honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Week.
Grays is No. 24 on the all-time scoring list with 1,261 points---just 12 behind No. 23 Sam Quigley.
Looking back on these last five years, there is so much she will miss about DePaul.
"I will miss having the greenest green light in all of America and the coaching staff that took care of me the second I got here," she said. "No group of people has ever had my back more than they have. You can't find coaches so genuine, nice and caring anywhere else, and I'm so grateful."
What's next for these seniors? They have some lofty goals in sight that they hope to achieve before turning the page on this chapter of their lives.
"I'm looking forward to winning another BIG EAST Championship," Grays said. "We are going to go further than we have ever gone before."
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Guard
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Forward
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Guard
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