Red-Hot Grays Lights Up McGrath-Phillips Arena Friday Night

Friday, February 8

McGrath-Phillips Arena

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Villanova

DePaul

Red-Hot Grays Lights Up McGrath-Phillips Arena Friday Night

2/8/2019 10:13:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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Career-high 31 points on 12-of-13 shooting sparks 93-70 win over Villanova

CHICAGO – Looking more like the fabled teams of yesteryear, the Blue Demons were at their offensive best Friday night.

And it was a sizzling senior showing them the way as Mart'e Grays made her first eight shots en route to scoring a career-high 31 points in a resounding 93-70 BIG EAST victory over Villanova.

Grays had quite a night. She also set a career high with 12 field goals---needing just 13 shots to accomplish the feat. And to top it off, the 6-foot, 2-inch forward was a perfect 3-for-3 from the line.

Only a miss in the third quarter marred what would have been a perfect game. DePaul improved to 16-7 on the season and 7-4 in the BIG EAST while Villanova fell to 15-8, 6-6.

Chante Stonewall and Sonya Morris each scored 12 points while Ashton Millender and Maya Stovall each contributed 10 points apiece. Kelly Campbell came away with game highs of 12 rebounds and six assists.

Grays came to play on this night. She made her first four shots and scored 10 points in the first six minutes. The senior forward had a deep three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play.

That helped offset Villanova's torrid shooting to open the game. The Wildcats connected on their first five attempts from beyond the arc and led 19-16 at the first quarter media timeout.

There was no cooling off for Grays as the quarter proceeded. She hit her first five shots including a three to bring her team within 23-21 after the first 10 minutes. In those 10 minutes, Grays already had 13 points.

The Blue Demons took their first lead two minutes into the second quarter on a pair of Rebekah Dahlman free throws. With Grays catching a breather on the bench after all of her heavy lifting in the first quarter, Dahlman, Morris and Millender hit consecutive threes for a 34-31 lead at the media timeout.

Wouldn't you know it, not 30 seconds after returning to the court, Grays buried another three-pointer. She connected from long distance not long after and finished off the second quarter with a layup on a nifty pass from Morris.

Coach Doug Bruno's team closed out the second quarter on a 16-0 run, looking much like the heralded, explosive teams of the past that used to light up Lincoln Park with game-changing runs. Morris scored twice and Stonewall converted a three-point play.

The Blue Demons outscored Villanova 29-10 in what turned out to be the game-defining quarter.

After going 8-for-8 from the floor including 4-of-4 from deep and adding a free throw, the smoking-hot Grays had 21 points by intermission and had yet to miss from anywhere in sparking her team to a 50-33 halftime advantage.

DePaul shot nearly 61 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes including 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from three-point range. It would finish 58.2 percent from the field and 52 percent from distance.

The home team stretched its lead to 63-39 early in the third quarter on a Grays cutting layup off a nice dish from Millender. The Wildcats hit back-to-back threes and it was 63-45 at the media timeout.

DePaul closed out the third quarter scoring the final seven points and it was 70-48 heading into the final 10 minutes. With 5:04 left in the fourth quarter, Grays hit a pair of free throws to set a career high with 27 points. She scored on a layup the very next possession.

The Blue Demons are right back in the friendly confines of McGrath-Phillips Arena on Sunday for a 2 p.m. BIG EAST game against Georgetown that will be televised by NBC Sports Chicago Plus.

Postgame Notes

Grays set a career high with 31 points, missing on only one shot all night.
Grays set a career high with 12 field goals in 13 attempts and was 4-for-5 from three-point range.
The 31 points is the most scored by a DePaul player this season and Grays is the first to reach the 30-point plateau.
Millender has made a three-pointer in 36 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 4, 2018.
Millender (1,252 points) is No. 23 on the all-time scoring list. Sam Quigley is No. 22 at 1,273.
With 262 career three-pointers, Millender is No. 3 all-time. Brittany Hrynko is No. 2 at 281 and all-time leader Lenae Williams finished with 303.
Millender (704) is No. 2 all-time in career three-point attempts. Williams set the career mark with 924.
Campbell (410) is No. 8 all-time in assists with Allie Quigley No. 7 at 427.